Fadedwords

Today was the first day of end-of-grade testing for us, and it went really well.  Only one or two bumps, and they were tiny ones.  The staff did an amazing job, and the kids were focused and worked so hard.  I’m always so proud to work at the school, but this time of year that increases exponentially.  Everyone does a great job, and that makes my job easier.  Testing is always a stressful time, but having such a wonderful team of people to work with really helps me out.  It was a good day.

I got to go  out to dinner with one of my best friends, Steve, tonight.  We went to a restaurant that I’ve been wanting to go to for quite some time.  The food was very yummy!  I have penne alla vodka that will likely feed me for the next two days.  I also ate some scrumptious  chocolate cake.  It was great to see Steve, although kind of sad.  He’s going to be moving to Georgia in June, which is pretty stinky.  It’s been nice having him so close by the last few years.  On the bright side, this is a good excuse to go to Georgia!

I’m looking forward to this weekend.  I’m going to a farm that I found out about several weeks ago that pairs abused horses with abused girls in a therapeutic setting.  A woman that used to work at the farm I started riding at about two years ago (the farm that had the weight restriction) is actually the founder of the program, and when I heard about it I sent her an email hoping to volunteer or work in some way.  She got back to me the other day and said how excited she was that I’d reached out to her, and asked if I could come out this Saturday to meet some of the girls and learn more about the program.  I’m very excited and hoping to be able to mentor in the program.  It’s such an amazing program, and a dream situation for me to be a part of it.  Helping people and horses!!  Nothing better.

After that I will be attending a dance recital.  I’m pretty excited, but can’t divulge further details for fear of maiming or death.

Sunday I am incredibly excited for, because I will be traveling to do a portrait session.  The daughter of one of the barrel racers I know contacted me and asked me if I would be willing to do preschool portraits of her son, because the ones they got at school came out poorly.  She wanted to do them at her mom’s farm, and I’m totally game for that.  It’s my first paying portrait gig, so I’m very excited and determined to give her my best work.  I’ve been dedicating a lot of time to working with photo*shop, and I’ve done some great creative post-processing, so I can’t wait to do that work with the portraits I take.  I’m also excited because I have a new portrait lens that will be super wonderful to shoot these photos.  I bought it prior to hearing about how much I was getting docked pay this month, which is frustrating because I absolutely wouldn’t have bought it had I known.  However, I think it will pay for itself after another 2 portrait shoots.

I’m pretty sure that I’ve had food poisoning since Saturday.  The nurse at school seems convinced of that.  I’m still sick, and struggling.  When I told the nurse my symptoms she asked what I’d eaten prior to first getting sick.  I told her it was a hot dog at the festival I was working, and she went, “You’ve got food poisoning sweetie!” BLEH.  I’m hoping that by tomorrow I’m back to normal.  Today was not a fun day dealing with being sick and testing.

All things considered, this has been a good day.  I’ll be hoping for another of those tomorrow.

This has been an exhausting week.

I’m responsible for administering the listening, reading, and writing test to all of our ESL students (English as Second Language).  This has me in testing from 9-10:30 and then 1-2:30 every day.  From 10:30-11:30 I try to get caught up on anything around here that I can, and then I do lunch duty, eat my lunch, and then go back in to test.  After this week I have at least two more days next week that will be full of testing.  Then after that I will begin screening kids for EC services.  I have about 18 to complete prior to the first of March.  That will be interesting.

Jake had his wisdom teeth removed yesterday.  They took all four of them out, leaving him groggy and in some substantial pain.  He stayed with me last night, and may stay with me tonight.  I told him he could stay as long as he felt that he needed to.  He’s going to Phoenix on Sunday for work, so obviously he’ll be heading back home before then.  I’m planning ot make mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese tonight for dinner because they’re soft and his favorite.  Hopefully the combination of the two will lead to him eating.  Last night we tried chicken noodle soup and it ended with him feeling nauseous.  Yay anesthesia and vicodin!

