Bring on the Cute!
Tonight was the first assemblage of
Awana at Zion. I’m a helper and, more specifically, I get to help the Cubbies (preschoolers) work on their Bible memory verses. We had 21 Cubbies tonight(!) which we will be splitting into two classes, each with two teachers and a helper. It was exciting to see kids I don’t recognize from Sunday morning there already. I was expecting that kind of growth later, but it’s cool to have it right off the bat, too!
“Cubbie Bear”, the Cubbie’s symbol -- the same visual
they used in my Awana youth
Kids seem to be my lot in life this fall. :o) I’m also this quarter’s Toddler Teacher on Sunday mornings. This is a relatively new position (which I feel like I explain anew each week to my ever-changing coworkers) which was created mostly just so there’s some extra consistency throughout the morning and from one week to the next for our little ones. After just two Sundays I can tell that some of these kids already recognize me and feel more comfortable having me there with them!!
I love kids. I just need to remember not to dwell on how much I’d like my own. :o) Someday, maybe, and I'll leave it at that.
As Time Goes By
Well... I got a job! A quick shout out to
Kelly Services for the part they played in that. It is, in fact, a short term position (6 months) with an insurance company, starting Monday. I’ll be doing customer service for policy holders -- not selling, just informing. I’m actually pretty interested to learn the ins and outs of insurance and like the interpersonal component because it’ll help the work from feeling too static. Well, we’ll see.
In other news, I woke up this morning and remembered what September 12th was like for me last year. That was the day I left for France. It basically combined with the 13th to form
THE LONGEST DAY EVER: I woke up, finished packing, drove to Omaha with my folks, had lunch with them, said goodbye (cried), got on a plane, flew to Chicago, switched planes, flew to Paris (losing seven hours, hardly sleeping, and arriving around 9am), met up with Elissa, took the metro
with all of our luggage to our hostel, rehydrated, had lunch, took a brief nap, and went on a Paris biking tour. We got back at, like, midnight. I think the definition of exhaustion goes something like that.
And here I am a year later. I’m still kind of amazed that I was out of the States for almost ten months and am still kind of overwhelmed about the bigger questions of my future. But all is well. It looks like my next life step is in place, which will give me the freedom to spend some time both trying to process what I went through last year and trying to determine how God wants to use me in the next several years. I take suggestions. :o)
You know, they’re always looking for subs…
Two months ago I returned from France. Tired (a word my French sister
always mispronounced), I laid low for a while before really beginning the job hunt in earnest. Well, the hunt’s been on for a while now, and while I’m the first to admit that I don’t exactly have tunnel vision about it, I’m kind of surprised that I’m still looking. I guess I’m just a weird mix of completely open and kind of picky when it comes to job options. Of course, it’s all complicated by the fact that I’d like a decent job now that I can keep while I examine other, more long-term possibilities, etc. and it’s hard to get a good job when you can’t promise to stay very long (not that I’m advertising that fact).
For a long time, subbing in the public schools was my ace in the hole. “If all else fails, I’ll just sub when school starts.” There are four things that people
always say about subbing. 1) It’s hard work. 2) It’s good pay. 3) It’s really flexible. 4) They’re always looking for more people to sub. I already know that I can teach and that I like it fine, though I don’t have plans to make a career out of it at this time. I’m a musician and speak French, making me a desirable replacement for any who teach in those areas. But mostly, I considered subbing because I thought it’d make a nice place holder while looking for something more stable. SO when school got close and I still didn’t have anything, I turned in a subbing application. Guess what I found out!
The
first problem with subbing is that “local substitute teachers” (those who aren’t certified to teach) can only sub for 37 days each school year. Puh-lease. The only people who can sub year-round are certified teachers who
probably want a class of their own. The
second problem is that it takes three stinkin’ weeks to get your “local substitute teacher certificate.” The
third is that the application process will probably take a month in all because LPSDO has to do checking before you can apply for said certificate. And once you’ve jumped through all those hoops, you’re only allowed to sub for just shy of two months! Basically, why go to all that trouble if you’re not in school planning to get your REAL teaching certificate, in which case you’ll probably hope to do more that just sub, leaving the schools AGAIN with a lack of substitute teachers. No sympathy here.
And that’s the main reason that I probably won’t pursue an occupation in teaching. I just can’t stand all the hoops which, in the end, don’t necessarily keep poor teachers out and good teachers in, but merely ensure that all your teachers are hoop-jumpers. More power to ’em! In the words of
Derek Zoolander, “Sorry, Maury. I’m not a gymnast.”
So all that makes me… still looking! But I’ve got other stuff in the works, and something should happen pretty soon, so save your pity -- but thanks. :o)
