I blogged approx. a week ago saying a lot has changed in my life (and then proceeded to not list a damn thing). So for anyone who's interested, have a gander.
Last time I was on here, I was probably in college in an attempt to pursue a degree in social studies education (aka: social studies teacher). Since then, I've graduated with said Bachelor's degree. My final semester was student teaching at the high school level (specifically, the subjects of Economics, U.S. gov't, and psychology). Lemme tell ya, there are not enough hours in a day to accomplish everything I needed to. I always felt behind in my work: making lesson plans (in advance), creating assignments, grading assignments, doing any side work required by my university along with student teaching... and then finding time to eat and sleep. If you ever had a student teacher in high school, I hope you gave them some credit for the position that he/she was in (and I could've been better about that myself). The stress level on a daily basis was incredibly high. I also was one of those "travelling teachers" that shifted to different classrooms (luckily for me it was just 2 rooms) every class period. This made it worse because I had no real way of organizing stuff. I had to keep everything in a pile that I could carry or in folders that I could stuff in my bag. But alas, I completed it. Wasn't anywhere near perfect but I wasn't supposed to be. It was meant to be a major learning experience and that's exactly what it was.
Next step: teaching job, right? Well.. no... it's harder finding a position than I thought it would be. I'm only licensed in one state to teach so that narrows down my options. I could easily ascertain another if I needed to but I'm hoping I won't have to. When no one offered me even an interview, I turned to substitute teaching (which I'll admit, I was slacking on those applications). Then, tragedy struck.
My grandpa passed unexpectedly in September, 2011. He was 82 and died on virtually the same weekend as my grandmother 4 years ago.
While the loss of any relative is hard, and I still have trouble getting through this one, this one had an added twist. The house he lived in was now unoccupied. The house has been with the family for DECADES. It was also in the family name and naturally, I moved out of the home I grew up in and into this one. It's so weird though... I spent virtually half of my childhood here and although it's not legally mine yet (I'll spare those details), this is my place for the rest of my life... and it hasn't fully sank in yet. I don't fully live alone: I was able to bring with me 2 of the cats I had since I was in elementary school. They're getting up there in years now but hell, they're great company. Yeah yeah yeah, some people say "cats are useless" but these 2 have such personality that they really are good company!
Oh and about the house.. I love it! Sure I'm biased but I go from spending most of my time in one room of a house.. to a house (that's been around since... circa 1940?) with a basement and upstairs, multiple bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 kitchens and fully furnished! I have lots of work to do on it though as some of the furniture/decorations have been around for generations (and I can't afford to do major stuff).
I still work at a grocery store doing the same dairy stocking job. I now fully appreciate just how little I make there in a pay period when I'm suddenly inundated with bills! Gas+electric, cable, water, my credit card and now my college loan.. and now my own groceries (man there are a million advantages of living under your parent's roof for free).
So naturally, I had to seek another job. I'm still working at the store but now I'm an active substitute teacher (as of this past Tuesday morning, believe it or not). I'm hoping to get back into the classroom on Thursday. The extra money will definitely help as I'm sick of living life dollar to dollar and being unable to enjoy things that I like to do.
Speaking of things I like to do, I entered (and completed) into something unique. A local restaurant here had a "Beer Tour" of sorts. The idea was to drink 110 different brews in an indefinite time period. They supplied everything. Lets just say, my knowledge and my tolerance of beer both skyrocketed! I'm not going to win any chugging contests (I drink to enjoy, not to get wasted) and I don't drink daily (aka, i'm not an alcoholic.... yet...) but I find this whole thing kind of cool. I need to get pix up of my World Beer Tour hat!... and t-shirt... and thermos.. and cooler... and the plaque for completing the tour... along with my name on the restaurant's Wall of Foam.
I also learned that I'm actually allergic to most hard alcohols. They usually contain sulfites, to which I'm allergic and will experience things like... feeling hot (and not in the good way), possibly hives, headache... with exception to the hives, it's like getting a hangover but skipping all the fun of being drunk. That happened to me after HALF A GLASS of wine at my friends' wedding. Wasn't fun for me.
My birthday's coming up in early March... holy crap, I'm going to be a quarter of a century old! I'm going to need a wheelchair soon and a million post-it notes so i don't forget stuff.
Think that's all I got for now... I'll add more if I can think of anything more interesting!
