Interview Tomorrow!

Most of you already know this, but tomorrow I am headed to Osceola County for an interview at Deerwood Elementary. The school is in the Poinciana (Polk County) / Kissimmee (Osceola County) area and it's probably at least a 45 minute commute. However, their beginning pay is about $2,500 a year more than Polk, so that would pay for gas for sure. I have a friend I worked with at Discovery Academy when I first moved to Florida who has taught at Deerwood ever since we both left Discovery, which has been 4 years now. She has been giving me a good reference to her principal, for which I am grateful. I am going to leave the house at around 7am to get there in plenty of time for my 8:30 interview. I will bring a book or just play around on my iPod Touch until it's time for my interview. I guess I am starting to get a little nervous about it, just really hoping I get this job! I have pretty good feelings about it, but I had good feelings about Brigham and that didn't happen, so I am just trusting the Lord to have His way with it. And He has already given me the sense that if I do not get this position there is something better out there for me. However, I also have the sense that I am going to get this one. We'll see what happens.
Friday night the college and career class at church gave an event they called "Chivalry is Dead - Hence this Event!" We were only told we were going to be shown chivalry, Greg was going to cook for us, and to wear our nicest dresses. I am not normally an attendee of C/C events, but I thought this one sounded fun and it's not like I try to stay away from these events either. I wore the black dress I bought for Andrea's wedding with a fun red headband Helen suggested. I arrived at the church and was met at the doors by Nathan, who escorted me to my table with a group of other ladies. He held my chair for me and welcomed me to the event, at which time Reagan came and introduced himself as the MC and went to fetch our drinks! The boys spoke in hushed tones, stayed off to the side but at the ready to attend to us at our every whim, serenaded us with music and guitars, led us in some praise and worship music, and just did an all-around good job at making us feel so special and revered! It was beautiful!
The following day I helped my Young Marrieds class (I attend because all my friends do) as they helped Sara and Brian move into their new house. I was basically the box breaker-downer. It was an important job and pretty perfect for me! No heavy lifting, which was good, and I kept the flow of everything moving pretty well. I went home, got cleaned up, and went to Hannah's house for a bit. We watched a movie, then I went home because I had yet to finish River's scrapbook. Can y'all believe she turns 2 next weekend?! I didn't have a lot to do for it but it took me a little over an hour to complete. I will add pages to that book next year probably because there aren't tons of pages in it. We will see, though. After I finished that it was time to go back to the church for a Young Marrieds Sunday School class potluck! I like to go to as many social outings as possible, hence the title of this blog! I brought Paula Deen's Bayou Banana Puddin' and it was yummy! I think it's going to be my contribution from now on. It's becoming my specialty at least. Sunday was a good day at church. I went out to lunch with the Gebhardt's and they came over afterward. Corey looked at my treadmill and diagnosed it with some mechanical problem so I'm going to try to sell it on Craigslist.
Sunday night everyone was trying to figure out what they wanted to do after church. I asked Nathan if he could help me move my treadmill out to the side of the road (we later decided to try to get something for it on craigslist), and he suggested he come right over and everyone could come and play games and we could eat pizza! It was a great idea and we had a wonderful time! I was perfectly content with this of course because we never do stuff at my house! It was a blast!
I have not done a whole lot today - working on laundry a bit, got the treadmill listed on craigslist, and OH! I did get to skype Helen for over an hour! She lives in Northern Ireland and I really enjoy her! Someday I will get there and visit her and her family. I got to chat for a few minutes with her mom Linda, and that was really fun! I tried to get them to hug but it didn't happen. There's always something to work towards! But I just love Helen! She's going to be a lifetime friend I am sure! Hopefully in the next year I will get there for a visit. I think Helen gets to come back to Florida for a visit in January, which will be so wonderful! Can't wait to see her again!
So that pretty much catches you up! Pray about my interview and I will hopefully fill you in whenever I know something. I am going back to Tallahassee Thursday for a nice long weekend to celebrate River's birthday. I haven't been for 6 weeks, which is the longest I have gone without seeing her since she's been born! I've done that 2-3 times but normally get there every month. I get to missing her soooo much! And it's usually worse the first couple of weeks after a visit because I get so used to seeing her. I might try to get my hair trimmed while in Tally at the same place I went for my birthday. Check facebook for the latest pictures as always!!!!

