Sunday, August 30, 2009
Leaving EC again
Well, I came back to Eau Claire yesterday to bring Theresa back and go to Menomonie for Christine's birthday. It was fun, but it was too short. I could tell I really needed to go to bed so I left pretty early. I was so overtired and emotional that I started crying when I hugged Mom because I just think I don't know how often I'll be back, it hit me that things were happening, and I don't know what I've gotten myself into. Then I hugged Laura and cried because she is already going into kindergarten and then Christine is 18 years old now. It's all just weird. Life has changed so much since we left home. I was so tired and it felt so good to be back at Becky's apartment since I was staying with other people all week that all I wanted to do was sleep and stay one extra day. BUT here I am all packed up and ready to go get a few last things from the storage unit before heading back to our apartment in Madison. I am trying to be positive and think about finishing things up at the apartment and finalizing my lesson plans, but really I am just so tired. I am sick of going going going right now. Oh well, I better quit procrastinating. Hope everyone else is enjoying their Sunday.
Blog from yesterday
I am sitting at the new apartment that Theresa and I are renting in Madison. It feels pretty good to finally have a place to be alone. I am not on the internet RIGHT now because it isn’t hooked up. I am actually on Word and will post this tomorrow(Saturday) when I get to Eau Claire. The place is a decent apartment. It has a lot of space. I hung up the shower curtain and put toilet paper on the rolls, etc. I am now just waiting for Dad and Theresa to get here with our furniture. We are all sleeping her tonight since they are getting here late. It will probably feel like a hotel. Then in the morning we are heading back to EC because it is Christines 18th birthday(!!!) and I have to take another car load back down again. Hopefully soon I can take pictures of the apartment and my classroom so people can see what they are like.
Speaking of my classroom…I think I have almost everything ready to go. The room really came around once I cleaned it, put up posters and bulletin boards, and added all of my other things. I still don’t like that I have a chalkboard, but oh well. I have many other things to be thankful for. I don’t necessarily like how it seems that they use my room a lot for other things, like childcare for forums and storage. The other night they had a forum in the gym and some kids were being watched in my room. I was in there working when they first were coming in, some high school age girls were watching the kids, and I heard my principal basically tell them to stay in the open middle area and not to touch the instruments, etc. While I was still there they were playing the piano, and had opened my drawers to look at my props/toys for games. I was a little nervous, but I figured what the heck, they are toys so whatever and I left. The next morning I found my things all mixed up from where I put them and things were slightly messy. I was upset because I have these foam heart stickers that I use for rhythm exercises. They have a sticker paper thing on the back but I leave it on, and each heart has a rhythm on it(like a tah or a titi, etc.) I found a bunch of heart sticker backs and realized they must have gave them out as stickers. They also dumped a bunch of small things like that, that I had in separate bags, all together in one container. Gah, really I shouldn’t be mad because they are all things from Dollar Tree, but it takes time to put them all together. I also have enough things to do right now rather than sort through little game pieces. It’s just a little glimpse, I think, into what things will be like working with this culturally diverse school. I am not saying that because these people were African American and rude or something, but I mean they have different ideas on what is rude and what is not. I really don’t think they thought anything of digging in my stuff, or leaving other than they found it. I know this all comes off wrong, but hopefully you all know what I mean.
I had inservice at Falk today and yesterday was a workday for all staff. I met a bunch of staff yesterday on my tour with the principal and other new staff, or by them just popping in to say hi. Today I met some more people too because everyone was actually there and in meetings together all day. I am feeling pretty good actually about the start of the year. I feel like I should be more stressed out, or like I am missing something I need to do. I might feel different on Monday night before school starts. I typed up my schedule all pretty today and it helped me visualize what my days will be like. I actually only have 4 “grades” to plan for since 2nd and 3rd are all combined and 4th and 5th are too. That’s a different approach that I am not completely used to, but I am hoping my work with Montessori last year pays off. Kindergarten and 1st grade are separate and that is nice. I am almost done getting ideas for the first week of school. I know a lot has to do with getting to know the students and setting clear expectations. We also have a hip hop group coming to school on Sept. 11th so I will be jumping into hip hop with them right after that. I have never taught that before but I think it will be fun. I looked up some things today, like the history and the 5 elements of rap, etc. and I think I can make it short, sweet, and interesting. Rapper’s Delight anyone?...
