Time for Bed

I went back to the school today to do more work.  Getting close to getting it all packed.  I sorted through tons of stuff today.  Have another stack to go.  Tomorrow I have to head to Denton to get an official transcript that shows my master’s degree and then on down to Austin.  I’m staying at Marty’s place.  Thursday I will do processing stuff in San Antonio and drive around the area and get a feel for different neighborhoods.  It is a bit early to really look at houses.  I need to wait until about two weeks before I plan to move.  Most rental places won’t hold houses longer than that.  I don’t think it will be a problem to get a rental house.  I just am not sure about the neighborhoods yet. 

Of course I’m being totally analytical and examining crime rate statistics, poverty levels, etc.  I think it will be best to just drive and get a feel for the areas. 

Andrew asked me in a comment if I was scared about moving to a big city.  The answer is yes.  But at the same time I’m excited.  I do hate leaving the my friends here.  I finally started developing some really good friendships with people from church and in my work.  I’m really going to miss those people.  But I think this is an opportunity I have to take and it will be good for me.  I do worry about being safe in such a big city, but I will take all the precautions I can and hope and pray for the best. 

I need to get some sleep and try to head out early tomorrow.  It will be a longer trip since I’m having to take my Denton detour.  But hopefully all my paperwork can get processed and I will be officially employed! 

Marty and I may go to San Antonio on Friday.  He is off from work that day and he has wanted to visit the Alamo so we may go exploring.  Friday night, our friend Brent is going to grill steaks for us.  I’m looking forward to it.  Now – don’t read too much into this – doesn’t mean Marty and I are getting back together or anything – but I think we may just be like Matthew and I - “really good friends who go out from time to time.”  I think perhaps I just need to enjoy going out with absolutely no strings attached. 

Bed is calling so I’m off!  I will try to post on the road if I can, but not sure about internet access since I’m not staying in a hotel.

The news is on Facebook

I told my principal about the job offer today.  He took it very well and was understanding about it.  He said he knew that a library job was what I wanted and he hated the fact that the budget cuts prevented me from getting the job at the school.  He said that it will be tough to fill my shoes. 

I stayed at the school and worked all day.  I started going through things deciding what to take and what to leave behind.  I think I’m going to leave a lot my files and such.  Most of them are in electronic format, so I will just take copies of anything I don’t have saved.  I started packing some boxes and hope that I won’t have too many to move.  The nice thing about moving is that hopefully I will pare down all my stuff.  I have way too many things in spite of having about 4 garage sales here already.  Will have one more probably the weekend before I move. 

I spent hours and hours yesterday looking at rent houses online.  I have way too many to potentially visit this week.  I’m going to have to figure a way to eliminate some from my list. 

Now that I’ve told my principal, I posted the news on Facebook.  I didn’t want to say anything on there until I had told some key people the news first.  So now I’m getting all sorts of congratulations which is really nice.  Even my former mother-in-law called me as soon as she saw my status. 

Here’s something funny for you.  Amarillo has its own minor-league baseball team and it has had some struggles in the last few years.  It has been renamed four or five times, I believe, and most recently are called the Amarillo Sox.  They unveiled a new mascot (which is a gold “sock”) but unfortunately, the costume had some issues.  Click here for the article from the paper – and here, for an even better picture of the phallus, uh, I mean costume.

Heading Home

Or at least what is only home for another month or so.  We are leaving for the airport shortly and will be back in Amarillo a little after noon.  I started looking at some rental houses online, but need to wait until I can organize a list and create a map of addresses to view.  I think I need to drive around the neighborhoods to get a feel for some of the places. 

We had good visits with family.  I have a cousin of sorts that lives in San Antonio and she said that should would help me with everything in terms of getting settled down there.  There is going to be so much to do.  The next month is going to fly by.

Gotta keep this short for now… heading to airport.

