so excited i could burst!

 

It’s official.  On July 8th I will be flying to ATLANTA!!  I haven’t been there since fall 2002.  I’m going to visit one friend in particular (the jury is still out on when you’ll find out who that is), but naturally while I’m there I want to hang out with LR and D too. 

I love Atlanta.  To this day it is still my favorite place to be; it even wins over my hometown.  I have been wanting to move back to Atlanta since the day I left it and I’m still working on that dream.  Although I always hated the 8 hour drive to Spelman, my favorite part was waking up on the way there, just as we were approaching downtown.  We always arrived at night the day before I had to move into my dorm room, so all the buildings would be lit up.  I still think its the most beautiful scene I’ve ever seen (lol that’s “punny”).

*sigh* I hope these next couple of weeks go by fast.

speechless

Today is my 5th wedding anniversary and what a year its been.  Getting married is what caused me to move to MD and tonight is the last night that I will live here.  I have learned a lot and grown a lot in the past 6 months and I have to say that I’m quite proud of myself.  So is my therapist for that matter.

So goodbye Maryland,  I hated your weather and the way people drive, but I love most of the people that I met here.  I’ve made what my kids call “lifetime friends.”

I’ll miss you all everyday and to you I don’t say “goodbye”, I simply say, “until next time.” 

my own shrug

There’s a shrug that I really want, but I’ve only seen it in my head.  I’ve seen ones that are similar, like this one.  Its called Hot Lava.  The pattern is free on the designers website.

I really like the front of it that’s exactly what I want, plus the sleeves are long, but I don’t like the saggy part in the back.  I think that I’m going to have to just make my own. I might make one of these just so that I can really see what the construction is like and then try to revise it for myself.  I kind of know what I need to do, but not really.  The Two-Tone ribbed shrug in Fitted Knits is close too, but I’d still have to make some changes.  Less ribbing and more body.

On top of that I don’t just want long sleeves, but I also want the cuffs to go over my hands and have thumb holes.  That means that I’d have to use that section of the pattern for The Painted Lady from The Anti-Craft website.

*sigh* Why can’t someone have already created my perfect shrug pattern.

goodbye surprising friend

Today was my last appointment with my hair stylist. 

I’ve said goodbye to many hair stylists in my life time.  First b/c my mother decided it was cheaper for her to do it.  Then, b/c I was graduating from college.  3rd b/c I was moving back to VA.  Then again when I moved to MD.  In MD I think I’ve changed stylists 3 or 4 times, either b/c they switched salons and I didn’t feel like following them or b/c they did my hair a couple of times and I wasn’t impressed enough.

When I met her though, I knew I’d like her.  She is absolutely hilarious; the things that she says will have you laughing the whole time you’re there.  I had only known her for about 5 minutes and she was trying to sell her 9 year old son to me b/c of something crazy that he had done that day.  Over the past 2 years I’ve come to know her and her son very well.  She is the first stylist I’ve ever had that really cares about her clients, and remembers any story that she tells you.  If something was wrong in your life when you saw her last, then she is quick to check the next time to see if it was resolved.  When other women would talk about their stylists being like a friend to them I couldn’t fathom discussing personal things to someone like that, but now I totally understand.  She doesn’t know I’m separated b/c I didn’t have the heart to break it to her, plus I knew that I would be moving this summer anyway.

I’m genuinely sad to have to go.  She gave me the best hug when I left.  She really is my friend.  She gave me her email address on my way out, so I will definitely keep in touch with her.

I HAVE A NEW JOB!!!

My original plan for this post was to leave you in suspense and talk about night school first, but I can’t.  Its always been hard for me to keep a surprise secret and I guess it still is. 

This morning I had an interview at one of the high schools.  That meant that last night when I left night school, I got on the road and drove straight here.  Present at the interview was the principal (of course), the assistant principals and the department head for English.  They each took turns asking me questions and always seemed pleased with my responses, especially about my work with special needs/ IEP students, my use of technology in the classroom and my regular contact with parents.  One of the APs there was an AP at my high school and remembered me.  On the way out of the building, God gave me a good sign when the security guard, who had signed me in, and who was a petite woman BTW, said “I hope to see you again.”

Everyone who knew that I had the interview this morning said that I was going to get it, even those who aren’t necessarily religious and we were all correct.  When I checked my email at 3:00 (i took a long nap) I had received an email from the human resources person who had interviewed me a couple of weeks ago, saying that he’d been told to offer me the position.  The 6 people that interviewed me this morning went from not knowing anything about me at all (they hadn’t read any of my file, they only knew my name and that I was a candidate) to wanting me to work with them, in 30 minutes.

I’ve only heard good things about this principal so far.  He apparently teaches at the college where I’ve been considering law school and he has been described as compassionate, friendly and a Christian.  I knew I’d like him when one of his questions was “How important is humor in education?”  When I started with “Very,” he said “That’s all you need to say.”

I am SO INCREDIBLY EXCITED!!  The administrative faculty were very humorous and seemed like they really get along so I hope that that’s the case for the rest of the staff.  I’ll be one of 17 English teachers so that’ll be interesting.  School doesn’t start until 8:45, which is an hour and 20 minutes later than what I’m used to, and its only 15 minutes from my house.

*sigh* God just keeps putting everything in place for me. 

[added about 2 hours later]  I also just found out that I won the monthly drawing at my fav knitting store in Virginia Beach.  They emailed me at Ravelry on Monday.  When I told my mom she said that she needs to rub up against me b/c I clearly have God’s favor.