Part of our morning inservice was on my school’s plan to decrease or eliminate the achievement gap between white students and “students of color”. It’s a pretty complex plan and it involves a lot of work too. It is really interesting. We each had to sign up for a session which will be in a couple of weeks that was based on one of the 5 strands of African American Pedagogy. Basically, there is a lady in our district working her ass off to research this topic and perform all kinds of tests and trials with our students and Mendota Elementary students too. I signed up for the classroom management session because I feel like that is usually a strength of mine, but with these new personalities it might be a whole lot more challenging. Again, I feel like I am walking on eggshells trying to be politically correct and not sound racist here and I hope you all know that I am not. I just want things to go well and I want ALL of my students to be successful and happy. I am the least sure of how to connect and relate to these students so it will be a challenge and I am going to be thinking a lot about it.
Anyways, did I mention before that one of the teachers here is the sister of Owatonna HS’s orchestra director? How weird is that?! Small world. Apparently they talked about me and he said good things which is nice since we barely saw each other.
I think Dad and Theresa will be here soon so I am going to shut the computer down. Hopefully we get this unpacking done fast and can go have some fun while we are in Madison. I have no idea what we are going to do after we unload. I know we have to go buy wood so Dad and make me and Theresa bed frames. My box spring was thrown away in May(piece) and Theresa had her mattress on the floor all last year too. It will be nice to not roll over and be on the floor.
ANNNNNNNNNNNND I am not mad at Josh anymore. I just needed to get that off my chest way back when and I feel MUCH better. So, I wanted to mention that I am thinking of him while he starts his new journey in Miami Beach.
Bye!
Speaking of my classroom…I think I have almost everything ready to go. The room really came around once I cleaned it, put up posters and bulletin boards, and added all of my other things. I still don’t like that I have a chalkboard, but oh well. I have many other things to be thankful for. I don’t necessarily like how it seems that they use my room a lot for other things, like childcare for forums and storage. The other night they had a forum in the gym and some kids were being watched in my room. I was in there working when they first were coming in, some high school age girls were watching the kids, and I heard my principal basically tell them to stay in the open middle area and not to touch the instruments, etc. While I was still there they were playing the piano, and had opened my drawers to look at my props/toys for games. I was a little nervous, but I figured what the heck, they are toys so whatever and I left. The next morning I found my things all mixed up from where I put them and things were slightly messy. I was upset because I have these foam heart stickers that I use for rhythm exercises. They have a sticker paper thing on the back but I leave it on, and each heart has a rhythm on it(like a tah or a titi, etc.) I found a bunch of heart sticker backs and realized they must have gave them out as stickers. They also dumped a bunch of small things like that, that I had in separate bags, all together in one container. Gah, really I shouldn’t be mad because they are all things from Dollar Tree, but it takes time to put them all together. I also have enough things to do right now rather than sort through little game pieces. It’s just a little glimpse, I think, into what things will be like working with this culturally diverse school. I am not saying that because these people were African American and rude or something, but I mean they have different ideas on what is rude and what is not. I really don’t think they thought anything of digging in my stuff, or leaving other than they found it. I know this all comes off wrong, but hopefully you all know what I mean.
I had inservice at Falk today and yesterday was a workday for all staff. I met a bunch of staff yesterday on my tour with the principal and other new staff, or by them just popping in to say hi. Today I met some more people too because everyone was actually there and in meetings together all day. I am feeling pretty good actually about the start of the year. I feel like I should be more stressed out, or like I am missing something I need to do. I might feel different on Monday night before school starts. I typed up my schedule all pretty today and it helped me visualize what my days will be like. I actually only have 4 “grades” to plan for since 2nd and 3rd are all combined and 4th and 5th are too. That’s a different approach that I am not completely used to, but I am hoping my work with Montessori last year pays off. Kindergarten and 1st grade are separate and that is nice. I am almost done getting ideas for the first week of school. I know a lot has to do with getting to know the students and setting clear expectations. We also have a hip hop group coming to school on Sept. 11th so I will be jumping into hip hop with them right after that. I have never taught that before but I think it will be fun. I looked up some things today, like the history and the 5 elements of rap, etc. and I think I can make it short, sweet, and interesting. Rapper’s Delight anyone?...