For those who'd like an update on me
by NightHawk
Feb 2, 2012
I blogged approx. a week ago saying a lot has changed in my life (and then proceeded to not list a damn thing). So for anyone who's interested, have a gander.
Last time I was on here, I was probably in college in an attempt to pursue a degree in social studies education (aka: social studies teacher). Since then, I've graduated with said Bachelor's degree. My final semester was student teaching at the high school level (specifically, the subjects of Economics, U.S. gov't, and psychology). Lemme tell ya, there are not enough hours in a day to accomplish everything I needed to. I always felt behind in my work: making lesson plans (in advance), creating assignments, grading assignments, doing any side work required by my university along with student teaching... and then finding time to eat and sleep. If you ever had a student teacher in high school, I hope you gave them some credit for the position that he/she was in (and I could've been better about that myself). The stress level on a daily basis was incredibly high. I also was one of those "travelling teachers" that shifted to different classrooms (luckily for me it was just 2 rooms) every class period. This made it worse because I had no real way of organizing stuff. I had to keep everything in a pile that I could carry or in folders that I could stuff in my bag. But alas, I completed it. Wasn't anywhere near perfect but I wasn't supposed to be. It was meant to be a major learning experience and that's exactly what it was.
Next step: teaching job, right? Well.. no... it's harder finding a position than I thought it would be. I'm only licensed in one state to teach so that narrows down my options. I could easily ascertain another if I needed to but I'm hoping I won't have to. When no one offered me even an interview, I turned to substitute teaching (which I'll admit, I was slacking on those applications). Then, tragedy struck.
My grandpa passed unexpectedly in September, 2011. He was 82 and died on virtually the same weekend as my grandmother 4 years ago.
While the loss of any relative is hard, and I still have trouble getting through this one, this one had an added twist. The house he lived in was now unoccupied. The house has been with the family for DECADES. It was also in the family name and naturally, I moved out of the home I grew up in and into this one. It's so weird though... I spent virtually half of my childhood here and although it's not legally mine yet (I'll spare those details), this is my place for the rest of my life... and it hasn't fully sank in yet. I don't fully live alone: I was able to bring with me 2 of the cats I had since I was in elementary school. They're getting up there in years now but hell, they're great company. Yeah yeah yeah, some people say "cats are useless" but these 2 have such personality that they really are good company!
Oh and about the house.. I love it! Sure I'm biased but I go from spending most of my time in one room of a house.. to a house (that's been around since... circa 1940?) with a basement and upstairs, multiple bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 kitchens and fully furnished! I have lots of work to do on it though as some of the furniture/decorations have been around for generations (and I can't afford to do major stuff).
I still work at a grocery store doing the same dairy stocking job. I now fully appreciate just how little I make there in a pay period when I'm suddenly inundated with bills! Gas+electric, cable, water, my credit card and now my college loan.. and now my own groceries (man there are a million advantages of living under your parent's roof for free).
So naturally, I had to seek another job. I'm still working at the store but now I'm an active substitute teacher (as of this past Tuesday morning, believe it or not). I'm hoping to get back into the classroom on Thursday. The extra money will definitely help as I'm sick of living life dollar to dollar and being unable to enjoy things that I like to do.
Speaking of things I like to do, I entered (and completed) into something unique. A local restaurant here had a "Beer Tour" of sorts. The idea was to drink 110 different brews in an indefinite time period. They supplied everything. Lets just say, my knowledge and my tolerance of beer both skyrocketed! I'm not going to win any chugging contests (I drink to enjoy, not to get wasted) and I don't drink daily (aka, i'm not an alcoholic.... yet...) but I find this whole thing kind of cool. I need to get pix up of my World Beer Tour hat!... and t-shirt... and thermos.. and cooler... and the plaque for completing the tour... along with my name on the restaurant's Wall of Foam.
I also learned that I'm actually allergic to most hard alcohols. They usually contain sulfites, to which I'm allergic and will experience things like... feeling hot (and not in the good way), possibly hives, headache... with exception to the hives, it's like getting a hangover but skipping all the fun of being drunk. That happened to me after HALF A GLASS of wine at my friends' wedding. Wasn't fun for me.
My birthday's coming up in early March... holy crap, I'm going to be a quarter of a century old! I'm going to need a wheelchair soon and a million post-it notes so i don't forget stuff.
Think that's all I got for now... I'll add more if I can think of anything more interesting!