Ok you know the sayings Nervous Nancy, Rachel Raincloud, etc. Well since I am trying to be more positive than my last post, I tried to think of a P name to go with Positive, and Percy was the first one that popped into my head. Probably because I read all the Percy Jackson books the weekend before school started and I LOVED them.
Anyway. I could tell you alllllll about my first week(s) as a student teacher, but to make it more interesting and less verbose I decided to do it in ACROSTIC POEM style since that was our LITERARY FOCUS for our third graders this week. Aren't you so lucky that I am so creative. Now, what should my word stem be...hmm...
T wenty-two adorable students :)
H ot as Hades. Our a/c is out for the third day now...in 101 degree weather outside. Awesome.
I officially now have a suckier schedule than my brother who is on a mission. Bed @ 9:30 pm, Breakfast @ 5:30 am baby.
R eally love my mentor teacher. She is very flexible and enthusiastic- perfect combination!
D efinitely did a double-take when I drove to school for the first time. Yeah, there's a ten-foot barbed wire fence surrounding the neighborhood across the street from my school. Enough said.
G otta admit- I LOVE the fact that it is an outdoor campus. Love the sunshine/natural lighting in all the classrooms and the fresh air every time we go outside, even if it is hot.
R eally had fun teaching my first science lesson today. We were weather scientists and collected temperatures from around the courtyard!
A ppalled by the fact that the kids only get recess twice A WEEK. Not per day, like most schools, but per week. Wow.
D rives 1 hour in commute each way. If it wasn't for audiobooks, I would be asleep at the wheel every day.
E very day as a teacher is an adventure! You never know what excitement (good and bad) the day can bring! Ha!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Hoop Jumping Extraordinaire
Ever since we have moved back to Texas we been jumping hoop after hoop just trying to get jobs and drive our cars legally. The gist of it is that:
1) Mitch can't get a job until he has a TX driver's license. understandable, but places have just been throwing away his applications when he says that he just moved here and he's in the process of getting one.
2) which he can't GET a DL yet because we have to have our cars registered in Texas, even though his car is not due to be re-registered for another 8 months
3) oh but guess what we can't register our cars because our insurance apparently doesn't meet the "Texas" standards. so apparently we have been driving illegally the whole time we have been here. oops. HOW THE HECK IS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THESE THINGS? gosh.
4) and not only that but since my car is in my dad's name still, my parents have to sign the title over to me. nbd except the fact that they live 6 hours away and it takes the mail 3-5 days to get here despite the fact that we are in the same state.
5) so they send it and we think we're in the clear but then oh guess what the actual TITLE OF THE CAR WITH THEIR SIGNATURES ON IT apparently isn't good enough. oh no they were supposed to fill out a "TITLE TRANSFER FORM" that the collin county tax office didn't tell them about
6) so they send THAT, but then come to find out we're going to have to pay $800 in taxes (no joke) as "owners of a new car" unless they fill out this OTHER form that says that they "gift" the car to me. oh by the way they have to get this form notarized so my dad has to take off work to go down to the stupid tax office to have some guy witness that he signed the paper himself and not some fraud.
7) a faxed copy of this paper isn't good enough, they HAVE to have original signatures. so by the time it will get here in the mail, my registration will be expired (oh wait it has been expired for 2 weeks already), and I will be working/commuting 6 am-5 pm every day for the next three months...which are the hours of the stupid tax office. so how I'm supposed to get my car registered is beyond me.
8) Mitch takes this stupid security class that is REQUIRED by the state of texas to be a hired as a security guard. I understand that it is a good idea to train people who are going to be armed with guns how to use them. the thing that boggles my mind is that most of the jobs available are UNARMED, aka NO GUNS, and those guys still have to take a class to learn how to be a security guard...um...what? why should the government care if security guards for private firms do their jobs right or not? next thing you know they're going to start telling people they need to take a state-approved burger flipping class before you can apply at McDonalds.
