I started packing my room in earnest today, and it felt really weird to be doing so.  I’ve been accumulating a lot of teacher stuff for ten years now, and five of those years have been in the same space.  Even the kids who were in my room at the time (for some reason, my room has become the junior class hangout during break) said that it was going to feel wrong walking into that room next year and not seeing my posters and all my purple and green accessories.  I admit that I’m going to miss having to fight with my doorknob to get in every morning, I’m going to miss my funky trapezoid-shaped room with no windows, and I might even miss getting shocked every time I touch the metal door. I definitely am going to miss knowing that there are kids waiting on me to open the door so they can chit-chat before classes begin.  I love my kids.  And while I know hope that eventually I will build special relationships with the kids at the new school, I’m not going to have that for a while.  I’ll be the new teacher, the one the students don’t trust yet, the one they’re not sure if they like or hate, and connecting with teenagers is the one of the great joys of my profession… But, it takes time, and I’ve never been a patient person.

On the other hand, I’m looking forward to working in a school that enforces discipline, one in which the rules aren’t a big guessing game.  I further look forward to working in a school in which the good ole boy system doesn’t rule all, and football is not the standard by which the school is measured.  I look forward to working with people who are professionals first, even if that means I have to work a few extra hours and go to a few more meetings.  It will be worth it to not have to play games with closed-minded townies who are constantly trying to out-do one another.  In short, I’m finally starting to get excited about my new job.

But first, I’m excited about summer break… Only 6 more days of school!

It’s the last full week of school.  I made all of my final exams, plus two other tests I have to give this week, tonight.  Tomorrow night I will be working on graduation speeches and other graduation-related things.  Wednesday night I will be averaging grades so that I can tell those students who don’t have to take the finals that they are exempt by Thursday.  Friday night will be graduation.  This is all the stuff I have to do AFTER work.  And while I’m AT work, I have not only to do my job… I also have to find time to pack my stuff up and get it out of my classroom, which is mine only through next Wednesday.

So, if y’all don’t hear from me much for a while, it’s because I’ve got absolutely nothing else to give… Not even to my own blog.

It’s the weekend, and I’m all alone, as my Littleone is with her grandparents so that Geek and I could work at the flower shop for Mother’s Day last night, and Geek is there again today. I’m sick (as I always am at the end of the school year when stress catches up with me), so I decided not to spend an entire day arranging flowers. Tomorrow we’ll have lunch with Geek’s family (even though I swore I’d never spend another Mother’s Day with them), and tomorrow night is our school’s baccalaureate service for the graduating seniors, and I will have to be there. So today, I’ll do very little… maybe nothing at all.

I’ve been tagged by HoosierGirl to name 6 unspectacular quirks about me. This is going to be tough because I’ve already done something similar a few times, and I’m running out of weirdnesses, so if I’ve mentioned some of these before, please forgive me. I mean, I’m pretty boring and generally unspectacular overall. But I’ll be a sport and try play along.

First, the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you (done).
2. Mention the rules (uh-huh).
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours (I’m gonna try…).
4. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged (not gonna happen).

Next, from Merriam-Webster Collegiate.com, the official definition of a “quirk”:

Main Entry: 1. quirk
Pronunciation: kwrk
Function: noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1565
1 a : an abrupt twist or curve
b : a peculiar trait : idiosynchrasy
c : accident; vagary
2: a groove separating a bead or other molding from adjoining members

Okay, here we go:

1. I tug on my earlobes when I’m in deep thought about something I really don’t want to deal with.

(more…)

I set up a substitute to watch my classes today so that Littleone and I could go out to the new school. She was scheduled to take an entrance exam, and I was hoping to get her registered for the next school year, as well as to sign my contract. Two out of three ain’t bad, I guess. Littleone did fine on her exam, and she is fully registered to go to school in August. As for not signing my contract, it’s okay. I’ve been kind of worried because while Boss Man is trustworthy, he’s been rather nonchalant about getting things done. I, on the other hand, am one of those people who needs something concrete, such as a piece of paper, rather than just a promise and a handshake. However, I’m feeling so much better about things now because the boss and I sat down and worked out the details. I will be losing a little on my take home pay, but the money I’m losing will go toward health insurance, and new school pays two-thirds of the yearly bill for its employees. So while I won’t see a raise, Geek will; we can take me off his insurance, and as a family, we will actually have about 100 dollars more per month. It all works out!

While Littleone was testing, I got a chance to tour the elementary school, and I was very impressed. We are getting a serious upgrade on her education. There is no library at our current school; the one at New School rivals many of the public libraries I’ve seen. New School also brags about (and rightly so, after what I saw today) having the top art program in the state, and they offer after school programs such as karate, gymnastics and dance. Along with traditional education, Littleone will take art, music, computer, Spanish, P.E., chapel, and will do accelerated reader.   Oh, and I immediately liked all the teachers I met; they were a very friendly and welcoming group of ladies, both to me and to my daughter.  It is going to cost more to send her to school, but apparently, you get what you pay for, so I’m okay with that.

I’ve known all along that this was going to be the right move for our family, but after today, I’m absolutely positive about it.  And the next time my mother-in-law asks me if I’m excited about going to a new job, I can answer with a definite Yes!

Maybe my Lex*pro isn’t enough; I’m thinking this would help.