I'm here, I'm here!

It makes me sad not to blog - so I have been a sad puppy lately, due to the no blogging.

But I have been crazy busy, and there are days I don't even open the computer - my internet activity is limited to a quick swipe through facebook before bed or when I'm on the road.  So what have I been up to?  Well, here's what a typical day has been looking like for the past few weeks.

5:00 - Alarm goes off.  Groan several times.  Weenie dog yawns and blinks a lot.  Neither of us want to get up when it's dark outside.  We do it anyway.

6:00 - After zombiefacing my way through a shower (okay, lots of times, not a shower), a cup of coffee, something resembling breakfast, and throwing on some clothes, it's time to hit the road.

7:00 - Get to my school, which is near the South Carolina border.  I actually see the Carowinds roller coasters as I drive in. When I get to school, I curse at the copy machine, get the room ready in whatever seating arrangement we're using, and get the boards prepped for the day.

7:30 - Either a meeting in the cafeteria to discuss the always-up-in-the-air summer school schedule, or duty in the cafeteria/bus lot/hallway.

8:00 - Kiddos roll into my classroom!  Turns out that my ability to be awake is directly correlated to the number of hours I've been up, not the time of day it is.  By 8:30, I've been up for a good 3 1/2 hours, and I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed when the kids get there.  The kids, on the other hand, generally just growl at me.

8:00-1:30 - Teach, teach, teach.  Poetry, short stories, writing, research skills, you name it, we teach it, and fast.  The kids are only in summer session for about eight school days of instruction, plus two days of testing/makeup work/portfolio building, so we move fast.

1:30 - Head back uptown to another high school that's our training site.  I have learned to not like training very much.  I love our advisor, because she does try to keep it entertaining, she's the sweetest and most energetic person in the world despite being approximately 86 weeks pregnant, and it seems her hands are tied by the strict Teach Charlotte curriculum.  But the curriculum.  Oh, the curriculum.  It's read about it, talk about it in a group, talk about it as a class, write about it.  Repeat x 485840202.  Plus I miss the kiddos during that time.  And I get antsy.  It's not a good combo.

5:00 - Fight traffic back home.  Swear a lot at other drivers.  Talk on the phone with PB and try to determine where he is on the road so we can wave at each other as we pass (our only "face to face" contact through most of the week.)

5:00-10:00 - Lesson plan, turn in work we have to do for the Teach Charlotte curriculum, and have a deep, loving relationship with my tenth grade lit book.

10:00 - Fall into bed, pray that the time between the last few minutes of 19 Kids and Counting or Teen Mom I see as I fall asleep, and the time the iPhone blares at 5am stretches out.

Repeat!

I know, that sounded sort of whiny.  But I still LOVE love love it.  And I have to brag - all of my kids except one passed the class.  Not because we just let them, but because they deserved it! So many of them did so well on the final exam!

I've had a few interviews so far, including one yesterday and one today.  But what I've determined about teaching positions, at least in CMS, is that it's ubercompetitive to get one.  Every principal I've talked to has said that they're doing multiple days of interviews.  Today, I interviewed at a school that I would absolutely love to work at - the area is awesome, and the need is huge.  Over 90% of the kids receive free or reduced lunch, and there is a fairly large special education and English language learner population.  My teaching partner, as well as one of my good friends from the program interviewed before and after me though, and the principal said they'd be doing interviews all day tomorrow as well.  For one position!  Crazy!  Say a little prayer for me - but I'm trying to keep my faith high that something will work out, but my expectations low about specific positions.

And, because the wedding is creeping up super duper fast, I'm doing bridal portraits this Saturday!  I'm excited - but mainly to get them over with.  It's going to be super duper hot outside, and I'm going to be worried about getting my dress filthy while I'm trying to take pictures in a sunflower field.  I'm just ready to wear it on THE DAY.  I really can't wait to see how they turn out though, so I guess I am a wee bit excited.  Just about the results, not so much the process.

Okay, it's the precious hour before bedtime, which means I have to eek out every second of Important Television and Knitting Time (woohoo, watching The Little Couple have eggs extracted!)  Hope y'all have been lovely!  And I promise to catch up on blogs soon!