9) it's not even really the class itself that bothers me. they led us to believe that once you take the class you are good to go as far as being hired. WRONG. according to LAW, you don't have the "authorization" to work as a SG until someone hires you and pays to do a background check on you. once your first employers do this process, THEN you are good to go and can go work for as many companies as you like. well it is time-consuming and costs the companies money, so of course who are they going to hire? the people fresh out of the security class who don't have their background checks? no...of course not. they're going to make it a job REQUIREMENT that you've already had your background check b/c they don't want to go through the hassle of doing it themselves. what are the implications of this? oh basically that we wasted money on something that mitch probably won't be able to get a job doing since no one wants to hire a "noob"...even though he's freaking been to the police academy and has experience working security for one of the LARGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD. also the fact that he has an associate's degree and all this experience counts AGAINST him since no one wants to pay more than minimum wage. in their eyes, a high school dropout with a year's experience working texas security is more qualified than someone like Mitch. pathetic.
10) the kicker of this is summed up very nicely by one of the security applications he was filling out today. the application asked, "have you been arrested more than 2 times? check yes or no. if yes, please explain."
ok. so being arrested twice is ok? it's only bad if I've been arrested more than twice???? YOU'RE TRUSTING THESE PEOPLE TO CARRY GUNS?? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP HIRING CRIMINALS, AND THEN YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH SO MANY HOOPS TO HIRE PEOPLE. NO WONDER THE GOVERNMENT HAD TO INTERVENE AND MAKE SURE THAT THESE IDIOTS GET AT LEAST SOME KIND OF TRAINING.
I am disgusted with society. And yes, Mitch is still jobless.
1) Mitch can't get a job until he has a TX driver's license. understandable, but places have just been throwing away his applications when he says that he just moved here and he's in the process of getting one.
2) which he can't GET a DL yet because we have to have our cars registered in Texas, even though his car is not due to be re-registered for another 8 months
3) oh but guess what we can't register our cars because our insurance apparently doesn't meet the "Texas" standards. so apparently we have been driving illegally the whole time we have been here. oops. HOW THE HECK IS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THESE THINGS? gosh.
4) and not only that but since my car is in my dad's name still, my parents have to sign the title over to me. nbd except the fact that they live 6 hours away and it takes the mail 3-5 days to get here despite the fact that we are in the same state.
5) so they send it and we think we're in the clear but then oh guess what the actual TITLE OF THE CAR WITH THEIR SIGNATURES ON IT apparently isn't good enough. oh no they were supposed to fill out a "TITLE TRANSFER FORM" that the collin county tax office didn't tell them about
6) so they send THAT, but then come to find out we're going to have to pay $800 in taxes (no joke) as "owners of a new car" unless they fill out this OTHER form that says that they "gift" the car to me. oh by the way they have to get this form notarized so my dad has to take off work to go down to the stupid tax office to have some guy witness that he signed the paper himself and not some fraud.
7) a faxed copy of this paper isn't good enough, they HAVE to have original signatures. so by the time it will get here in the mail, my registration will be expired (oh wait it has been expired for 2 weeks already), and I will be working/commuting 6 am-5 pm every day for the next three months...which are the hours of the stupid tax office. so how I'm supposed to get my car registered is beyond me.
8) Mitch takes this stupid security class that is REQUIRED by the state of texas to be a hired as a security guard. I understand that it is a good idea to train people who are going to be armed with guns how to use them. the thing that boggles my mind is that most of the jobs available are UNARMED, aka NO GUNS, and those guys still have to take a class to learn how to be a security guard...um...what? why should the government care if security guards for private firms do their jobs right or not? next thing you know they're going to start telling people they need to take a state-approved burger flipping class before you can apply at McDonalds.
9) it's not even really the class itself that bothers me. they led us to believe that once you take the class you are good to go as far as being hired. WRONG. according to LAW, you don't have the "authorization" to work as a SG until someone hires you and pays to do a background check on you. once your first employers do this process, THEN you are good to go and can go work for as many companies as you like. well it is time-consuming and costs the companies money, so of course who are they going to hire? the people fresh out of the security class who don't have their background checks? no...of course not. they're going to make it a job REQUIREMENT that you've already had your background check b/c they don't want to go through the hassle of doing it themselves. what are the implications of this? oh basically that we wasted money on something that mitch probably won't be able to get a job doing since no one wants to hire a "noob"...even though he's freaking been to the police academy and has experience working security for one of the LARGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD. also the fact that he has an associate's degree and all this experience counts AGAINST him since no one wants to pay more than minimum wage. in their eyes, a high school dropout with a year's experience working texas security is more qualified than someone like Mitch. pathetic.