Great dinner with great friends

The car that I rented is a brand new Mazda 6.  It only had a little over 300 miles on it when I rented it.  I have driven over 600 miles in three days.  I’ve now made three trips to San Antonio.  Then I had to drive from north Austin to south Austin (in rush hour) to pick up Marty for dinner.  We met our friend Brent at his place of work and we walked to Fogo de Chao for dinner.  It was really good and probably really expensive, but Brent paid for dinner.  It’s a place where they bring you cuts of meat to eat throughout dinner.  You can get a bunch of different steak cuts, ribs, chicken, and lamb.  This is in addition to a salad bar and extra sides for dinner.  It was great to spend time with both Marty and Brent.  After dinner Marty and I went back to his place and just hung out for about 45 minutes.  It was nice to just spend time with him.  Yeah, I miss him.  No news there.  I will probably stay with him next week when I have to come back down here for processing.

I filled out some paperwork today and signed a “signing agreement” which means as long as I provide all the paperwork needed, I will be hired by the district.  My salary will be about $6500 more a year than I’m making now, however, they will be taking out social security in addition to my TRS retirement.  But that also means that I can draw both when I retire.  So I’m not sure how much more I’ll really make, but I’ll plan on what I’m getting now and anything more will be extra.  I’m coming back to go through processing next Thursday where I’ll deal with more paperwork and figure out my benefits and such.  Then at some point I also have to go through new employee orientation.  Looks like I’ll be making several trips this summer. 

I looked into moving truck rentals and I think it should be doable to rent a large truck one way.  I just got to find a place to live first.  When I come back next week, I will make some appointments to view some properties and see if I can get something lined up for the first of August. 

This is going to be a whole new thing for me – to live in a big city.  Marty said it will be a culture shock.  I’m sure he’s right.  He thinks it will be good for me though.  I hope so.  This is going way beyond my comfort zone.  I’ve been living the small town life for a lot of years now. 

I’m exhausted so I’m going to go to bed.  It will be a busy day tomorrow and then we fly home on Sunday.  Then on Monday I have to tell my principal about my new job and work on a resignation letter.  I have so much to do and very little time to do it. 

Change is Good Right?

So after the interview yesterday I was figuring that 1. it would be a while before the possibility of a job opened up and 2. I should pray that another local job became available and 3. I might just be stuck teaching another year. 

Then I went to Sea World and rode some roller coasters.  (Now have two more added to the count.)  And after I got off my second ride on Great White, I had a phone message to call the San Antonio personnel office.  So I called.  And I’ve been offered a Pre-Hire position.  What is that you ask?  (I had the same question.)  Basically, they are offering me a definite library job next year.  The only thing is that they don’t know which particular position and campus yet.  But I am guaranteed a job – it is just a matter of setting up a few other interviews at the open campuses and let the principals fight over me or something like that.  But it means that should I accept the pre-hire position, I can go ahead and resign from my current job and make plans to move to San Antonio.  And I think I’m going to take the job.  I don’t know if I should sleep on it, but I really need to get plans set for next year.  While it is true that I could possibly still interview for something locally, there are no guarantees of a job there or anywhere else.  And the thought of starting fresh in a new city is kind of enticing.  And scary.  But I think it will all work out. 

It looks like Matthew will rent my house from me so I will have somebody in it that I know and trust.  And should I want to come back for Christmas or brief visits, I could stay there.  There would be so much more to see and do in a big city.  I have friends close by in Austin and Josh would be a LOT closer at only 5 hours away instead of 10.  So if I wanted to go down to hear one of his concerts, I could do that.  So this could just be the beginning of a new chapter in my life.  I guess practically falling on my face after the interview wasn’t so bad after all.

How Embarrassing

Made it Austin without incident.  Plane leaving was delayed 20 minutes, but got in only about 5 minutes behind schedule.  Got my car and headed to San Antonio for the interview.  Interview was late because one of the interviewers was running late.  I thought the interview went ok.  I’m sure I could have answered some questions better than I did, but perhaps it will be enough to get me recommended for further interviews at schools.  Then the embarrassing part:  I guess my foot had fallen asleep while I was sitting there because I got up and my right foot just went out and I couldn’t support my leg and I fell on my knee.  I managed to get up and shake my foot to get some blood circulating in there and managed to wobble out after apologizing.  Maybe they will feel sorry for me and let me get to the next level.  The problem, however, is that the school principals are all on their “vacation” time right now and won’t be back to work until mid-July.  Since I signed my contract with my district, if I wanted out of it without it having to get board approval, I have to resign before a certain date – which is usually mid-July.  The other issue is that if I don’t even interview until then, I would have less than a month to find a place to live, move, and then get someone to rent my place. 