In Riverland!

A friend asked why there are such long gaps in my blogging. I replied that it takes me so long to blog because there's been such long gaps in my blogging! It's a vicious cycle. I love to blog, but sitting down to do it is another thing. So I am going to try to do better
I am, at this moment, in Tallahassee! I arrived this afternoon without too much trouble. I woke up earlier than usual, anxious with excitement! I haven't seen River in more than 6 weeks, which is as long as I've ever gone without seeing her! I have seen this little gal once a month at least since she was born, with probably 2 exceptions when I went 6 weeks. When she was first born, I was able to be with her about half of her 1st 3 months! Hopefully my sister appreciated the help - actually I know she did because she said so. Can't wait to provide support in any way possible for the new one arriving in June!
So there was some unexpected drama on the way here today - not real drama, just the kind that I create, without which there would be no blog :-) I was really excited about driving with the windows down, anticipating the milder weather in North Florida. After I showered this morning I put sunscreen on my left arm - the driving one - so I could stick my arm out the window the whole time. I did not start with the window down, though - not sure why. Then around Ocala there was a storm, so the windows were definitely not down then. Around Gainesville I put them down and really enjoyed myself. I got a bunch of music off Hannah's iTunes onto my iPod so I was set with the jams! I rediscovered my love for Chris Rice and heard a song of his that I really really enjoyed - The Final Move. It was so good I played it twice, right in a row. He's so great. Then enjoyed Celtic Thunder the rest of the way. The only trouble I had with the windows down was trying to keep my hair out of my face. I stuck a fabric headband in the car for this specific purpose, however, and utilized my sunglasses as a tool as well, seeing as it was overcast the whole time and I didn't need them much. The hair kept coming around the sides and getting in my eyes. Very annoying. I put the windows up so I could call my mom and let her know that I got to Tally safely. It was about 15 mins before I actually arrived at my sister's, but it's close enough. I saw the nest on top of my head and that should have sounded alarm bells, but it didn't. See, I am still figuring out this long hair situation. I have no idea the extent to the trials of it. I have encountered quite a few already, but nothing like this. I ran my hand though my hair and it got stuck. Yank - OOOOOWWWW!!!!! Same thing on the other side. OUUUUUCCCCHHHH! Try 15 minutes of this, and it wasn't even a brush! The rest of the way there I was trying to get the nest turned back into twigs and straw. It. Was. Awful. Then after I'd been there awhile I decided to take the brush though it - HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL THAT HURTS!!!!! I THOUGHT I GOT ALL THE KNOTS OUT ALREADY! WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! My niece was watching me brush my hair - I had her sitting on the counter and she was employed with her favorite activity, playing with bottles and tubes of things! - so I tried not to scream. Ugh! It was so awful, really you have no idea. I am new to this hair thing. I knew I needed something to keep my hair out of my face, but I had no idea the pain involved with after the hair had been wind-blown for 2 hours. For cryin' out loud, why am I trying to let it grow out again???? Oh yeah, I like the look of it, I am not married to short hair, and the guys notice constantly. Oh brother.
So is it even worth riding with the windows open??? Do I wear a visor or a hat? Because really I didn't even keep the hair out of my face all that well. I really don't know what I will do next time I ride with the windows down.
I was going to tell you about my niece a little while ago. When I was here around my bday, she was saying some words. She had just started doing the thing where you ask her if she can say something, and she'd do it. Sometimes it didn't sound anything like what you asked her, but it was cute because you knew she was trying. She was able to say animal sounds too, which was mega-adorable. THIS time, however, I noticed the difference before I even got here. On the phone with my sis to tell her how far away I was, we were about to say goodbye, and River's in the background going "Bye bye! Bye bye!" Last time she just said, "Bah-bah." Denise said that when she told River that Aunt Nettie was coming, she kept looking around saying, "Nettie? Net Net Nettie?" Over and over again she was looking for me. Of course when she got up from nap she was a little shy. It lasted all of 10-15 minutes. So she says pretty much everything you say now, like the last word of whatever you just said. She says "Yucky yucky," "Messy, messy," and "Stinky stinky." Also she says "cook cook" when she is helping mommy cook, and then she always adds please to everything. If she want's to help mommy add cheese to dinner when she is cooking she says, "Cheese please." And if she needs help with anything she says, "Help please." Also "Outside please", and "Down please." Such a polite little dear! I can't get over how much language she's acquired since I was here last! When I read a book to her she doesn't wait for me to ask her what the animal is and what sound it says. I was reading her Eric Carle's "The Very Busy Spider," and it was a brand new book I brought her today. She saw the picture of the horse and immediately said, "Neigh neigh." And the same with the pig, duck, and cat! I was so delighted I wanted to cry! So cute and precious!
I am really excited for Friday- I might take River all by myself to the junior museum! I told my Sis that I'd like to take her on an excursion, thinking about the park or mall, and she suggested the museum. I don't know what all they have there, but apparently during the day there are animals there, which will make River so happy! Tomorrow we are going swimming with some friends of Denise's and River's and then to lunch with some other friends. Saturday hopefully Mommy and Daddy will go on a date, so more Aunt Nettie and River time!
I just love that little girl, and that I get to have so much time with her. She is a real treasure and blesses the whole family.
Hopefully more later in the week! Check facebook for photos!

