I am the first to admit it…I am a terrible blogger. As much as I would like to be consistent, I’m just not. It is always in the back of my mind to document this or that, but I get so busy that I hardly allow myself any down time. Today is actually the first unplanned day that I have not absorbed with busyness in three weeks. I had a quiet day last Sunday, but I filled every moment of it with something and it ended up being anything but a quiet down day.
Now that I have been feeling well, I have taken on a second teaching position. Not that I needed another job. I was simply seeing what else might be available to me. I even rescheduled my interview TWICE because other things kept coming up. I told myself that I would listen to what she had to offer and then take some time to think about it. I even rehearsed my response in the car on the way to the interview promising myself not to jump into anything, but rather to talk it over with Glenn and really ponder how taking on a second job would affect my life and the healing I have been going through. However, as soon as I arrived I knew that I really, really liked the girl I would be working for. She owns a tutoring center and only hires credentialed teachers. She pays really well and it seemed like I wouldn’t need to give up too many hours per week of my time. What really reeled me in tough was the fact that she sends her employees out to the low income schools to tutor the struggling students. OMG WOW! This is exactly the kind of work I live for. So, I suppose I needn’t even say that my plan to think it over went right out the window. And, flattery always works with me. She said that she looks for a “sparkle” in her employees, but she said that I do not just sparkle, I “shine.” She won me over. It is a twelve week contract position that should be complete towards the end of March. She said that she wants to keep me to work in the center afterwards, but we’ll see. I’m kinda tired. My afternoons have now been consumed with tutoring ten students in either math or language arts skills. It makes for a much longer day, but I feel good about it, like I am really making a difference
Beyond that, there are several other great projects I am working on. First of all, my children’s book, Ozzy and Crackers is really coming along. I anticipate it actually coming to fruition in several months. Sarah has agreed to be my illustrator and I couldn’t be happier. She knows just how I want my images portrayed. I think the only setback will be that Sarah is so busy herself that getting serious about the book will take up a lot of her time, so I will just need to be patient. We are also both joining the SCBWI which is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Through serendipity, we have even met with the regional director of our local chapter and it looks like Sarah may even intern this summer at her publishing house. It really is amazing to me how you can merely “ask” the universe for things and they seem to materialize.
The other cool thing I am doing right now is teaching adults to read. My local library sponsors this program called Read Santa Clara and I have been interested in participating for a long time, but never had the time. I recently came across the flyer that I had picked up eighteen months ago and decided to look it up. I did and found that I had missed the most current orientation by only several days. My little voice told me to call and email anyway, so I did. Not ten minutes later the program coordinator called to tell me that if I were still interested she would hold a private orientation for me on that particular day. She also told me that the training started the following day. So this is part of the reason I have not been able to relax and have a down day. My last couple weekends have had me training to teach adults to read. I really cannot wait to be matched up with a learner. I think that this may turn out to be my most rewarding endeavor ever!
As for my work at Mulberry, after Christmas it seemed that there was not enough real work for me to do. It was apparent that the lady I aide for didn’t really need me there. I know that the ratio numbers say otherwise, but she can handle the class all by herself. It came down to the point where she was running out of things for me to do and resorting to mindless tasks like asking me to sharpen pencils, dust shelves and clean out the sink. Mind you, I am not above doing any of these tasks, but I started feeling super bleak about the future. I mean, it was only January and she had already run out of work for me. I was also spending many a morning sitting and watching her lead lessons while I had absolutely nothing to do. I tell ya, it is awful hard to get up at six am knowing that I had an entire shift of nothing ahead of me. I like having something to do and now my something was turning out to be nothing. I ended up going into the office to talk to the head of the school and the operations manager. I told them that I would type up my resignation more formally, but that I was giving my notice as I felt that I wasn’t really needed. They both actually asked me to hold that thought and give them some time to sort it out. They told me that I am loved by the community, the staff and also by all the students and that they do not want to lose me. They said that if I could not be put to use in my assigned classroom, then I could tutor language arts to the struggling students in all of the other classrooms. I agreed, we worked it, out and I have been busy ever since doing worthwhile, valuable work. Actually this past week I completed all of the third graders reading assessments for the second time. It was incredibly rewarding to see documented evidence of student progress in three months time. (I had done them for all students previously in November). I am also being requested by the second grade to conduct some of her more difficult reading assessments, so now I definitely feel more useful.
Lastly, I had a really nice Christmas. It was one of the quietest I’ve ever had, but definitely one of the best. I was able to get my sweet little nephew for a long visit and that was very special. I spent a lot of time relaxing and trying not to get caught up in all of the materialism. I felt like I didn’t get out shopping until late, due to busyness and a tight schedule, but it all fell into place in the end. It wasn’t the norm, but we did see all of our family, spend lots of wonderful time together and we all enjoyed having some time off.
I plan on having one of my best years ever. 2012 has so much promise.
My next blog is a work in progress. I’ve started it twice, but cannot seem to find the right words. It is about my spirituality and my belief in angels. I want to share, but it seems to be so intimate and personal to me that I need to have just the right words.
Wait and see…