I had to drive in rush hour traffic in both San Antonio and Austin.  That is one thing I really don’t want to deal with, but might have to if I did get an offer.  Made it to the hotel and then we went and had snow cones at my uncle’s nephew’s stand and then had dinner at Cheddars.  I ordered the fish tacos and they were really good. 

Tomorrow Josh and I are going to Sea World.  It should be a fun trip.  We will head down around 8:30 and leave around 2:00.  My cousin is coming in tomorrow so it will be good to spend time with her.

Well, I better get to bed as it will be a long busy day tomorrow.  The thing about vacations is that you really don’t get to “rest” most of the time.

Shopping Day

I enjoyed sleeping in this morning.  I didn’t get out of bed until after 10:00.  I took my time getting ready.  I had to call my insurance agent because I either didn’t receive or couldn’t find my most recent auto insurance card.  Since I’m renting a car in Austin, I thought I might need to have a copy of it.  So he emailed me a copy. 

I headed to the mall around 2:00 in hopes of finding something new to wear for my interview.  I didn’t find anything that I loved and I tried on a bunch of stuff.  I was also looking for comfortable black shoes or sandals to wear when I go to Sea World.  I finally found some sketcher shape up sandals that I liked at Shoe Carnival.  They cost me $60 but hopefully they will tone my butt as advertised.  They are very cushioned so I think they should be good for walking around the park all day.

While I was in Dallas, I got to meet a high school friend of mine that I lost contact with for about 7 years.  We were really good friends starting in junior high when we rode the same bus to school.  He was in band and just an all around nice guy.  Unfortunately, he got into a relationship with the absolutely wrong person for him and he didn’t see it until many years later.  Many of us in high school could see that the girl was trouble, but I think he was thinking with other parts of his anatomy rather than his brain at the time.  He finally realized she was as he now says “psycho” after 15 years.  I caught up with him shortly after he divorced about 7 years ago.  At that time I wasn’t really dating at the time and he seemed interested, but shortly thereafter started the Marty saga.  Rodney (the friend) went back under the radar and I hadn’t talked to him since shortly after Marty and I dated the first time.  On whim, I looked him up on facebook a few weeks ago and I found him.  He lives near Dallas so we met for lunch while I was there.  He married again a few years ago and divorced about a year ago.  He now has two young kids (5 & 3) and has full custody of them.  I had a crush on him at one point shortly after high school.  I think I finally realized that he was a nice guy and I hated the fact that he had fallen for a horrible person, but by the time I developed an interest, it was too late.  Oh well.  And now, I just don’t see us together.  I am glad, however, that we’ve gotten in touch again.  I have missed his friendship. 

I’m hoping to see Marty while I’m in Austin but he hasn’t responded to my texts or phone calls.  I can’t figure out if he is busy with work or if he is just being an ass.  Matthew finally responded to a few texts today, but I take conversation with him with a grain of salt.  I don’t have any expectations with him any more.  My friend Brent and I are planning a potential kidnapping of Marty since his birthday is coming up.  It’s a thing we used to do in high school – this time without pantyhose on our heads. 

No plans for tonight.  I’m sitting here on my bed with my laptop in my lap.  I finished a beer and am thinking of having another one. 

I’m home

It’s been a very long trip, but glad to be home even if it is only for two days.  I had a good time at Six Flags yesterday.  It was hot and exhausting though.  I did get to ride five coasters and added two more to my count.  I’ve now ridden 159 different coasters. 

While I was in Dallas, San Antonio ISD called to schedule an interview.  I was able to work it out so I can do it when I go to Austin for the family trip this week.  I fly into Austin on Wednesday and then I’ll be driving down to San Antonio to interview late that afternoon.  Josh and I are going to go back to SA either Thursday or Friday and go to Sea World. 

I did get to see Spamalot on Tuesday and it was awesome.  If you like Monty Python at all, you would love it.  Even though I’m not sure about the possibility of moving to a big city, I think it would be great to be able to go to shows and concerts and such that would be more readily accessible. 

Tomorrow (well, today since it is after midnight) I have to do tons of laundry and start packing for the trip to Austin.  I have another application to fill out as well.  At this point, ANY library job is looking good to me.