Saturday Night "Excitement"

Let me start by saying that I just spent the last week in Indiana, where I got to spend some time at home and helped my mom recover from knee replacement surgery. Mom is doing well and if she can keep off her feet enough, I think she will recover nicely.
My friend Alby came and picked me up from the airport and we went straight to the Pastor's house, where my Sunday School class was having a party. It started right after I got on the plane in Fort Wayne so I didn't know if anyone would still be there. To my elation everyone was still there! I had really been hoping to see people. See, whenever I'm away from my church and all my friends, the sooner I can get back together with them the better! So this was right up my alley! I guess I broke up the party because just after that everyone started heading out. They had been there over 3 hours, so I am not taking it personally!
Today I woke up to a power outage which lasted only about an hour.... then headed out to the soccer fields at church for Upward Soccer where I announced the 2nd half of the morning's games. I came home and got cleaned up, then called mom to see how she was doing. At 5 I headed to Osborne's again for our Ladies Care Cluster carry-in. You know the 1000th reason I love my church? I love my church because people from all kinds of backgrounds in different places in their lives and of all different ages can get together and share their precious faith, uplift and encourage one another, bear each others burdens, and have a good time in each others company. We don't care about the differences, we just love each other.
So, after the carry-in I came home and, after calling a couple of people and finding no one to hang out with, decided to do some bill paying and checkbook-balancing. I was sitting in my chair doing the bills and I see movement out of my peripheral vision on the left. I look up, and there . . . . . . . crawling up the wall . . . . . . . . . . is a cockroach. Oh, this isn't just any cockroach, it's one of the flying kinds. It's not just a flying cockroach, it was one of those palmetto bug cockroaches which are at least 3 inches long, 5 with antenna. You have to understand that I am a cool, calm, and collected person about almost everything. It's the teacher in me. A kid throws up in the classroom? No problem, are you ok student? A person cuts me off in traffic? No problem, I probably just say, Dude, what the heck? Then I go about my way. I have even had a little child pass out in my arms. She was 3. I pulled her up and propped her legs up so they were above her head. Not a problem. I am a teacher. It is my job to not overreact. However, this is nullified when bugs are concerned. The fatter the bug, the worse. Spiders are less scary. Lizards and Frogs are a-ok to me. But big fat cockroaches? I am glad no one was here to see and hear the scene. I racked my brain for someone to call. Too late I thought of Michele's husband, Chris, who lives 5 minutes from me and likes being manly. Anyway, I went to get the broom and I watched La Cucaracha crawl across the wall and ceiling, then down another wall and start heading for the kitchen. I did not have happy feelings about the image of that thing being in my kitchen, especially if I killed it and it dropped down onto my counter! EEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!! AUGH! I am getting the willies just thinking about it. I was thinking, do NOT start flying, do NOT start flying! I was freaking out this whole time, but I knew what I had to do. I flung the broom at the creature as hard as I could. It dropped down to the ground FLYING the whole way!!! DAHHH!! So now it is crawling on the ground and crawled UNDER MY CHAIR!!!!! I moved the chair around and couldn't see anything, so then I flipped the chair over to look at the guts of the chair. There, on the side of one of the feet of the chair............. was the La Cucaracha Gigante. Enter screaming and heart palpitations. Oh, and don't forget rapid breathing. This is the point that I was rapidly going through my friends to see if I knew someone who could come over and eradicate the house from unwanted guests. So I ran into the bathroom where I had some flying insect spray. So I came out and started spraying the heck out of the bug, which continued to crawl away, despite being heavily laden with pesticide. The beast continued crawling, I continued spraying, throwing caution to the wind, recklessly, spraying without abandon. Finally Senor Gigante slowed down and started writhing around on the tile. I went to go look for a dustpan and could not find it. I grabbed a piece of paper and came back out to see the creature belly up, missing a leg, and fighting much less vigorously. I swept it up on the piece of paper and carefully took it to the outside garbage can. He was still moving and I was dreadfully afraid that he would flip himself over and, I don't even know what he would have done. Crawl off and terrify me more. He was just dying is all, though. I was still excessively nervous, but breathed a little easier once he was in the garbage can. Only a little easier because I knew what needed to be done. I went into the garage and got the garden sprayer, which held pesticide "Demon" from last year. Yes, it was time to re-bolster my home's defenses with a good spraying of Demon. This is good stuff. A 16 oz concentrated solution of it is $50 at the farm supply store. But it dilutes 1 oz to 1 gallon of water. I keep it in the fridge to last longer. So I mixed up a whole new batch of it so it would be nice and strong! Then I proceeded to give the perimeter of most of the rooms in the house a good dose of the stuff, concentrating on doors and windows, keeping La Cucaracha Gigante in mind the entire time. I worked uncharacteristically fast, and even proceeded outside to fortify the outside perimeter of the house so as not to allow the beasts to even gain entry. My garden sprayer has a leaky hose so my right hand, which held the actual nozzle and hose, was dripping with toxic pesticide, so I came inside and washed up, then satisfied that my home was appropriately protected, I put the Demon away, righted my chair, sat down, and began blogging.