Part of our morning inservice was on my school’s plan to decrease or eliminate the achievement gap between white students and “students of color”. It’s a pretty complex plan and it involves a lot of work too. It is really interesting. We each had to sign up for a session which will be in a couple of weeks that was based on one of the 5 strands of African American Pedagogy. Basically, there is a lady in our district working her ass off to research this topic and perform all kinds of tests and trials with our students and Mendota Elementary students too. I signed up for the classroom management session because I feel like that is usually a strength of mine, but with these new personalities it might be a whole lot more challenging. Again, I feel like I am walking on eggshells trying to be politically correct and not sound racist here and I hope you all know that I am not. I just want things to go well and I want ALL of my students to be successful and happy. I am the least sure of how to connect and relate to these students so it will be a challenge and I am going to be thinking a lot about it.
Anyways, did I mention before that one of the teachers here is the sister of Owatonna HS’s orchestra director? How weird is that?! Small world. Apparently they talked about me and he said good things which is nice since we barely saw each other.
I think Dad and Theresa will be here soon so I am going to shut the computer down. Hopefully we get this unpacking done fast and can go have some fun while we are in Madison. I have no idea what we are going to do after we unload. I know we have to go buy wood so Dad and make me and Theresa bed frames. My box spring was thrown away in May(piece) and Theresa had her mattress on the floor all last year too. It will be nice to not roll over and be on the floor.
ANNNNNNNNNNNND I am not mad at Josh anymore. I just needed to get that off my chest way back when and I feel MUCH better. So, I wanted to mention that I am thinking of him while he starts his new journey in Miami Beach.
Bye!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
WOOOOOOOOAAHHH!
Wow, I have been in Madison since Monday morning(holy crap, that's just yesterday morning!) and I am very overwhelmed. I don't want to say stressed out because that has a much more negative tone to it, but I for sure have A LOT on my plate right now. I was bored during one my inservices so I made a list of things to update about so I wouldn't forget anything. I still will probably forget many things.
OK, to start...I got to Madison around 11:30 yesterday and picked up paperwork at the district office. They said they'd give me the rest of the week to fill out most of it so that's good. I didn't have to stay there too long, and then I drove to my school. On the way I drove by a house I saw on Craigslist. I couldn't get a hold of anyone so I thought I'd see if there was a different number on a sign or something, but it looked kind of sketch so I decided to forget it. I went to school and met the secretaries, both very nice. They gave me keys and showed me where my room is. My room is pretty spacious and there are good and bad things about it. The good thing is that I have lots of space, it's my own space, and I found a lot of resouces/books that the teachers in Owatonna had that I can use again. The bad part is I have a chalkboard(ew), and they had about 5 gazillion old music series textbooks on all the shelves. I very quickly unloaded my car of teaching stuff, and promptly moved all of said text books to the storage closet off of my room. I only left out the most recent ones. The room is full of dust, not necessarily messy, but it seems the previous music teacher left as it was. I moved around all of the string instruments that are apparently being stored in there(another not so great thing, but after I moved them to a better place I don't notice as much). I moved the xylophones and metalophones around to be more efficient with my space. My computer is also ancient looking. I don't have a username or password yet so I haven't bothered to try to use it. Some of my cabinets are still locked and I can't find the key so maybe tomorrow I'll get in there and can see what surprises are in there. I bought some more storage for my props and things and ticky tack stuff to hang posters.
After being in my room for a few hours I went to my first apartment showing. LAME AND DISGUSTING! I soon realized that Theresa and I were going to have to up our budget to live somewhere safe and decent. So first one was a fat no, the second guy showed up and I flat out told him I already knew I wouldn't like the place because the neighborhood looked creepy and he said he could tell by just meeting me that I wouldn't like it, or fit in. He offered to show me the apartment that he lives in, in a different neighborhood. Turns out, while we have to spend $800/mo instead of $700 this apartment is much much nicer and it is in a residental area in Fitchburg/Verona area. We will live about 5 minutes from Collin's family, ha. :) This is all assuming everything pans out tomorrow when I turn in the rental application. We should be able to move in on Friday evening. I realized today, however, that I do in fact have the storage key in my purse. Dumb move, so I guess either the storage lady will have to meet Theresa and Dad on Friday afternoon or I'll have to mail it to them? I'll call her tomorrow. I am excited about the apartment. It is spacious, things match and are fairly new, it has washer/dryer in unit, and 1 car garage underneath the building. The guy is really nice and he manages the apartment, he seems like someone we can trust and like he takes pride in the apartment looking good and staying in good shape.