10) the kicker of this is summed up very nicely by one of the security applications he was filling out today. the application asked, "have you been arrested more than 2 times? check yes or no. if yes, please explain."
ok. so being arrested twice is ok? it's only bad if I've been arrested more than twice???? YOU'RE TRUSTING THESE PEOPLE TO CARRY GUNS?? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP HIRING CRIMINALS, AND THEN YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH SO MANY HOOPS TO HIRE PEOPLE. NO WONDER THE GOVERNMENT HAD TO INTERVENE AND MAKE SURE THAT THESE IDIOTS GET AT LEAST SOME KIND OF TRAINING.
I am disgusted with society. And yes, Mitch is still jobless.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Settling In
It has been almost a month since we've arrived in Houston, and we have had a great time moseying around enjoying our vacation. Since we've been here, we have watched the pool get built, helped fix up the yard, we've got a library membership (ok by "we" I mean me), read a lot of books (again, me), gone skeet shooting (which turns out is a lot harder than wii skeet shooting), got our cars inspected, got new drivers licenses, applied for lots of jobs (Mitch), changed our own transmission fluid and done other car maintenance stuff ourselves (by "ourselves" I mean Mitch), had many airsoft wars, and helped cook a lot of dinners! The Davies are definitely getting a taste of what it's like having me cook for them...now they actually have to eat vegetables! Ha! But seriously they have been so hospitable and I have loved hanging out with them and getting to know them better.
Here are a couple of pictures of their new house! They moved out here a few months ago to get a little closer to nature and it is so gorgeous out here. I love it, minus the insects. I can't go outside even in broad daylight without getting assaulted by at least 6 mosquitoes. I have learned to use insect repellent.
Also please don't judge these photos too harshly...they were taken with a phone. We have lost our camera chargers in the move, and the Davies haven't found theirs yet either from their move a few months ago, ha! We are pathetic.
Here are a couple of pictures of their new house! They moved out here a few months ago to get a little closer to nature and it is so gorgeous out here. I love it, minus the insects. I can't go outside even in broad daylight without getting assaulted by at least 6 mosquitoes. I have learned to use insect repellent.
Also please don't judge these photos too harshly...they were taken with a phone. We have lost our camera chargers in the move, and the Davies haven't found theirs yet either from their move a few months ago, ha! We are pathetic.
we look really high maintenance with so many cars out front hahaha. and that's minus Mitch's dad's car!
ok you can't really tell but the backyard is an acre. there's more yard off to the sides that weren't included in the photo.
sweet zipline from the tree fort (The Alamo) in the background, site of many epic airsoft battles.
and last but not least, feast your eyes on my incredibly hot husband, who shoots clay pigeons out of the air with ease. (he even can shoot two at a time. I couldn't hit even one. hahaha) also while we're bragging about my husband, he passed his stupid security school practical last week with 249/250 on the human target. boo ya.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Elder Zachie-Poo
Wow it has been wayyyy too long since I have updated this. In my defense, a lot has happened so it has seemed really overwhelming to write it all down.
1. Mitch and I packed up our cars and drove across the country. We had a small holdup in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, where my car randomly stalled at a light. Luckily the police officer was beyond nice and helped us move it off the road, and he called a buddy who came to look at our car and fixed it in like two seconds. Blessings, blessings, blessings!
2. We spent two weeks with my family, swimming, going to the Rangers game where we saw Dirk throw the first pitch, and hanging out with extended family!
3. We said good-bye to Zach for two years as he goes to serve a mission for our church in New York City! It was sad, but exciting too! I got the first email from him today actually! He is doing great and loves it. We are so proud :)
4. We finally arrived in Houston where we are staying with Mitch's family while we figure out our lives hahah. The plan so far is for me to do my student teaching and graduate. Meanwhile, Mitch will find a job, and hopefully I can find a job too and we will both work and save up for a year-ish so that we can afford for him to go to flight school here in Houston. Of course, plans change, but that's all we've got for now haha.