A Brief Internet Connection

The hotel charges for internet in the rooms and I'm too cheap to pay $12 a day for a connection. I may be addicted, but not desperate. And I do have my iPhone so I've been keeping up with goings on with Facebook and checking email. But we got a code to be able to use the internet in one particular area of the hotel. I tried to get connected earlier today, but it didn't work. But discovered that the text sent by my co-teacher with the code was auto-corrected. So now I have the code and some down time, so I figure that it is a good time to update.

I'm posting via blogger rather than using live writer since I brought my macbook instead of my home laptop. I much prefer live writer. I needed the macbook in order to work on a project using InDesign.

I was thrilled to get a comment from Andrew. I know he reads daily, but I appreciate it so much when he comments. Of course I appreciate my other few commenters, but it's been a while since I've heard from Andrew.

I didn't get the job that I interviewed for locally last week. I didn't expect to, and the message left by the principal was very complimentary. So I'm still looking. I decided to go ahead and consider San Antonio if they are still interested. I put my principal down as a reference. Don't know how he'll feel about that, but I would hope he would understand my position. I also sent my last three evaluations so we'll see if they bite. I told them that I would be down in the area next week if they wanted to interview me.

Tournament is going fine so far. I'm concerned about my judging assignment tonight. We have tickets to go see the musical Spamalot which should be entertaining, but I may not be able to get there in time if I have to judge a round at 6:00.

Last night we went to the West End. We had dinner at the spaghetti warehouse. I was relatively lame and just had the spaghetti with meatsauce. But it is my favorite food so I don't care. It was good and the strawberry lemonade was really delicious. Then we walked around because they were having a "street party" for the students. They had some karaoke, street performers, vendors and such. We walked over to Dealy Plaza, the JFK memorial, and that's about it. We ride the DART train which makes it convenient. I would recommend it if staying in downtown Dallas for an extended period of time.

So I guess that's it in a nutshell. Hotel is pretty nice but some rooms are much smaller than others. Luckily I'm in one of the larger rooms which is good having a roommate. But some of the competitions take place in a room cleared of the bed and it doesn't work very well. It's pretty cold because they keep the air up way too high for my comfort. Glad I brought a jacket, but I wish I had socks on right now. I may walk outside for a bit just to defrost.

Don't know if I will have anything interesting to post tomorrow, but I should be able to get back online at least and read everyone else's postings.

Packing

I really should have started packing yesterday.  I made an effort, but decided to do other things instead – really important things like watching t.v., surfing the web, and napping.  But I have been much more productive today.  I went to church this morning – a little late, but made it before the end of the Gloria.  Then I went to the store to get dog food for the dogs and pizza for the kid.  Hopefully the animals and Josh won’t starve while I’m gone for a week.  Then I came home and started laundry so I can get packed at some point.  Then Josh was headed to the movies with his girlfriend and asked if she could come over for dinner tonight.  I said yes, of course, but then decided I should probably clean the house some.  I also went to the grocery store to get some salad fixings and cheesecake for dessert.  My oven only works part time right now so I didn’t want to count on it for baking something.  I am hoping to make lasagna tonight, but it is dependent on the oven working.  If not, we will be having linguine with meat sauce. 

I’m leaving for Dallas early tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. for the national speech tournament.  I will be there for a week.  We are staying at one of the downtown hotels, but they don’t provide internet for free.  So I will probably only use it in the lobby from time to time rather than pay for it.  But then again, I might pay for a night at some point just to catch up.  So don’t expect regular posts from me for the next week. 

So the guy from the brainiac dating site that lives in NY has been emailing regularly.  That’s kind of nice.  I’m going to go finish cleaning and try to get a little packing done before I have to start dinner. 

Work week is done

Today was my last day for summer school.  I got everything done that I needed to and even left early since I had to play a band concert.  The concert was ok, but difficult because it was windy.  Though we used clothespins to hold the music down, some gusts of wind would almost knock the stands over.  So at times the person playing next to me would hold the music and the stand while I played.  But we managed to get through it and played a good 40 minute concert.  We ended with Stars and Stripes which is always a crowd pleaser. 