Last night I spent the night at Chelsea's. She is a friend from high school. It was really nice to catch up with each other and we chatting pretty late and had a glass of wine. I did not sleep well at all though. It was hot, and we slept in the same bed. I was worried I would keep her up all night, and I am getting over being sick with what Theresa had(cough). We had to get up really early and I left for my first day of inservice.
Inservice = boring, but somewhat informative. I met some people, but I probably won't see them again except tomorrow. I got my TB test done, turned in insurance paperwork, and got my picture taken for my ID badge. I also ate lunch with my principal, which was nice. She is a nice person and easy to talk to. Talking to her about my classes made me a little nervous because she kept mentioning how I will probably be most challenged with behavior problems. She also wants me to really adapt my teaching to the interests of my kids(duh), but basically wants me to do hip hop/rap stuff. NOW, I will totally do some of that, but not all the time. I don't think that's what she meant, but I just don't know what to expect. I am working at a school with far more African American students than white. We talked about the previous music teachers and I got to ask her some other kinds of questions too. We had sessions on positive behavior reinforcement and I can't say that I learned anything new. It is always a good reminder though. We also had a session on diversity and how Madison is FULL of it. Just another way to get me nervous. I am in no way racist, or prejudice, BUT I also have not been in a situation where I have had to deal with kids with such different backgrounds from my own. I know all of this will be good for me, and I will be a better teacher and person because of it. Inservice was at Lafollette! So nice to be back at that school, it is where Capital Sound had Tues/Thurs rehearsals. I also saw John Wallace, the principal from South in EC, or I guess I should say former South principal. He must have followed me down here. Sweet. I spotted the bowtie and converse shoes immediately. Side note - there are 32 elementary schools in this district! That means there are 40-50 elem music teachers! Holy crap.
So I have another full day tomorrow with inservice. Then I am turning in the rental application, and going back to my classroom. Thursday I have a free day at my school, with only one meeting with the principal and I have to get my TB test read at the district office too. I am staying at the McCormicks tomorrow night. I told them I'd probably be there around 7:30pm. Hopefully they let me go to bed early. I need it. Friday is another all day, all school inservice(not just new teachers) and it is at Falk. I am looking forward to that to actually meet the teachers I will be working with. So that's that. I am going to get my pajamas on and go to bed now. It's hotter than hell so I hope to get SOME sleep. I prollllllly forgot lots of things but oh well. Bye!
OK, to start...I got to Madison around 11:30 yesterday and picked up paperwork at the district office. They said they'd give me the rest of the week to fill out most of it so that's good. I didn't have to stay there too long, and then I drove to my school. On the way I drove by a house I saw on Craigslist. I couldn't get a hold of anyone so I thought I'd see if there was a different number on a sign or something, but it looked kind of sketch so I decided to forget it. I went to school and met the secretaries, both very nice. They gave me keys and showed me where my room is. My room is pretty spacious and there are good and bad things about it. The good thing is that I have lots of space, it's my own space, and I found a lot of resouces/books that the teachers in Owatonna had that I can use again. The bad part is I have a chalkboard(ew), and they had about 5 gazillion old music series textbooks on all the shelves. I very quickly unloaded my car of teaching stuff, and promptly moved all of said text books to the storage closet off of my room. I only left out the most recent ones. The room is full of dust, not necessarily messy, but it seems the previous music teacher left as it was. I moved around all of the string instruments that are apparently being stored in there(another not so great thing, but after I moved them to a better place I don't notice as much). I moved the xylophones and metalophones around to be more efficient with my space. My computer is also ancient looking. I don't have a username or password yet so I haven't bothered to try to use it. Some of my cabinets are still locked and I can't find the key so maybe tomorrow I'll get in there and can see what surprises are in there. I bought some more storage for my props and things and ticky tack stuff to hang posters.
