(No, I did not take this picture.)
50 DEGREES OUTSIDE?!
Hello, fall.
I must say, although I am not a fan of cold weather, AT ALL, I am definitely looking forward to fall. I'm looking forward to being all snug in our little house together, while the cold wind whips through the trees outside our windows. I'm also looking forward to the trees changing colors. Three of the four sides of our house are bordered by woods, and I'm expecting(hoping) that our house will soon have a breathtaking backdrop.
So update on the Livengoods:
Since my last, slightly depressing post, I have been go, go, go, and Ben has too.
Ben started school again, and still works an early morning shift. So he leaves the house at 3:30, and doesn't get home until anywhere between 5-9:30, depending on his class schedule for the day. He's also leaving for New York next Sunday, and will be gone for a week. :[ It's incredibly girly to say, but this will be the longest that we've been separated since we've been married, and I've been dreading it since the day I found out.
As for me, I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!! And ohmygosh, it happened so fast, but I wouldn't have had it happen any other way!
Here's the little back story:
As you know, I was SUPER stressed out because I could not find a job, money was running low, and the situation seemed hopeless.
Well.
On August 2, my mother-in-law(/love) posted on facebook a request that all of her friends pray that I get a teaching job in 15 days. Of course I joined in.
I got a job interview, but never heard anything back. I knew why though - I found out on facebook that my college friend had gotten the job. I'll be honest- after that I was basically ready to accept that I would not be teaching this school year. I put in my sub application in three counties, and set up times to go to orientations.
Day 15 came, and went, and I still did not have a job, a job offer, or even an interview. The realization of this brought many tears.
(Side note: I am soooooo blessed to have such a supportive, patient husband.)
The next day, which was 16 days after Kim started the 15-Day "campaign", I got a call from a school that I had been communicating with about a potential job that fell through. Apparently, just a few hours earlier, a 5th grade teacher had learned that her husband was being relocated out-of-state, and they needed to move that weekend. Before any interview offers or anything, the principal asked me which subject I preferred teaching. Of course, I said MATH! His response was "Katie, have you been praying? The fifth grade is departmentalized, and the teacher that left was the MATH TEACHER."
Now let me tell you, if you know me well, you know that I am very emotional. When I am sad, I am very sad (see two paragraphs up). When I am excited, I tend to react like a 13-year-old meeting Justin Bieber for the first time.
I tried so hard not to let this principal think that I was a total FREAK, but I couldn't help it. I laughed and laughed. What a perfect job for me!
Remember how I said it happened really fast? His next question was "Can you interview tomorrow morning at 9?" (It was like 6:30 in the evening at this point.) Of course I said yes. Even though I didn't really have time to prepare, this was the best thing to have happened, because I didn't have time to get myself worked up and crazy nervous.
I went in and interviewed the next morning, and felt really good about it. Everyone there was SOOO nice!
THAT NIGHT, at about 5:30, the principal called me again. He informed me that since the job had just become available, they hadn't scheduled any other interviews yet, and it was protocol that they interview several candidates for the job. However, when he mentioned this to the team that interviewed me, they told him that they did not see a point in continuing in the interviewing process, and suggested to him that I be given a job offer! This just happened to be our two month wedding anniversary.
The next morning, which was a Friday, I was in the classroom, beginning to set up, and got the "official job offer" from the district (CMS). Saturday, I worked on the classroom a bit more, Monday, I went to CMS orientation, Tuesday was open house, and Wednesday was the first day of school!
A lesson in patience perhaps?
And let me just say, I LOVE MY JOB! I think that this is the first time that I have ever been able to truly say this, and that's an amazing feeling! Don't get me wrong though - my past jobs have taught me things that have helped me soooo much.
Red Lobster trained me to be on my feet for hours and hours and hours, with no restroom break in sight.
At Marshville, I learned how to do the paperwork that is to be done at the beginning of the year (please note that I began this job in January). Hahaha.
And I learned how to un-jam, add ink to, and replace a master roll in a RISO copier, a skill that I have used multiple times already, thanks to Kerri and Noelle! :)
And since I am on the subject of Noelle, I just want to say THANK YOU so much for being patient with me while at Marshville. I must have seemed so horribly needy, but I truly appreciate you responding to me with patience and kindness, rather than an eye roll and a demeaning tone. You are awesome.
I was nervous about teaching the upper grades, simply because it was something that I had never done before, and I wasn't sure how they would respond to me since I look so young, but it's great!
Our schedules have been PACKED, and we've been sooo busy, but we're great! Today is the first Saturday that I have not been busy or sick, so I am planning as far ahead as I can at work, and am going to start working on pricing things for my parents' neighborhood garage sale next weekend!
[My little advertisement: The Highland Creek Garage sale is on Saturday, October 9th, from 8-11 a.m. It's in the parking lot of Highland Creek Elementary, and if there is ANYTHING that you are looking to buy, you should come. Seriously. There are so many people there selling so many different things. The neighborhood has over 4,400 houses in it to give you an idea of the scale of this thing.]
Unfortunately, Ben has an all-day (9-5) project evaluation at the school, so I'm here by myself. But, that means that I can clean! Haha!
Annnnd I'm off!
-Katie