I wish this post was more exciting, but this is more for documentation than for entertainment.
Oh, side note. I read Dracula this week, and I must say I was disappointed. I do enjoy a lot of the classics, but this one was just so SLOW that it was hard to believe that it was supposed to be a horror story. It starts out awesome for the first like 25% of the book, and then goes really downhill from there. If you haven't read it, don't. You're not missing out on much.
I did, however, read a good book this week too. It was a very quick YA read, but it was an interesting insight into the Roman lifestyle/time period. It's called Tiger, Tiger. It's on my book list on the right sidebar.
Ok that's all. Interesting post today, I know.
1. Mitch and I packed up our cars and drove across the country. We had a small holdup in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, where my car randomly stalled at a light. Luckily the police officer was beyond nice and helped us move it off the road, and he called a buddy who came to look at our car and fixed it in like two seconds. Blessings, blessings, blessings!
2. We spent two weeks with my family, swimming, going to the Rangers game where we saw Dirk throw the first pitch, and hanging out with extended family!
3. We said good-bye to Zach for two years as he goes to serve a mission for our church in New York City! It was sad, but exciting too! I got the first email from him today actually! He is doing great and loves it. We are so proud :)
4. We finally arrived in Houston where we are staying with Mitch's family while we figure out our lives hahah. The plan so far is for me to do my student teaching and graduate. Meanwhile, Mitch will find a job, and hopefully I can find a job too and we will both work and save up for a year-ish so that we can afford for him to go to flight school here in Houston. Of course, plans change, but that's all we've got for now haha.
I wish this post was more exciting, but this is more for documentation than for entertainment.
Oh, side note. I read Dracula this week, and I must say I was disappointed. I do enjoy a lot of the classics, but this one was just so SLOW that it was hard to believe that it was supposed to be a horror story. It starts out awesome for the first like 25% of the book, and then goes really downhill from there. If you haven't read it, don't. You're not missing out on much.
I did, however, read a good book this week too. It was a very quick YA read, but it was an interesting insight into the Roman lifestyle/time period. It's called Tiger, Tiger. It's on my book list on the right sidebar.
Ok that's all. Interesting post today, I know.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Dream Come True
Good: Yesterday, about an hour into class, my children's lit professor steps out into the hall and comes back in with brick oven pizzas and rootbeer for the whole class!
Better: While passing out said pizza, he says, "Today is my last day of teaching ever! I will be retiring at the end of this term. We were supposed to review for our final today, but I thought to myself, I don't want to talk about finals. I want to celebrate and have pizza instead! I don't really want to grade finals either, so guys, don't come to the final. Because I won't be there."
Best: He continues, "In fact, I have been harping on you guys so much this semester about how you are in charge of your own education," (he has) "I have decided that you are mature enough to grade yourselves. I am passing out notecards right now. Will you please write your name on a card and write the grade you think you deserve, and I promise to honor whatever grade you write on there."
Oh yeah.
Better: While passing out said pizza, he says, "Today is my last day of teaching ever! I will be retiring at the end of this term. We were supposed to review for our final today, but I thought to myself, I don't want to talk about finals. I want to celebrate and have pizza instead! I don't really want to grade finals either, so guys, don't come to the final. Because I won't be there."
Best: He continues, "In fact, I have been harping on you guys so much this semester about how you are in charge of your own education," (he has) "I have decided that you are mature enough to grade yourselves. I am passing out notecards right now. Will you please write your name on a card and write the grade you think you deserve, and I promise to honor whatever grade you write on there."
Oh yeah.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
T-minus 10 days...
Until this:
The move is starting to feel so real! Today we sold our last piece of furniture- our kitchen table- and our apartment is virtually empty! (If you don't count our clothes lying all over the floor where our dresser used to be.) We leave the 21st and will drive to Dallas to visit my family along the way, where we will say goodbye to Zach for 2 years! Then while we play with Mitch's family for a couple weeks, we get to job/house hunt in this big city until I start new teacher orientation in August!