After being in my room for a few hours I went to my first apartment showing. LAME AND DISGUSTING! I soon realized that Theresa and I were going to have to up our budget to live somewhere safe and decent. So first one was a fat no, the second guy showed up and I flat out told him I already knew I wouldn't like the place because the neighborhood looked creepy and he said he could tell by just meeting me that I wouldn't like it, or fit in. He offered to show me the apartment that he lives in, in a different neighborhood. Turns out, while we have to spend $800/mo instead of $700 this apartment is much much nicer and it is in a residental area in Fitchburg/Verona area. We will live about 5 minutes from Collin's family, ha. :) This is all assuming everything pans out tomorrow when I turn in the rental application. We should be able to move in on Friday evening. I realized today, however, that I do in fact have the storage key in my purse. Dumb move, so I guess either the storage lady will have to meet Theresa and Dad on Friday afternoon or I'll have to mail it to them? I'll call her tomorrow. I am excited about the apartment. It is spacious, things match and are fairly new, it has washer/dryer in unit, and 1 car garage underneath the building. The guy is really nice and he manages the apartment, he seems like someone we can trust and like he takes pride in the apartment looking good and staying in good shape.
Last night I spent the night at Chelsea's. She is a friend from high school. It was really nice to catch up with each other and we chatting pretty late and had a glass of wine. I did not sleep well at all though. It was hot, and we slept in the same bed. I was worried I would keep her up all night, and I am getting over being sick with what Theresa had(cough). We had to get up really early and I left for my first day of inservice.
Inservice = boring, but somewhat informative. I met some people, but I probably won't see them again except tomorrow. I got my TB test done, turned in insurance paperwork, and got my picture taken for my ID badge. I also ate lunch with my principal, which was nice. She is a nice person and easy to talk to. Talking to her about my classes made me a little nervous because she kept mentioning how I will probably be most challenged with behavior problems. She also wants me to really adapt my teaching to the interests of my kids(duh), but basically wants me to do hip hop/rap stuff. NOW, I will totally do some of that, but not all the time. I don't think that's what she meant, but I just don't know what to expect. I am working at a school with far more African American students than white. We talked about the previous music teachers and I got to ask her some other kinds of questions too. We had sessions on positive behavior reinforcement and I can't say that I learned anything new. It is always a good reminder though. We also had a session on diversity and how Madison is FULL of it. Just another way to get me nervous. I am in no way racist, or prejudice, BUT I also have not been in a situation where I have had to deal with kids with such different backgrounds from my own. I know all of this will be good for me, and I will be a better teacher and person because of it. Inservice was at Lafollette! So nice to be back at that school, it is where Capital Sound had Tues/Thurs rehearsals. I also saw John Wallace, the principal from South in EC, or I guess I should say former South principal. He must have followed me down here. Sweet. I spotted the bowtie and converse shoes immediately. Side note - there are 32 elementary schools in this district! That means there are 40-50 elem music teachers! Holy crap.
So I have another full day tomorrow with inservice. Then I am turning in the rental application, and going back to my classroom. Thursday I have a free day at my school, with only one meeting with the principal and I have to get my TB test read at the district office too. I am staying at the McCormicks tomorrow night. I told them I'd probably be there around 7:30pm. Hopefully they let me go to bed early. I need it. Friday is another all day, all school inservice(not just new teachers) and it is at Falk. I am looking forward to that to actually meet the teachers I will be working with. So that's that. I am going to get my pajamas on and go to bed now. It's hotter than hell so I hope to get SOME sleep. I prollllllly forgot lots of things but oh well. Bye!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
3rd time..
So if you read my blog entitled "FRICKIN INTERNET" you will understand the one below it entitled "Bye Yakob" It was a mess. I apologize.
FRICKIN INTERNET
I just wrote a giant blog about this weekend and job stuff but because this internet is STUPID it didn't work and I have to start all over again. Sorry everyone, but this is going to be the abbreviated version.
Got called Friday and accepted job in Madison. I am still in shock, happened fast, and felt awkward sad with Theresa. WIsh she could get a job too. She might come with and that would be fun. It will be interesting to see what my friends in Owatonna say.