I came home and worked on a baby blanket that I’m crocheting for a bit and then took a brief nap.  I got up around 4:30 and got ready for a date of sorts.  I’ve mentioned before that this is the guy that stood me up the first time he asked me out.  So I wasn’t sure if he’d really show up.  But he did right on time at 5:30.  We went out to dinner and then played a game of putt putt golf.  It was fine – but certainly no sparks for me.  He likes to talk.  So I heard a lot about his son and his ex-wife and his mom and his brother and his sister and nephew and nieces and other things.  It was all fine, but I think we are set to be just friends.  And not like Matthew and I are just friends, because I still kiss him from time to time.  And though I know this guy would love to kiss me, I just don’t see it happening.

In other news, I joined a dating site a few years ago called Brainiac Dating.  It’s a free site but it was supposed to be for more intellectual, geeky, type people.  So I thought I’d give it a try.  I didn’t think much of it and never got anything out of it.  Well, today I got a friend request from a guy in NY.  I checked out his profile to see if he’s really one of those guys that pretends to be a. an American when he’s really from Nigeria or b. a guy that pretends to be smart but is dumber than a stick  or c. a guy that is clearly full of it with a fake profile.  But his profile seemed relatively genuine so I accepted his friend request and he actually sent me a message.  Don’t think anything will come of it, but I wouldn’t mind a friend in NY. 

Tonight I’m going to curl up with my Kindle and finish the book I’m working on.  I’m up to book nine in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.  Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow.  It will definitely involve sleeping in!

TGIF - almost

Slowly making it through the week.  Today seemed long.  After school was finished at noon, I had to serve lunch duty from 12:30 until a little after 1:00.  I then went back to the school to finish up some work for another 30 minutes or so.  I got back to town and went to buy a Six Flags season pass from my bank, but found out that they only sell them online.  So I went and picked up some lunch and then tried to buy my ticket, but it didn’t work.  After I ate, I was exhausted, so I took a nap.  I know it isn’t helping me in regulating my sleeping habits, but when you’re tired, you’re tired.  Isn’t napping what summers are for? 

I got my thank you letters finished.  I probably should have finished them last night, but I got distracted by an old friend calling.  He’s a guy that I was friends with in high school – and briefly had a crush on.  After high school we had no contact until about 7 years ago.  We briefly caught up and then lost contact again.  I guess he recently got on facebook, so I found him in a search.  I may get to see him next week when I’m in Dallas for Nationals. 

I have a date of sorts tomorrow night.  Finally giving the guy that has been asking me out for about 7 years now a chance.  So we’ll see.  I really don’t have an interest in him romantically, but we’ve had a decent online friendship so I figure why not go to dinner. 

I will also probably see Marty when I go to Austin at the end of the month.  I thought he might be out of town, but that won’t be until July. 

And Matthew might come to my band concert tomorrow at noon – if he can make it – but I certainly won’t hold my breath on that one. 

Gee… so many guys… what do I do?  Too bad the ones I’m relatively interested in have commitment issues and the others just don’t have “it” – whatever that is.  Oh well, at least life is a little more interesting these days, eh?

The interview

Overall I thought the interview went well.  There were no surprising/stumping questions.  I felt like I had good energy and enthusiasm.  I actually knew one of the interviewers – it was a guy I had some speech classes with in college.  He nodded a lot during the interview, so I hope that is a good sign.  I think of the four people that did the interview, the English teacher was probably the most difficult to impress.  Now for the bad news.  They are interviewing a total of eight people.  I’m guessing several of them will have more experience than I do.  But I did mention that despite my experience that my enthusiasm and need to prove myself should allow me to be a successful librarian.  So we’ll see.  I think if the principal bases the decision on the interview alone and does not specifically talk to those who work at the school and know me, then I probably won’t get it.  I think that if he considered the opinion of the counselor and teacher that I know, it could work in my favor.  So it is just up in the air at the moment.  Before I go to bed tonight, I’m going to try to get a thank you letter written to each of the people that interviewed me. 

