Life

Sometimes it just amazes me at how blessed I am. I try not to take it for granted but I know that sometimes I do.

Teachers are struggling to find jobs all over the country.
I find one in a great (growing) school district.

Houses aren't selling.
We sold ours in two weeks and made money.

Banks are trimming staff and aren't really hiring a bunch.
Matt found a job about 15 minutes away from where I teach in a job that fits him better than what he is doing now.

All of this happened in about two months. We sold our house and Matt found a job in two weeks. How can I not be blessed? Look at my life!

I really enjoy teaching! I wasn't certain about teaching economics but I like it. I like that it can be current and we can talk about current events in an economic setting. Yay!

House news

We received an offer on our house!!!!!!!! It was only on the market two weeks and even then just a sign in the yard but we received an offer!!!!!!!!!! God works in very mysterious ways which is fine with me! This means that Matt can put in his two week notice, pack up the rest of things and move up here with me!! Unfortunately this means that I will also have to give up sole control of the remote control but I'll do that if it means having Matt closer!!

Two weeks!! Hard to believe!! And the couple who is buying it fell in love with the house's charm (like I did. I knew it was the house for us when I walked into the pantry and saw the floor to ceiling original cabinets) so since they love the house's charm this means that they will probably work to keep it that way, not gut it and put in modern walls that look out of place in a 1910s Craftsman. (This is what I'm telling myself since I'm a little heartbroken that we're selling it but that's life and I don't want to commute four hours each day.)

Now to tell the cats that they're not going to be able to sleep all night on Matt's side of the bed anymore....

School daze

I have now been officially employed for two days! Yay!!! It's been a while since I was officially employed since subbing is just a bit unofficial! I've been in my classroom for more than two days since it takes a bit to get through everything and to make the room look inviting. I've been hanging posters, pictures, and anything I can get my hands on to warm up the room. If anyone just happens to have some economics or women's studies posters out there and isn't certain what to do with them, feel free to send them my way!

I'm a little overwhelmed at the amount of info tossed at me in the last couple of days but it had to be tossed. I can't start the school year and not know certain procedures (well, I could but it wouldn't go well!) I had my second "start of school" nightmare last night. It's not really a nightmare but more like "worst case scenario" for a teacher. My econ. class wouldn't get to work and no matter what I said, how loud I said it, or with so much force, they wouldn't work. Even the threat of not graduating wasn't enough to get them to settle down and start working. Hence the nightmare. My first one dealt with students somehow leaving my classroom to sit in small groups and chat. I tried to give them a detention but it was the first day and I didn't know their names to give them detentions. Hopefully I won't be giving out detentions on the first day!!

Tomorrow I meet the rest of the social studies department. Wish me luck!!!

All moved!

Well, I'm in the new apartment but Matt is still in NW Illinois. It's only been three days and yet, I don't like living away from him. I miss him so I guess it's a good thing that we're married and kinda supposed to live together. It was a traumatic move. It took 5 hours to load the moving truck, 2 1/2 to drive up here, and another 2 1/2 to unload the truck. Needless to say, we were all pooped by the end of the day. The kitties didn't fare so well though. While we were loading the truck in Illinois, I put them in the bathroom with all the kitty necessities: food, water, litter, a comfy place to sit, and an open window. Once we were ready to drive, we got the kitties in their travel containers (aka kitty jail) and drove off into the sunset, the entire time listening to cat yowls from the back seat. About half way there, I noticed a strange odor coming from the back seat: someone had had an accident. The odor got stronger, making me think that maybe TWO someones had had an accident. Once we reached the apartment, my suspicion was confirmed: two accidents in two kitty kages. So out came the cat shampoo (once it was purchased from the store:)) and after we got things moved into the apartment, Matt and I bravely went into the bathroom with two smelly cats and gave them both a bath. There is nothing more pathetic than a dripping wet cat yowling at the top of his lungs. Thank goodness they're declawed otherwise we would be in shreds. Now, I know that there might be some people who think that this treatment of the cats is inhumane but you do the best you can at the time!

So now I'm at school trying to get ready for the first day of school, which is September 1st. I'm feeling ok about some things and completely overwhelmed about others, which is probably pretty typical!

Almost...

Our house is crazy right now!! We have packing boxes and boxes and boxes everywhere!!!! We're almost packed. All that we have left are the items we use everyday: plates, cups, coffeepot, etc. and since we're moving Monday, I have a few days to get those packed. I've already packed the excess plates, cups, etc., but still....

Matt and I are completely backwards. Normally people rent and then buy a home, but we're going backwards so we are also downsizing. Now after 4 years of marriage we don't have as much stuff as say my grandparents after living in the same house for over 50 years, but we still have accumulated a lot of "stuff" and we are sorting through it while keeping Goodwill busy! There are some things we don't really want to part with: Matt's grandparent's kitchen table, my great-grandparent's butter churn (we are moving to Wisconsin for goodness sake. The churn might come in handy!!) but there are other things that we know we can live without: the spare room dresser, the recliner, the cats, no, I'm kidding, the cats are coming with us. I think the cats know something is up or at least not right. They keep over-eating and then getting sick from over-eating. I think they're nervous. I'm just ready to be in the new apartment!!!

Apartment hunting

Ahh, the hunt. Wanted: 2 bedroom apartment/house with storage, kitties must be ok, dishwasher would be nice, washer/dryer please. And we found it!!!!! It is in the next town over but it's only about 6 miles so that's good.
We found it after looking at:
the third floor walk-up with no elevator
the former grow house for pot
the kitty-smell apartment
and many more that I don't want to go into. I'm excited about starting soon except I keep thinking about all the things I need like bulletin boards, classroom rules, a working syllabus, etc. The to-do list is like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going and going and going.......

About time I wrote a new post!

I know that it's been a long time since I posted. This spring was pretty stressful for me and I was afraid that all my posts would be along these lines:

I need a job
I need a job
I need a job
Please, I need a job.

All spring I subbed in our local schools which gave me some pretty neat stories, but I was still concerned that all my posts would revolve around the above-mentioned theme. So I didn't post anything, trying to keep my sanity and stop obsessing about our future.

But I have good news:

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!!! I'm the new social studies teacher in Fort Atkinson, WI. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I start in late August which gives Matt and I time to move and sell our house. We really like Fort Atkinson and it's close to Madison, which gives us access to great culture! The only hitch is that currently the position is for a one year contract due to the previous teacher taking a new position but wanting to leave her old position open just in case so she took a one year leave of absence. But she might not want her old position back and even if she does, I then have one year's worth of experience at a progressive school to add to my resume. To me, it's a win-win. And Matt is excited because he was getting pretty tired of his current position. The only ones who might not be happy would be the cats, who don't like to travel.

So we're happy and now I can post again without sounding like an obsessed fool. That and my to-do list just got a whole lot longer!!!!!

In now unrelated news, I'm still working on my Illinois license. It's been 4 months and I'm still not licensed. But now, I only need my Wisconsin license!