This is Your Life...

Note: I wrote this entry about a week ago (Thursday, 8/21/08) ... but between sleeping, planning, and trying to get everything prepared for this first week, I haven't had time to post it before now!


As I was commuting to work this morning, I turned on the radio. I haven't listened to the radio much in the past 5 years, but now that I'm driving for nearly an hour both to and from work, I've re-discovered it.

This Switchfoot song came on, and the refrain was,

"This is your life ...

Are you who you want to be?"

Unexpected tears came as I contemplated the lyrics.

"Yes," I thought to myself. "I finally am what I've wanted to be."

"I'm now driving to my first job- the job for which I've prepared for over the past NINE years, ever since I determined as a freshman in high school that this was the career I wanted."

Powerful realization. I'm finally doing what I've wanted to do for so long.

Happy 400th Post!

Funny how such an event (woo-hoo! 400 posts!) should come on such an important day. Today was my first (contracted) day at school.

The festivities began with a lovely breakfast spread, followed by our first faculty meeting. Every faculty member I met was warm and gracious. While I'm not the only new person to the building, I am the only first-year teacher. The baby of the staff. :-)

Following our informative meeting, we were given time in our classrooms. I began work on the first of three bulletin boards; my goal was to set up the background and borders of all three today.

We had a luau-themed lunch (complete with paper palm trees and plastic leis) with yummy food. I met the person with whom I will be co-teaching one of my courses. Apparently, he was unaware of this teaching assignment until this morning. Aack. Not good. I have to think long and hard about how I plan to work with all of those students ~ whether it will be better to divide the class and teach separately or if we ought to group 70+ thirteen-year-olds together in one classroom. For my sanity, I'm leaning towards having only half of those kids to myself ... but ... in the back of my mind, I think it's probably better for the students if they have consistent instruction from me since it's my course. Must explore this option further.

I talked more with my mentor teacher at the school ... she's an organizational queen. She was giving me tips but I think she realized that I was soon overwhelmed, as I hadn't even begun to think about the system I would use for keeping track of grades and attendance! She offered to help me with whatever I may need (love her!) and I do plan to seek her out later this week.

A 2nd year teacher stopped by my room to introduce himself and to let me know that I could get additional bulletin board paper from the art room. This saved my day! (My department was seriously lacking paper.) I made several trips to the art room, and after several hours of work, I have my three bulletin boards -background and border- ready to go! I'm a little disappointed that that's all I was able to accomplish because I'd hoped to set up my computer (a mess of wires!), printer, and other technology. I'll have to wait until Wednesday.

I stopped by the office (just after 5:30pm, and the workday was to have ended at 4pm) on my way out to check if my identification information from HR had arrived, and I encountered my principal. I reminded him of some documents I'd requested from him, and he found them for me.

"How was your first day?" He asked.

"Great!" I replied, grinning. "There's so much to learn and prepare, but I'm making some progress!"

"Good," he responded with a smile as he handed me the documents.

"You know, I remember my first day," he continued thoughtfully. "It was a long time ago," he said half-seriously, "but I remember it. I imagine you'll look back on this day and I hope you'll always remember it fondly."

I think I will, I thought, smiling, as I walked out of the building after my own first day.

Random thoughts on a Sunday

*One more week until the students arrive.

*I hope the district gets me the information I need ASAP so that I can sign up for the benefits I want.

*My first boyfriend (also first kiss) from the first year of college is now engaged. To the girl he started dating a month after he and I broke up. I think it's great for both of them. Still, I was surprised when I saw it on the 'book. (Not sure why I hate naming that site on here ... perhaps that someone will search for it and my blog will come up? Don't know.)

*Must. Sleep. More. Will not have the opportunity to sleep as much when school starts. Must get into pattern of early to bed, early to rise so that I can function earlier in the day! Perhaps I'll start right now ...

Refreshing Saturday

"I have a surprise for you," Westley told me before I drove up to his house this weekend. We were to have dinner with his parents on Friday, and the surprise was to take place on Saturday.

When I woke up, I was pretty excited about this surprise. I slept in later than I had intended (must have turned off the alarm in my sleep!), and I wondered if he was finally going to teach me how to play tennis. (To teach me any sport would be quite an undertaking; I'm the girl who failed the running portion of her gym final in high school because she decided she didn't feel like running.)