Holy Mother of Pearl! It's been 2 months since I last posted. I know because my mother just reminded me. I enjoy posting, but it takes me so long because of the length of my posts! Anyway, things are going pretty awesome for me! I have 3 tutoring students right now, all home schoolers, so really they are not tutoring students, they're just students. I teach a young brother and sister science and a 6th grader math. I just started with the siblings, but they are a real joy! They just absorb whatever I feed to them in our lesson and beg for more! It's really rewarding! Any my 6th grader is so ridiculously fun to work with that it's not even work. She's my mini-me. We are alike in many areas, and it just seems to work in our sessions! I had a 9th grade student for about a week but it didn't work out. I wish it would have, but it was not fun like my other students, so I am not completely upset about it. I don't normally do 9th graders anyway. Hormones are not my favorite. Mine or anyone else's.......
So this week I am going to be a little busy because I am preparing to go back to Indiana for several days to help my mom out. She's having knee surgery on Tuesday and gets out of the hospital on Friday if all goes well, so this week I'll be getting ready to head out for 8 days. I'll fly into Indy on Thursday night and AMY TENNEY will pick me up from the airport and take me to her place so I can spend the night, visit with her, play with her toddler, hold her baby, and go pick up mom from the hospital the next day...... if she's lucky. Mom, I put that in there for you since you're probably the only one who READS THIS BLOG! So, I'm going home to help her out and get some time hopefully to visit with some friends. Ok, actually, I'm going to leave the old lady at home alone while I go out and have fun. JUST KIDDING AGAIN MOM! Nah, I'm an old pro at helping her around the house, especially after she has surgery. I've been doing it since before I turned 13. I think my mom would agree that I'm a great help to her, kind of a natural. Her right hand, even. Yeah, that might cover it. Oh, don't forget indispensable. I do have a lunch date with my favorite red-headed lady, Dr. Curry! I consider her a mentor, but also my dear friend. She is the Chair of Teacher Education at the college I graduated from. Me and Smitty (Amy [Smith] Tenney), were 2 of her favorite students. I. Love. Her.
So tonight after a great service at church, I decide that I don't want to go home for the rest of the night, and that I want to go to Taco Bell. So I invited Alby. I knew from past experience that there is a crowd of retirees from church that congregates there after church on Sunday nights, but I have never gone inside and sat with them. Tonight we did though and it was so much fun! I knew a few of them, just from being the friendly-teasing sort, but we had a real blast with them! The funnies part to me is that the men sat in one section and the women sat in another! I asked one of the women why the men were segregated and she said, "Well we don't care what they have to talk about! We want to talk about our own stuff!" And it was perfect! Alby and I sat with the ladies and just had us a big ole' time! And that's what I love about my church. I, at 30, was there at Taco Bell with a close friend, late 40s, sitting there talking with a bunch of 70 yr olds! It was amazing! A lot of them are from the North, so you get to talking about Indiana and Ohio and you realize the world is a pretty small place!!!
Well, that is all for me for tonight! Will try to be more regular but I can't promise anything (Mom! I love you, dear!!!!)

This Week

The days since my last post have been substantially better in every respect.......