I got a call from the district where I interviewed last week and was not surprised that I didn’t make the cut for the next round of interviews.  But I also got a call from San Antonio and they want me to put my principal down as a reference and I’m not sure how I feel about that.  They also want my evaluations from the last three years.  I didn’t actually talk to the district – they left a message so I have to decide how interested I am in getting an interview there.  I have to consider if I would really want to move there and if I want to invest in a trip down there to interview. 

So I think I’m going to try to work on those letters and call it a night soon.  Tomorrow after school I have to do lunch duty for 30 minutes.  What fun! 

Interview Today

I don’t know if I’m prepared or not.  I really have no idea what questions to expect – most of the interviews I’ve been on have all had different questions.  So I’m just going to try to do the best I can and hope that the principal will talk to my references.  Positive thoughts, prayers, and such would be greatly appreciated.  Interview is at 2:30 CST. 

Only other news is that I have a date of sorts on Friday and its not with Matthew.  But it is with someone that I really have no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship with.  But it is someone I’ve had as an online friend for about 7 years now.  Also, when I go to Austin at the end of the month, I’ll probably get to see Marty and do something with him.  I have the feeling that Matthew is playing the field himself right now.  He keeps adding female friends on facebook – though he has yet to add me as a friend.  But he also never declined my friendship request so I get updates when he adds a friend.  That bothers me a bit, but he is a big boy and can do as he wishes.  We’re just friends after all. 

Well, I need to figure out what I’m going to wear and get ready to head to the interview. 

Summer School Day 2

Still doing ok with summer school.  Had a few new students show today so I got them started.  Had two that came and didn’t need to stay because their grade was above passing.  Then I had three students that got their work finished and don’t have to keep coming.  Starting to get my room cleared so that the custodial staff can clean it later this summer. 

Tonight’s agenda is to work through all possible interview questions so that I will be ready for tomorrow.  I also have to figure out my wardrobe.  I’ve been wearing a simple black skirt and a blouse of some kind.  I’ll figure it out I guess. 

I applied for a new credit card today.  Even though I am not using credit cards since I’ve paid off the current visa that I have, I feel it is good to have one for emergencies.  There have been times when I’ve been on vacation and my bank debit/visa card has been denied.  They do that in my best interesting thinking perhaps the card has been stolen, but it is a pain – especially on weekends when I cannot call them as they don’t have a 1-800 number.  The interest rate on the other card I have is really high, so I’ve been wanting to get rid of it for a while.  I tried applying for a card last year, but was declined because I still had a couple of glitches on my credit report due to my divorce.  Thankfully it has now been more than seven years so those issues aren’t in my file.  So I applied today and was approved for a card with a much lower interest rate.  Hopefully it will come before I leave for Austin at the end of the month since I will need to rent a car while down there.

Well Josh will be home soon so I’m going to get dinner started.  We’re having ravioli – not Chef Boyardee. 

Rain Tease

My dogs were scratching on my door in the middle of the night because it was thundering.  But still no rain here.  Today was the first day of summer school credit recovery.  10 out of 22 students showed up today.  It wasn’t too bad.  Students logged on and did the work and one of them finished up and was able to get the points required.  None of the students showed up at 10 so I had most of morning off – at least from teaching.  I called all the students that didn’t show but only got to talk to one parent and one student.  I left messages on several phones and there were some whose number has been disconnected. 

I didn’t sleep very well last night.  I was up until midnight waiting to hear that Josh made it to his hotel in Burbank.  Then I still couldn’t sleep so I read.  I tried sleeping around 1:30 a.m. but I don’t think I fell asleep until well after 2:00 and even then, I don’t think I really slept much.  I got a Mountain Dew on the way to school and was fine this morning, but once I got home and ate lunch, I had to take a nap.  I had band rehearsal tonight and there were only two clarinets that showed up.  We have a concert at noon on the town square on Friday so I hope we have more that will be playing.

Josh may or may not get to Albuquerque tonight.  His flight out of Burbank was delayed.  I hope he is able to make the Phoenix flight.  I will be up until I hear from him.  I think I’ll go read more of my book on my Kindle while I wait. 