Instead, he announced that he was going to make me dinner ... and we were going to visit local farmers' markets to purchase the fresh produce we needed. (So much better than learning to play tennis!)

After I got ready (I'm just going to say here that Westley possesses great patience because I'm very meticulous about my getting-ready process, and it usually takes at least 45 minutes from start of shower to public-appearance-ready) ... we took off! Zooming around the countryside in search of the perfect veggies and other goodies ... we had a blast!

We drove past one local almost-store which Westley remarked he had never visited. Half a mile down the road, we did a U-turn and made the first stop of the day. Fifteen minutes later, we left with ~$3.50 in purchases (half a dozen baby potatoes, one pepper, a vidalia onion, and two yummy little creme-filled desserts: one chocolate-flavored and one pumpkin-flavored) ... Great first stop.

On later stops, we picked up cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, fresh peaches, and 1.5 lb of sirloin. Westley said that the meat had never been frozen ... and we joked on the ride home that we could still hear it mooing. *grin* We also stopped by his relatives' house to ask if we could have some rosemary from their garden. One more stop to purchase Shiraz (for dinner) and Riesling (to enjoy with the peaches) ... and we headed home.

We did most of the prep work soon after we arrived back ... creating the marinade for the meat, the glaze for the veggies, chopping up the veggies and the meat, and letting ingredients sit together for awhile. When it came time to make dinner, we skewered the veggies and meat, brushed the sauce over the vegetables, and put the skewers on the grill. (I so wish I had remembered to bring my camera this weekend; the fresh fruit and veggies and the shish-kebabs (no idea how to spell that term) were so beautifully photogenic and I would have loved to capture their yummy essence on film!) Delicious, mouth-watering food.

Westley loved that all of the ingredients had been grown locally ... and our conversation on that topic led to further discussion of the vegetables and herbs we'd like to grow in the garden at our dream house someday. *happy sigh*

Why do I put this kind of pressure on myself?!

I'm working on my first homework assignment for my new job. During this part of training, we've been discussing what we must prepare for the first week of classes. Today we were given time to write out our lesson plans/schedule for the first week of classes.

We had plenty of time to work this afternoon, and I had even thought about it ahead of time, jotting down notes about what I wanted to cover!

Being a perfectionist meant that I didn't finish it in the time allotted ... and I had to re-create the lesson template on my computer and print it out so that I could copy my scribbles onto a fresh piece of paper. Just because I'm especially anal about presenting my ideas perfectly.

I've done two grades already and now I'm just ... eh. Don't feel like doing the third prep. Even though it's basically the same as the others. Just a few modifications to make it simpler. Maybe I'll get up even earlier tomorrow (earlier than 5:30am ... yuck!) to finish it.

Why am I taking so much time to do this?
1) My boss will be seeing it.
2) So will all my new colleagues.

We've got to present our plans tomorrow. In my lovely quirky perfectionist way, I want mine to be outstanding. Fabulous. That sort of thing. I'm representing myself, all of my past education, and the system that hired me.

*Refer to the title of the post* I think I'm more than ridiculous ... but I'm determined to make a great first impression (or second) ... and I am not going to be so shy tomorrow!

Priorities for first job

This past weekend was the final weekend in the 3 month long summer break as today was my first day at my new job!

In preparation for this week (and this school year!), I did quite a bit of shopping this weekend. Westley arrived on Thursday ... so we visited two stores where I purchased two dresses and the cute blouse I'm wearing today! We spent several hours on Friday at shopping outlets not too far away (how was I not aware of their existence until just a few weeks ago?!) and I bought some lovely slacks (at $19.99/pair) at what is probably my new favorite store. Still on the clothing wish list: some more blouses appropriate for warmer weather, brown slacks, taupe slacks, brown heels to go with both of those colors, and black heels to go with black and grey slacks. I'm hoping to go to another favorite store ... and if I have time, possibly hit up another on the way to see Westley this weekend.