Friday was a really productive day for me. I was feeling MUCH better than just the evening before, and I did a lot of cleaning in my house. Actually, this is probably the cleanest my house ever gets, so that's a good bit of work I put in! Friday night I went out with Lynn Thompson to Fazoli's and then over to Lisa Brock's for coffee with Lynn, Lisa, Jill Osborne, and mi amiga, Alby. All but Alby and I were pastor's wives - there was a men's retreat and all the men were away, so this was a unique opportunity to get together with all these sweet women! It may not ever happen again, so I was truly so happy to be amongst them all!
Saturday I didn't do much at all, but I did go get my eyebrows waxed and I got to Skype with Hannah for over 2 hours! It was wonderful. On Saturday I did seal the grout for the tile in my kitchen and guest bathroom. Since it was so clean from being mopped the day before, I thought it was a good time. One can of sealer doesn't go very far, so I had to stop with just the 2 rooms. I will get more and finish the rest of the house, but I found out the chemicals made me very allergic. I couldn't stop sneezing and scratching my eyes. It was very fumey as well. Blech!
Sunday was a great day at church! The evening service was lead by the college group at church and it was such a blessing to me and to many others - I can't even describe how encouraging and moving it was! The Spirit was definitely in that place that night is all I can say!
And today I had a pretty boring day until the evening, when Lisa Gebhart came over and we went to look at curtains for my house! I came home with a shower curtain that I plan on converting into 2 panels for my bedroom, and there is an awesome display at Bed Bath & Beyond that is in a beach bedroom that will look awesome in my living room! I would have never been all for it until I saw it displayed, and with a sheer in the middle with palm trees on it! I totally could see it working in my house after that. I am going to wait on it, though. It's going to be over $100 for the whole window - cheap for some who do custom windows, but it's a lot for me right now. I was excited to see it, though. We ate a late dinner at Longhorn, then headed home. We ended up talking for about an hour after we got home - she is so easy for me to talk to. I love her!
I have a nice socially busy week planned this week, which I am soooo excited about! Tomorrow during the day I will work on my taxes, then in the evening I get to go to the Hill's for dinner! They are a sweet family who have taken me under their wing a bit and have allowed me to share in their family with them. I relish these precious times with them! I crave that family interaction, which is why I'm so excited to go and visit people in their homes.
Weds starts our women's Bible Study on Esther @ church, and Ali is going to come do it with me! It's going to be a really awesome group of ladies, so I'm really stoked for it!
Thursday is FPU, and I am enjoying it, but I still get really frustrated at not having an income with which to practice the concepts taught in the class. I get so excited and motivated during class, and then realize that I can't do a thing about it because I'm not working. That's a hard pill to swallow. Please never stop praying that the Lord will provide in this area. It affects a lot of different things in my life.......
Friday will be awesome, though. I get to go over to the Cook's for dinner! Pam is an amazing, albeit new friend. She has been someone that I am able to get to know very quickly. She is a wonderful woman in the Lord and has become a valuable asset to me and my life. I love her too!
I am quite sure this post is lengthy. I tried to be concise, but if you know me well enough to read this post, you know being concise is almost impossible for me!
Thank you all for your prayers and support! I love you all!