Houston here we come!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Brother #1
Well Mitch said my last post was "boring", so I will try to spice this one up for you non-readers. (As a side note, Mitch is perfectly willing to listen to me ramble about the current book I am reading...and is often interested in it. Baby steps, I know, but we are on the way to making him a reader! :D)
This week Mitch's brother came down to stay with us for two days before he entered the Missionary Training Center. We of course, took great care of him on his last few days before the mish.
Monday night, we ate out at Brick Oven. Free home-brewed rootbeer with a purchase of a pizza...can't go wrong with that!
Tuesday we had In-N-Out for lunch, of course, and then went to Uncle Rob's for a farewell get-together. We got to see their gorgeous new house out in Elk Ridge and ride their four-wheelers!! (Side note: I am a total pansy and got pretty scared of how fast we were going on a paved road...hahaha. Granted, I was sitting up a lot higher on the seat and every time we went over a bump I felt like I was going to fly off. Thanks for putting up with me riding with you Josh ahaha).
We also had an awesome barbecue with them, Rob's specialty- brats and hamburgers and pasta salad and corn on the cob! For the occasion I made rainbow jello, our family tradition and Mitch's favorite:
Ok I admit I took that picture off the internet, but that is basically what it looked like!
Then Wednesday we took him in! Holy cow the whole thing went SO fast. We pull up to this huge line of missionaries, a guy comes up to greet us, grabs Josh's luggage, and starts walking away with it, motioning for Josh to follow, all in like 30 seconds. I had to blurt out- "Uhh can we get a picture first before he leaves?" So we took another 20 seconds to take the picture, hug, and then they just walked off. Yeah. Really took us off guard with how fast it was. I understand that you are trying to stay on a schedule, but can we seriously have more than a minute to say goodbye? I mean come one, it's two years people! Kind of a big deal. Well anyway, I did get a perfect picture of the two brothers.
Seriously how cute is that? Mitch looks like a dwarf compared to Josh, but still so presh! haha.
So one brother down, one more to go! Only one month until Zach reports! I was so sad when Josh left because then it reminded me that Zach was going to be gone too for 2 years! I cried haha. But I am excited to write them both and send them both awesome care packages! All I can say is, they better write back!! :D
This week Mitch's brother came down to stay with us for two days before he entered the Missionary Training Center. We of course, took great care of him on his last few days before the mish.
Monday night, we ate out at Brick Oven. Free home-brewed rootbeer with a purchase of a pizza...can't go wrong with that!
Tuesday we had In-N-Out for lunch, of course, and then went to Uncle Rob's for a farewell get-together. We got to see their gorgeous new house out in Elk Ridge and ride their four-wheelers!! (Side note: I am a total pansy and got pretty scared of how fast we were going on a paved road...hahaha. Granted, I was sitting up a lot higher on the seat and every time we went over a bump I felt like I was going to fly off. Thanks for putting up with me riding with you Josh ahaha).
We also had an awesome barbecue with them, Rob's specialty- brats and hamburgers and pasta salad and corn on the cob! For the occasion I made rainbow jello, our family tradition and Mitch's favorite:
Then Wednesday we took him in! Holy cow the whole thing went SO fast. We pull up to this huge line of missionaries, a guy comes up to greet us, grabs Josh's luggage, and starts walking away with it, motioning for Josh to follow, all in like 30 seconds. I had to blurt out- "Uhh can we get a picture first before he leaves?" So we took another 20 seconds to take the picture, hug, and then they just walked off. Yeah. Really took us off guard with how fast it was. I understand that you are trying to stay on a schedule, but can we seriously have more than a minute to say goodbye? I mean come one, it's two years people! Kind of a big deal. Well anyway, I did get a perfect picture of the two brothers.
So one brother down, one more to go! Only one month until Zach reports! I was so sad when Josh left because then it reminded me that Zach was going to be gone too for 2 years! I cried haha. But I am excited to write them both and send them both awesome care packages! All I can say is, they better write back!! :D
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