I was never really one for shopping ... I usually don't have patience because the items I find either: 1) don't fit as they ought to or 2) are more expensive than I want to pay. I tend to keep my clothing for a LONG time ... and I've realized it's really worth it to invest in some classic/timeless pieces now which I will (hopefully) wear for years. I've also become quite a fan of this TLC show. I've always tried to dress older so that I will look more professional, but thanks to this show and to the clothing stores linked above, I've been able to find some great items which 1) fit well, 2) are age-appropriate yet still professional, and 3) are affordable.

After all of the shopping, Westley and I relaxed the rest of the weekend ... enjoying the beach, the nearby big city, an operetta, and a friend's laidback party. A lovely end to the summer.

It's a small world after all ...

When I was in fifth grade, I was the "junior bridesmaid" at my aunt's wedding. My younger sister was the flower girl, and my younger brother was the ring bearer. My mother was the matron of honor, and the other bridesmaids were my aunt's two best friends from junior high.

This morning, I got an email from my aunt, forwarded to her by one of her best friends. Her daughter (who would have been a new baby at the time of the wedding) received her school schedule in the mail ... and I am one of her teachers!

My parents were amused by the coincidence because they remember knowing my aunt's best friend when she was the same age as her daughter is now.

"You know, Estrella, that your aunt has been telling her friend about our family for years. She probably remembers when you were born. Your reputation will precede you at your new school. She'll know where you've gone to college, where you've traveled, etc. And she'll probably share this with the other parents too," my mother told me.

She continued to gush, "And we can sit with her and her husband at your concerts! Won't that be fun? And you know, she'll be telling your aunt everything that her daughter shares with her about you."

As my mother's excitement grew, I developed a slightly nervous feeling. No pressure now. Truth be told, I am excited ... and I was delighted to learn from my aunt that this future student LOVES to sing. :-)

Today's politics have turned into this?

I didn't see John McCain's ad last week referencing popular female celebrities in order to bring down his rival ... but I loved Paris Hilton's video response which I saw this morning.

Brilliant.

I winked?

Today was my processing session with my new school district. Had I known that we would be given plenty of free time during today's session to fill out all the paperwork we were to have completed for today, I wouldn't have stayed up late last night after driving home from Westley's house. Ah well. :-)

After a record-breaking two hours (they told us it normally takes three hours) of filling out forms, learning about my teachers' union, and following a half hour long powerpoint on benefits provided by the school district, we were done. They told us we could hang around and get our school IDs printed, and I opted to do so.

At first glance, my ID appeared fine. Satisfied that my hair looked decent, I shoved my new badge in my purse, grabbed my several new information-filled folders, and headed out to the parking lot. While walking to my car, I decided to get a closer look at my badge ... and alas! One of my eyes is somehow nearly shut and I look like I'm winking in the picture! Ah well. I'm just praying that they take separate photos of staff members for the school yearbooks.

From there, I drove to AAA in order to become a member. My car has nearly 40K and I'd rather be safe than sorry. Conveniently, I was about 10 minutes from my new school. I called the office to find out if I could stop by because I was hoping to browse through the music library.

When my AP brought me to my classroom (yay!), I was a little overwhelmed by all of the furniture and materials there. Everything was placed haphazardly in the center of the room. I decided that I ought to take inventory of everything ... That led to a search for a ruler (alas, I had neglected to bring measuring tape). In my annoyingly perfectionist way, I measured the dimensions of the various pieces of furniture, the dimensions of the room, and the dimensions of all of the bulletin boards, chalkboards, and the lone dry erase board. All with a ruler. Well ... the dimensions of the room I figured out by measuring the perfect 12" by 12" blue square pattern on the floor. (Why did I do this? I might be completely anal and plot out the room layout on graph paper and make little construction paper replicas of the furniture ... or I may use the Arrange-A-Room feature [http://www.bhg.com/decorating/arrange-a-room/] I added to my list of favorite websites a couple of years ago for this very purpose.)

I explored the contents of my desk and file cabinets, discovered some pleasant surprises (yay! solfege sign posters!), and finally found the listing of music in the music library (written out by hand, not incredibly thorough, and I have no idea whether or not it is fully updated). By the time I had measured everything, taken notes, made a to-do list, and discovered the fun surprises, it was 2:40pm, and the school was due to close at 3pm. Music selection will have to be another day.