I needed a 570 on my Praxis to pass it… and keep my NC school counseling license.
I made a 690 on the exam!!!!!
So if all else fails, I will still be able to return to counseling at my current school. Now, hopefully, other schools will at least give me a chance and interview me if I can say that I passed and I’m just waiting for an updated license.
We began EOG testing last week on the 22nd. There were a few problems (two that had me in tears), but none of them were my fault. My boss even defended me to the assistant superintendant.
You’d think after one week of state testing we’d be done, right?
Well you’d be wrong!
This week we began retesting all the students who didn’t pass the test during the first administration. Take a moment and read that sentence again until its full meaning sinks in.
If they flunk, they take it again.
Not only do they get to take it again this week, but if they still flunk the exam after the second administration they get to take it yet another time. That’s right, they get 3 chances to pass the End of Grade state exam.
Does this seem excessive? Does this seem to anyone else like it might skew and highly inflate the final data that the state of North Carolina reports to the government regarding the achievement in the state?
Putting that aside though? It is absolutely ridiculously stressful and tedious. I’m ready to take up residence on the roof, just to see if someone can talk me down.
We will be doing retests until at least Monday of next week. Then we’ll have final exams.
6 more days. I can do it.
At about 8 this morning I took Merlin out for a walk around the big block near my house. He was antsy and I know from experience that the best way to cure that is to get him out for a constitutional. As we rounded the first corner, a mini van came up, slowed, and the door slid open as it continued to creep along beside me. This is not a comforting thing to have happen, and I was glad to have Merlin beside me. A man leaned out and said, “Could we give you this information to read?” I realized then that they weren’t kidnappers, they were Christians on the conversion path. I said, “I really don’t think my dog would be OK with that.” The Christians left and we continued on our walk.
So reason #857 to love my dog?
He repels what I have come to call the mini van Christians.
I wonder if I could market this skill?
In summary of this week, a conversation with several coworkers:
V: Ms. M do you drink?
*moment’s pause*
Me: I do now
…Insert laughter and some filler chatter…
R: I love the margaritas at the new Mexican place.
V: Oh I don’t like them. I had a virgin one the other…
Me: Well there’s your problem right there. No alcohol.
9 more days.
I’ll take my margarita with alcohol, thank you very much.
Two years ago today had great potential to be a very sad day. At the time, it would’ve been my one year anniversary with the boy I had been seeing. The boy that had also recently decided he needed a “break” from our relationship. I found myself spiraling down in a very bad cycle of depression and self-deprecation. I was in the beginning of what would become a very difficult 7-months.
But on May 24th, something happened that would change my life. A man I didn’t know left me a comment on my blog, saying he liked my writing and introducing himself as the son of a friend I’d met via another website. I was skeptical at first, after all you never know what kind of crazies might pop up via the web. His story checked out though, and his mom assured me that he was an upstanding young man.
What began as a comment on my blog soon transformed into a friendship that helped me through one of the darkest times of my life. When I felt awful about myself and about life in general, he helped remind me about the good things. When I was putting my life on hold and allowing myself to be miserable for weeks and months at a time, his support helped me remember that I was worth more than I was giving myself. When I finally put a stop to a painful cycle with my former boyfriend, he was there to assure me I’d made the right decision. When major health issues cropped up, he was there, sending me text messages to make me smile after surgery… sending me my own personal furry little doctor to keep me company over my two-night hospital stay.
This man who was a complete stranger became my best friend. He has continued to be that for me over the past two years, even as our romantic relationship developed. What began two years ago as a kind note from a stranger, has grown into the love of my life. We just bought our first house. This is the man I will marry one day (soon I think). This is the man who will be the father of my children. This is the man that has helped make all of my dreams come true, and I know that as the years pass it will just be more of the same.
Who knew that a comment from a stranger could turn into this?