Interview Results

I got the call this afternoon that Brigham had offered the position I interviewed for to another candidate. The principal was very positive and asked me not to give up on them. I thanked him for letting me know and told him I would continue pursuing them.
I can't lie and say that I wasn't upset. Even as I was writing the first paragraph a few hours ago (I had to go to church for FPU -Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey), I was crying off and on, as I did the entire afternoon and evening. My head KNOWS unequivocally that God is is control, He only kept this job away because He has something better, and I just have to be patient and wait for His timing to provide me with a job. I do KNOW that! But my HEART is sooooo terribly disappointed and cannot comprehend why God could not have given me THIS position, that felt so very right for me in this situation! I was SO SURE that this was "IT!" This is my heart talking. My head knows the only reason God kept this job from me is because there is something that is even better suited to me and the skills He has gifted me with. But the head and the heart are two VERY different entities, am I right????
So please continue praying. I need them now more than ever. Thank you for what prayers have already been lifted to the Heavens to the very ears of God on my behalf. They have to be in the hundreds or perhaps more from just this week (and possibly from just my mom :-)

Post-Interview Update

I got home from my interview a few mins ago and it went really well! I had some trouble finding the main building to get to the office so I was a couple of mins late, but hopefully that won't leave too much of a bad impression. I interviewed with the principal and one of the 2nd grade teachers. Here is one of the most amazing things: Out of almost 30 applicants I was chosen for one of only 5 interviews given! He told me that right away and it made me really excited but put me at ease at the same time! He had a list of 10 question that he put in front of me, which I really appreciated. Here is another cool part - I had derived a list of 5 questions to practice prior to my interview, and I wrote out my answers to them - some I've actually given as answers at real interviews and some I thought of as I was writing them out. The principal's list actually had 2-3 questions that was on my list! So I had my answers ready in my head because I remembered what I practiced! It was so awesome! I felt calm, cool, and collected through most of it, so that was a blessing.
There was one question that was amazing the answer the Lord gave me. Question: Tell me something you have done that you went out of your way to help that person? My mind went to the classroom, but also to a situation of some friends of mine. I asked him if I could give 2 and he said that was fine. I told about the one in the classroom and went on to the non-school related one. Without going into detail I told him about some kids that I watched so that their parents could get some marriage counseling. I never even gave this a second thought when I was doing it, but after I told them, there was a visible change on their faces. The principal said that was probably one of the most important pieces of information I could have shared with him and he said he was really glad I did! I was amazed! Praise God for taking over for my voice and speaking through me!
The principal told me that he would be calling all 5 candidates and letting them know TOMORROW! So I will DEFINITELY let you know the outcome, regardless of what it is.
Thank y'all SO MUCH for praying! It was definitely the reason it went so well!