Yakob visit=goooooooood. Had fun Friday with sega, videos of Becky singing Brandy's version of Cinderella, Joynt, Pioneer, and House of Rock. Then onto Erbs and Gerbs and Buzzys(yes both) came back with Emily and Lara and had MORE fun at the apartment. Saturday slept in, relaxed, went to Sonic, I babysit, Theresa and Becky worked and Yakob went to a wedding. Today we had Chicken bacon cheddar BBQ subs from Subway before he left. Yum. I am happy he came, wish he could live with us, but also happy he loves Gary. Love you Yakob :)
The rest of my blog was about my last day at HIH is Friday, babysitting, and all of the things I need to do now in order to get ready for this job. Stupid damn internet. I will kill you.
Bye people!
Got called Friday and accepted job in Madison. I am still in shock, happened fast, and felt awkward sad with Theresa. WIsh she could get a job too. She might come with and that would be fun. It will be interesting to see what my friends in Owatonna say.
Yakob visit=goooooooood. Had fun Friday with sega, videos of Becky singing Brandy's version of Cinderella, Joynt, Pioneer, and House of Rock. Then onto Erbs and Gerbs and Buzzys(yes both) came back with Emily and Lara and had MORE fun at the apartment. Saturday slept in, relaxed, went to Sonic, I babysit, Theresa and Becky worked and Yakob went to a wedding. Today we had Chicken bacon cheddar BBQ subs from Subway before he left. Yum. I am happy he came, wish he could live with us, but also happy he loves Gary. Love you Yakob :)
The rest of my blog was about my last day at HIH is Friday, babysitting, and all of the things I need to do now in order to get ready for this job. Stupid damn internet. I will kill you.
Bye people!
Bye Yakob
OK, NOW I found about half of the post that didn't work in my drafts. Here is more detail to some of my previous blog. Cripes...
Clearly, I had an interview in Madison on Thursday and didn't expect to hear from them until next week. BUT the principal called me Friday after work. I was on the phone with the music teacher who just retired in Owatonna, and we were just venting about what is happening there and a 608 number was calling me. I figured it was someone from Madison(like a principal), but I didn't want to cut her off and I was nervous so I thought I'd let whoever leave a message. Well, I could tell from the message that it was good. I called the principal back and she offered me the job. SO, I will be teaching elementary music at Falk Elementary School in Madison, WI next year. It is a .90 position so not full time but darn close(and higher than I was this past year at .74). While I was accepting the job, Theresa was sitting next to me and I felt SO BAD. We both cried afterwards for quite awhile. It's hard to describe that feeling. I was relieved in a way, yet felt terrible that Theresa couldn't have the same. I still feel weird about accepting that I won't be in Owatonna, but it keeps getting better. I am thinking of all the cool things I like about Madison, all the perks to being there, who I will be closer to, etc. Theresa will be deciding soon whether or not she is going to move with me. We figure that if she doesn't get a job, she might as well feel like she is getting some kind of fresh start in a newer environment. Madison is such a large district that I am sure she could sub everyday down there too. I have started looking online at apartments, but it's hard to know exactly where to look, a price range, and whether or not I should look for 1 or 2 bedroom places. I am thinking that I will us go down to Madison after next weekend and stay at a hotel for a night or two(or maybe Collin's parents) to get into my classroom, sign paperwork, set things up, and apartment hunt. It's all very overwhelming to me right now. I wish I had more time or something. Anyways, I am happy for all of the congrats and I feel fortunate to be employed(with benefits and doing what I want to do). I wish it could be the same for everyone.
My last day at Hand in Hand is on Friday. I am happy to be done because I am focus on what comes next. I am going to miss the kids in a weird way, and the teachers there too. Some of them were old that I got back in touch with, and some were new that I enjoyed getting to know. Our big field trip is on Thursday to MOA Underwater Adventures Aquarium so that should be fun. Friday is my last trip to Fairfax Pool so I hope we get good weather. I have a feeling I won't be back to HIH again because my time in EC will be limited visits and most likely I will not be back next summer.