Things with my brother had been going fine until a couple nights ago.  My Mom got a call from Sean saying they were sending him home because he has ADHD.  Long story (very) short: he disclosed this fully, is not on meds and hasn’t been in over a year.  Both he and my parents spoke about his ADHD with his recruiter, and Sean put it on all his paperwork.  My Mom and Dad were witnesses to all of this.  Apparently, someone altered his paperwork so it does not show up anywhere that he ever disclosed that he has it.  When he did his “moment of truth” interview, he told them (again) that he has it, and as far as anyone at the base is concerned he didn’t report that prior.  It’s a nightmare.   He has worked so incredibly hard, and he’s been very successful in his training so far.  To have this come up now is devastating for him and for us.  My parents have been on the phone to everyone they can think of, and they’re trying to get things worked out so he can stay.  Of course now he’s so discouraged that he may not want to stay even if he is given that opportunity.  We’re all trying to stay positive, but we only have two weeks to get it worked out.

I’m not looking forward to this weekend.  VD (not venereal disease… the holiday) is on Sunday, and just thinking about it makes me sad.  I’m trying to just pretend it isn’t happening this year.  All those should’ve beens and would’ve beens… *sigh*  Hopefully by this time next year I have something happy going on.  This year I’m thinking of sleeping through it.

It’s been a blah kind of week.  Coming back from a lengthy vacation always equals a blah week.  My back is incredibly sore, bordering on going out completely.  I had to miss a girls night because of money, which I fear will become a common occurrence since I’m living paycheck to paycheck.  It’s cold and nasty outside.

Just blah.

I have to go home and clean tonight, even though I don’t want to.  My kitchen is a disaster, and I haven’t vacuumed since Saturday.

It might snow tonight.  Trying not to get my hopes up for a snow day, but I could really use one.  How sad that I’ve only been back a week (less than!) and I already need a break.  Thankfully, everyone seems to feel the same.  I think it’s harder for the staff at a school to get back into the swing of things than it is for the kids sometimes.

This has been a busy week.  Monday we had a half-work day, half-meeting day.  The whole staff was trained in RtI, which is what we’re beginning to train in for a process of helping students achieve their greatest success.  I’m the RtI/A-Team chairperson, and attended 6 trainings last year with our core team.  It’s a big shift in thinking for the teachers, so it’s challenging going through training and trying to wrap minds around the new processes.  I know that the staff here will get on board because everyone is so supportive and willing to do what’s best for students.  That’s a bonus.

Yesterday was the first student day back.  One of my favorite kids had a rough morning, and I was glad I was stationed in the hallway and got to help make his morning a little bit better.  The rest of the day was full of new enrollees, getting 504 plans straight, running errands, planning for RtI paperwork, adding meetings to my calendar, and working hard to stay organized and sane.  It was very good to see the kids though; after being here three years, I see familiar faces.  It’s nice having that much time in somewhere because the kids get excited to see you when they return.

This brings me to another topic…

Last year I had put in for an in-county transfer.  I had been toying with the idea for quite some time of moving to the high school level if the opportunity was there.  There wasn’t a position open at any point over the summer, so I prepared to be back at the elementary level.  The first Friday of work days, about a week and a half ago, I saw that one of the local high school’s had posted an opening.  So I called and said I would be interested in interviewing.  The principal there requested a copy of my resume, which I provided.  Then I waited until last Friday, when he called me again.  He was checking to be sure my current principal is aware that I would like to interview for the open position at his school.  She and I had discussed it on Monday, and she was incredibly supportive.  He said that he’d be glad to interview me, and would be in touch with a time as soon as he saw an opening in his schedule.

I’m hopeful that I’ll get an interview, and that he’ll end up offering me the position.  As much as I love the little kids, the other demands of my position make it nearly impossible for me to actually counsel kids.  I just have too many other things that I’m required to do.  I know that I work very well with kids at the high school level, and I’ve missed being in that environment.  I think that it would be a good move for me both professionally and personally, in that I would be much happier.

My friend Bre has already accepted a job at the school, which makes it that much more ideal.  I’d be moving on to the grade span that I enjoy most, and I would already have a friend there so I wouldn’t feel too lonely.  The school colors also happen to be the same as the high school I attended growing up, which is coincidence but a fun one.

We’ll see what happens.  Either way I have a job, and either way I know I have a support system.  This school is wonderful, and I’ve had a good 2+ years here.  If I do end up leaving this school, it will be sad.  There are many people I will miss seeing on a daily basis, most especially the kids.  However, I know what is best for me.  This would be a very positive move if it happened.

So keep your fingers crossed.  Hopefully I’ll hear something about the interview by this Friday.