Strange Happenings

1) Apparently I'm not as good at flipping pancakes as I used to be. Attempt 1 and 2 shown below.










2) Franky Lynn decided she needed a bath.



3) Cuddling in the litter box is the cool thing to do.

What my advisor received this evening...

Dr. Horton,
As you know, the curriculum of a master’s program can be quite rigorous. Because I failed to listen to you in our advisement meeting a year ago when you told me that I shouldn’t go straight into my master’s, I’m now paying for this…miserably. I want to quit (but hold on, I’m almost done). Because of my over achievement and poor planning as far as having an extra class right before I begin the most dramatic and painful year of my teaching career, I think I’d like to drop the middle school curriculum class and take it later. I really really really don’t want to go into teaching like a dead person riding a mule. Are you ok with this?
Sincerely,
Becky “Burnt Out” James

Truly an answered prayer

Last Monday, I was offered a job and given until Wednesday to decide.
Last Wednesday, I was offered another job. :)

Two Wednesdays ago, I interviewed for my Monday offer.
Last Wednesday, I interviewed for my LAST WEDNESDAY offer. (yep, same day)

Last Sunday? I was in total panic over not having a job.

How did this all go down? I'm so glad you asked. :)

Two weeks ago, I found out that School A had a math position open, decided to apply, emailed the principal, and set up an interview. I went to the interview two Wednesdays ago and absolutely fell in love with the staff there - they were so kind and warm, it was incredible! (The position open was for prob and stats and precal)

Monday, they offered me a position and told me I could have until Wednesday to let them know. I was pretty sure I wanted to take School A's offer, but Tuesday afternoon, School B and and School C called. I told them that I absolutely HAD to know by the next day if there was any interest whatsoever since I had to inform School A of my decision. Both seemed doubtful, but we went ahead and scheduled interviews. (As of right then, the school district of B and C was only allowed to hire off of the excess list of teachers previously fired) On Wednesday, the principal from School B called me and said that they had just received an email from the district office saying that they could hire anybody they wanted to, so he asked to immediately drive over and interview me.

Principal B arrived at the University Center (Greenville) about 20 minutes before my other interview with School C and flat out offered me a job. :) He knew that I had another interview to go to, so he just told me to call him when I got done. I was a little shocked since Principal B hadn't even interviewed me. He had merely come in, showed me the schedule, and asked if I was interested in filling the position (no educational philosophy, classroom management, teaching styles questions). I was a little uneasy with this so I flat out told him that if he was going to offer me a position, I wanted him to be confident that I was the one that he wanted instead of giving me a pity offer since he knew absolutely nothing about me. He leaned over at this point and said, "Rebecca, you forget that I'm a principal. I've called around about you." Oh...my bad. :)

At this point, I went on to my School C interview and boy oh boy, it was a total mess.

Principal C's personality did NOT match mine. He kept saying over and over that it was all about the numbers to him - if I had 65% passing on the EOCs (End of Course Exams), that wasn't good enough and I wouldn't have a job the next year. He had made some decision about their tracking system last year and 17 teachers disagreed with him, so he just up and fired them. The lowest level of classes that they have is college prep. So if I recommend a kid to C.P., I'm to put him in a honors class, a kid recommended for honors is to be put into an AP class so that we keep our expectations high. Good night.

Basically, I immediately emailed principal C after the interview, thanked him, and then told him that I was taking another job. Yikes. He intimidated the mess out of me. I also called School A and told them that I had to decline the offer (it made me REALLY sad to do it). I would have taken the School A position, but since ole Hubby-to-be has a job in Spartanburg, it would mean about a 45 minute commute for me every day. Since School B is only 30 miles away from his school, it seemed like such a better idea to take one that was much closer to him.

I called back the principal from School B and told him that I'd love to work for him! I'll be in the 9th grade academy teaching Algebra 1 and 2 (which is what I desperately wanted) AND the classes are single sex classes for math and English, so I'll have all 9th grade boys! Bring. It. On.

I'm actually pretty excited about teaching the boys. I know they'll have tons of energy and I'll get picked on unmercifully, but I'd rather deal with that then all the drama that the girls bring on. :) They also told me I could paint my classroom whatever color I wanted :) Any suggestions?

Here's to School B, the place where I will spend my next year teaching math, Hillcrest High School!
Thanks for reading!
-B

A bad case of judgement

Poor Oliver had a bad case of judgement this morning. He decided that sitting on the edge of the bathtub would just tickle his fancy. Before I knew it, I had a wet kitten on my hands. He wouldn't stop crying and carrying on, so this is the best picture I got. :)

Happy Father's Day!

I sometimes think that it is so easy to take our parents for granted. However, recently that has changed, especially the way I look at my special pops.

As of last year, one of my dear friends was a freshman entering college. Her father had walked out on her and her mom when she was little, but she still had contact with him. The kicker was that he was a man with a strong faith. He helped with the youth at his church and was very involved in everything else church related. Not only did he leave her family, but he started a completely new one. He remarried and had children that he loved dearly and didn’t walk out on. She was bitter, as any person would be given the situation. Here she was, desperate to know her father and be loved by him and he wanted nothing to do with her. While we were at camp last summer, my friend found out that she got into UNC, but without a whole lot of financial help. Her father had originally told her that he would pay for her tuition to help her out. When she told her dad that she didn’t get a lot of help financially, he refused to pay it. Good guy huh? While listening to her testimony, I swear I wanted to hurt the guy. I still feel a little tenderness in my heart towards her. She is a wonderful girl and she has the love of our Heavenly Father, but to know no love of an earthly father….it crushes me.

One of my roommates during camp also came from a rather distressed family. Her dad was an alcoholic and her mother was emotionally abusive. I remember that this girl told me that over and over again her mother had told her that she didn’t love her and that she could care less what happened to her.

The point of all this?

I am blessed beyond words to have not only a wonderful and supportive family, but a daddy who loves me like no other. Dad has ALWAYS been there for me and has never failed to protect me. He is so compassionate and one of the greatest men I know.
So here’s to you dad! Happy Father’s Day! You have been an amazing blessing to me and I am so very thankful for you and your love!

-B

Hey there Delilah

Courtesy of Miss Susan Sanders :)

Hey There Delilah

Things you don't say to your wife

And my favorite song ever from him,

The Chickfila Song!

Things like this keep me going :)

-Becky

97 degrees

Is officially hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement :)




Love y'all!
-B