Onto the fun stuff....Yakob came to EC this weekend. After finding out about my job, he showed up and we all celebrated by playing sega and being really really stupid. He is so much fun. We just laughed about dumb crap and took videos of Becky singing Brandy's version of Cinderella. Then we all went out. The Joynt was kind of lame so we went to the Pioneer. That was a good time I suppose. Then we ended up going over to House of Rock because a bunch of guys were playing there. It was really fun. The music was great and we were all pretty drunk at that point too. We meandered on over to Erbs and Gerbs and Theresa and Yakob got subs(I stole the innards of Tsa's bread - YUM) While in the bathroom there, I noticed a check by the garbage can so I picked it up and it turns out it was MY check. HAHA! I am glad I didn't leave it there. It was a check from Theresa for all the Chicago stuff, not a good one to lose. After that...get this...we went to Buzzy's for Mac n cheese pizza. Yes, two food places. But I have to clarify that I didn't get a sub and I split my pizza with Theresa. It. was. amazing! I love mac n cheese pizza. Oh man, I could go for some right meow. Later on we walked home and ran into Lara and Emily and they joined us back at the apartment for more fun. It was a great great night. We didn't even feel too bad in the morning(probably the E&G's and Buzzy's)
Clearly, I had an interview in Madison on Thursday and didn't expect to hear from them until next week. BUT the principal called me Friday after work. I was on the phone with the music teacher who just retired in Owatonna, and we were just venting about what is happening there and a 608 number was calling me. I figured it was someone from Madison(like a principal), but I didn't want to cut her off and I was nervous so I thought I'd let whoever leave a message. Well, I could tell from the message that it was good. I called the principal back and she offered me the job. SO, I will be teaching elementary music at Falk Elementary School in Madison, WI next year. It is a .90 position so not full time but darn close(and higher than I was this past year at .74). While I was accepting the job, Theresa was sitting next to me and I felt SO BAD. We both cried afterwards for quite awhile. It's hard to describe that feeling. I was relieved in a way, yet felt terrible that Theresa couldn't have the same. I still feel weird about accepting that I won't be in Owatonna, but it keeps getting better. I am thinking of all the cool things I like about Madison, all the perks to being there, who I will be closer to, etc. Theresa will be deciding soon whether or not she is going to move with me. We figure that if she doesn't get a job, she might as well feel like she is getting some kind of fresh start in a newer environment. Madison is such a large district that I am sure she could sub everyday down there too. I have started looking online at apartments, but it's hard to know exactly where to look, a price range, and whether or not I should look for 1 or 2 bedroom places. I am thinking that I will us go down to Madison after next weekend and stay at a hotel for a night or two(or maybe Collin's parents) to get into my classroom, sign paperwork, set things up, and apartment hunt. It's all very overwhelming to me right now. I wish I had more time or something. Anyways, I am happy for all of the congrats and I feel fortunate to be employed(with benefits and doing what I want to do). I wish it could be the same for everyone.
My last day at Hand in Hand is on Friday. I am happy to be done because I am focus on what comes next. I am going to miss the kids in a weird way, and the teachers there too. Some of them were old that I got back in touch with, and some were new that I enjoyed getting to know. Our big field trip is on Thursday to MOA Underwater Adventures Aquarium so that should be fun. Friday is my last trip to Fairfax Pool so I hope we get good weather. I have a feeling I won't be back to HIH again because my time in EC will be limited visits and most likely I will not be back next summer.
Onto the fun stuff....Yakob came to EC this weekend. After finding out about my job, he showed up and we all celebrated by playing sega and being really really stupid. He is so much fun. We just laughed about dumb crap and took videos of Becky singing Brandy's version of Cinderella. Then we all went out. The Joynt was kind of lame so we went to the Pioneer. That was a good time I suppose. Then we ended up going over to House of Rock because a bunch of guys were playing there. It was really fun. The music was great and we were all pretty drunk at that point too. We meandered on over to Erbs and Gerbs and Theresa and Yakob got subs(I stole the innards of Tsa's bread - YUM) While in the bathroom there, I noticed a check by the garbage can so I picked it up and it turns out it was MY check. HAHA! I am glad I didn't leave it there. It was a check from Theresa for all the Chicago stuff, not a good one to lose. After that...get this...we went to Buzzy's for Mac n cheese pizza. Yes, two food places. But I have to clarify that I didn't get a sub and I split my pizza with Theresa. It. was. amazing! I love mac n cheese pizza. Oh man, I could go for some right meow. Later on we walked home and ran into Lara and Emily and they joined us back at the apartment for more fun. It was a great great night. We didn't even feel too bad in the morning(probably the E&G's and Buzzy's)
Friday, August 14, 2009
MADISON
I just accepted the job in Madison this afternoon. It is at Falk Elem in Madison. It's on the west side. I will update more later, maybe tomorrow.
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