More productive than planned

Yesterday I was mostly a bum most of the day.  I didn’t do much.  Matthew texted me around 4-something in response to my text that I had an interview next week.  We texted back and forth some and then he asked if I had eaten.  I told him that I hadn’t but that I was getting my hair cut at 5:00 but could meet him around 6:00.  He offered to come to Canyon, but I told him it made more sense for me to come up there so I did.  We went to a steakhouse and I was starving.  I had a salad, 10 oz. sirloin, and loaded baked potato.  It was really good.  So we had dinner and that was it.  Guess that’s how this “just friends” thing works. 

Today I slept in a bit and then headed to school shortly before 10.  I was meeting another teacher there that was supposed to see if she could figure out the software that I’m supposed to use for credit recovery next week.  She couldn’t get it to work either.  So as a backup plan, she gave me some short stories with some questions for them to do.  I went ahead and planned other assignments and got it all on Moodle.  I’m going to let the students choose what they want to complete.  I’ve assigned points to each unit and they can complete what they need to get the credit needed.  I ended up staying until 5:30 and didn’t eat lunch.  When I got home, I turned the breaker on for the oven to see if it would work.  It started its random beeping again a few weeks ago.  I made homemade pizza and luckily the oven worked.  Josh had friends over and after I ate my share and took my plate to the kitchen, the pizza was completely gone.  I guess it was a hit. 

Josh is leaving for California tomorrow.  He drives to Albuquerque and will be flying out from there.  His conference is on Monday and he will be flying back that evening.  He will stay the night in Albuquerque late Monday with my aunt & uncle.  This will be his first big trip all on his own. 

Tomorrow I have to play at church in the morning.  Then I need to do laundry and clean house.  Then I think I will work on interview stuff for Wednesday.  But then again, I may be a bum and just do nothing.  That’s the thing about summer – it is nice to not have to do anything in particular. 

Called for an Interview

I was called to interview at a LOCAL high school.  It was my understanding that the job at this high school would be filled internally.  So I don’t know if this would be a situation where they have already made their mind up and they just need to make the appearance that they are considering other people or if I really have a shot at it.  Of course I’m going to give it my best effort.  I’m just surprised that I was called to interview. 

Application Hell

I spent the day filling out application after application.  I’ve applied for every librarian opening from Dallas to San Antonio.  (There are no opening in my my area.)  So I guess I’ll see if I get any bites.  Other than that, I was an internet vegetable today.  I made a quick trip to school, but other than that, I’ve sat in my bedroom web surfing.  I feel like I need to do “something” but I don’t know what that is.  I’m too broke to go shopping.  I want to download the next Lee Child book, but I keep talking myself out of it because I have other books on my Kindle that I have yet to read.  I tried starting one, but just couldn’t focus on it.  I may break down and get the next book in the series anyway. 

I’m hoping we’ll get some rain tonight.  There’s rain all over the panhandle it seems except for where I live.  We got a brief shower, but nothing substantial and it’s dry right now. 

I have no idea what I’m going to do tomorrow.  I think I’m going to try to get my hair cut – it is getting to that unruly stage now.  If I’m going to keep the short hair, I’m going to have to get it cut more often than I’m used to. 

Endless

I spent the evening filling out more job applications.  I’ve now applied at three more districts in the southern part of the state.  I bookmarked another district to apply at, but decided I was too tired to fill out yet another application.  So I tried sleeping.  And I couldn’t get my mind to shut down.  So now I’m back up waiting for sleep to hit. 

The summer school work day was frustrating.  I was supposed to have software installed on my computers that the students will be using.  The response I got from the tech person was that she was really busy today and would make sure it was installed by Monday.  That does me no good.  I have not even used the software and have no idea how to set it up for students to use.  After much groaning on my part, the tech person came at 4:00 today and got it installed.  But now I can’t use it.  I need a password of some sort to set it up and I don’t have it.  I emailed the English teacher who made the decision to use the software, but haven’t heard back from her.  So I guess I’ll be going up this weekend to try to get it all sorted out. 

I’m feeling out of sorts because of all this job stuff.  I hate writing pointless cover letters.  I’m tired of filling out the same information over and over.  I hate the idea that just to get experience, the only job offer I might get will be in the drudges of a school district – those schools that nobody wants to work at.  I guess I’m not used to all this – I’ve been lucky in my careers as I’ve easily gotten jobs that I’ve applied for.  This time it is much more difficult. 

Well, I’m going to kill some time at stumbleupon until sleep takes over.