It's my Thursday morning blog.

Does anyone here ever watch that show 30Rock? It's got Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey...its REALLY funny! We started watching the first disc of the first season last night and it's really pretty funny. I never thought I would like that show. I'm not a huge fan of Alec Baldwin, but he's super hilarious in this show, you should watch it. It has some crude humor but not a ton. We checked it out from the library. That's what we'll be doing until we have a steady dual income in our house...checking out movies and DVD's from the library instead of Blockbuster. Hey, it's free and they actually have some pretty decent stuff. We checked out "Be Cool" earlier this week and watched that. It was funny too. I love that movie. Waylon wasn't impressed. He's never impressed with any movies I say are good or funny. They are always "alright" to him. He's very picky about his movies and I can usually tell within the first 5-10 minutes if he's going to like the movie just by his body language; how he's sitting and the look on his face. He doesn't hide that very well at all. This comes from going to movies with him for 7 years, not some magical gift I've recieved since being married to him. :-)
It turns out that the job we thought was going to be great, wasn't. He didn't go back today. It was cleaning carpets and the way they presented it to him and the way he saw it being done during his non-paid training were not the same. The guys have to upsell different services once they arrive at the houses to really make money and some of the "services" were not all they were cracked up to be and Waylon did't feel right trying to sell that at the prices they were charging. Oh well. He tried. He's going out for round two today. We do have a couple of options though. His first goal is to try to find something with pay as close to what he was making before, which was REALLY good for the hours he worked. The second goal is that they have flexible hours and work with his school schedule and the third goal is to find something nearby so that he doesn't spend a lot of money on gas. We're still trusting God to provide because He always has and always will. If Waylon can't get the pay he got before we're going for somewhere with a decent, consistent, reliable pay that doesn't depend on the ups and downs of business. He needs the hours. As much as he likes sales, it's not the most dependable source of income, unless you have a good base salary. So those are the things he's looking for in a job right now. He's calling a few more places today and hopefully will get an interview or two.
I am in another mindset right now: preparing for going back to school next week. I've already received my two in-services schedule letters from the school district in the mail outlining next weeks happenings. I get to work with my department for the first two days which means me and Sabrina, the other Spanish 1 teacher, get to work for two days straight on getting our lesson plans ready for the first six weeks. I'm looking forward to that part because I got some new ideas this summer during my ECAP academy. (I am an "alternative certification" teacher so I went through all the education classes this summer through ECAP - we went to class everyday from 9-3ish for 4 weeks to get what all education majors take during their four years of college) I'm really anxious to try some of this stuff out. One of them is a bit idealistic but I still want to try it. I'm really inspired right now by all the teachers I heard speak to us and all the things they have been able to accomplish in their classrooms. Some of it is super scary to even think about trying, but I picked some that I really think I could do. So I get to work with Sabrina who is AWESOME and who also went through ECAP several years ago and this year is our new department head. I think she will do a great job and I look forward to working with her in that capacity. Another thing we're doing this year which is new is "opening ceremonies" for our school district. In our letter is says that we're going to have t-shirts from our school to wear to these ceremonies. I have no idea what to expect there...hopefully it's not an adult pep-rally or something. lol. That would be interesting. Now, those of you who know me will find this next part probably a bit odd and out of character: this year I accepted the position of being a cheer sponsor. Yes, I know, it's crazy. It also pays an extra $3250 on my salary which right now we need. It also allows me access to connect with some of my students (I had several cheerleaders last year in my classes) and to go to games and see other students of mine playing. I know it's not really a coaching position, but in essence I am their coach at games and in practices...so I've been told. I know it will be time-consuming and probably frustrating at times, but I think it will be a good experience for me. I like the athletic atmosphere and although I know I'll be in the cheerleading side of it, I think it will still be fun. I've been told I won't be taken seriously, but I think that's all about how you carry yourself and letting others get to know you and see that you're doing it because you care and want to get involved in the students lives. I'm not worried about that, I have enough confidence in myself to overcome that.
After I wrote that paragraph, I looked around me and noticed my surroundings. I still have boxes that need to be put away and clutter that needs to be organized. The unpacking is not finished unfortunately and if I don't want to be totally stressed out next week, I need to get my rear in gear and get it done today and tomorrow. I still have a bunch of stuff at my parents house in my old room! ugh!! Clothes and clutter...the story of my life. I don't know where I will put all that stuff either because my apartment is just started to get that "full" feeling where you don't want to add anything else for fear of an explosion. yikes. My dogs are being annoying right now, chasing each other around, growling and biting each other. They can do this for hours! It drives me crazy. I'm actually really trying to get rid of one of them. I got Daphne back in may, she's a rat terrier and I thought it would be really good to have a second dog for Rowf to play with so he wouldn't be so needy with us. It was a mistake. First she was sick for the first month and half with pneumonia. Yes, dogs can get it, I didn't know that either! I spent probably $1000 on vet bills trying to get her better. She would cough and cough and cough and I thought that would never stop. Well it did and as soon as she was all better, her real personality came out. She is probably the hyperest dog I've ever owned. She moves like a bolt of lightening, if you blink, you can miss her. She's also a whiner. If you're not giving her enough attention, she whines, if you put her in her crate, she whines, if Rowf has a toy she wants, she whines, if you're eating and not sharing with her, yep, she whines. One of the few times she doesn't whine is when she goes to our window andlooks out over our balcony and stares outside. She loves to do this! I love for her to do this! It keeps her attention! It's great! Anyways, for our small apartment and the $300 deposit PER DOG, having her is turning out to be more frustrating than anything. Sometimes I feel like she may not live to see another day when I get really frustrated with her. Rowf is much calmer, older and trained - we don't have problems with him. Daphne has a mind of her own and isn't scared when she gets in trouble. She's like a stubborn little child and once I go back to school training her will be more difficult. She needs a family or a person who can give her lots of attention and who is really good at training. She's really cute and can be very sweet when she wants. Right now I'm just at wits end with her so that side doesn't stand out to me much. She is very cute though and I know that once I do get rid of her, I'll be sad for a while. She entertains us a lot when she gets into it with Rowf. They are quite hilarious together. Anyways, if you know of someone who wants a small dog and would be a good home for her, let me know. I don't want to just send her off to any Joe Shmow.
With that, I think it's time for me to cut out and start organizing and cleaning. I've got a lot to do here not to mention still going to my parents and getting the rest of me moved out.
Happy Thursday!
Steph