searched and sworn in

Today was interesting, to say the least. I really can't wait until we get settled and don't have to be running every second of the day!

I'm still in the process of getting my military ID, so every time I go on base, I have to be searched and allow for the car to be searched. It takes a bit of time, but it's not a big deal. BUT, our registration tags hadn't arrived by the time we had to move, so it looks as if the registration has expired, so each time I try to get on base, they call the MP's (Military Police) on me and I have to go through background checks and they double search the car. It's crazy! I'm sure it's something I'll look back on with amusement, but it's really time consuming now.


On a good note, though, I found a house I LOOOOOVE! It's got a huge backyard for Seamus, a modern kitchen, and an awesome, very southern, front porch! I'm hoping we qualify for it.

all the craziness

Wow.


I have to let that sink in for a minute. Things have happened so quickly, that I almost feel guilty for spending the time to sit down and write this. I do need a break from all the craziness though, so this is how I'm spending it!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we are moving to North Carolina. Tomorrow. Wow.

Here's the story if you haven't heard it (if you have, you can skip this next part!) I had an interview on Thursday with three principals of Department of Defense Schools. Prior to the interview, I researched the schools I was interviewing for, and found out that one of them was named after a man who was stationed in Somalia with my dad. It seemed like it was just too much to be coincidence that such a position would have finally arrived. Even better, several other teachers at this school had spouses or other relatives who were there at the same time also. Awesome, huh?

The principal let me know that they had to make their decision that day, and that HR would be getting back to the person they hired sometime within a week or two.

So yesterday (only 2 workdays after the interview) I awoke to a phone call saying that I got the third grade position and would start the next Monday. So here we are two days later, in the midst of frantic packing and planning, and we head out tomorrow! Ben and I finally get to do the cross-country road trip we've been planning for years, only without a lot of the fun stops we had planned to do along the way.

Pictures and road-trip (and house-finding and teaching) stories will soon commence as well!

I never thought I'd say this, but goodbye, California!

i guess this is growing up

I've never really felt like an adult. I have a friend who comments each time we see each other on how we are really growing up, citing the fact that I am married, have a house, a career, pets -- every marking of the stereotypical American adult, minus the 2.5 kids and mini-van (or SUV??)

But I guess I have never really agreed. Honestly, I have always felt just the same as I always have, somewhere between those confinements of teen-dom and old age. I always wondered if I would ever feel that "adult-ness" feeling coming on or if it would just happen. If it didn't happen with finding the love of my life, being married, moving away from home or even finishing college and starting my career, what would it be? Having kids? Buying a house? Turning 30 or even 40?

I hadn't thought about it for a while, but I realized recently that feeling like a grown up isn't always a great thing. If being an adult means being knocked down by the failing economy just as so many others have, knowing that our parents won't be there to bail us out, I don't know if I want to join those ranks! We are seeing so many of our friends having their second or even third kids, and we are nowhere near that phase in our own lives. We keep seeing friends, as young as we are, who have already divorced. We have seen death and life and everything in between...and it's made me realize that feeling like a grown up may not be all that it's cracked up to be.

The feeling is bound to appear eventually and I can't help but wonder if it's a good thing. Will it be a relief to finally be that grown-up I always dreamed of becoming, even though it comes complete with the same fears and worries of the older generations who lived before us; or should I be clinging to that security blanket of youth, never letting go? I know we can't have it both ways, not really, but it's difficult to make the choice. 

Or maybe it isn't a choice at all. Maybe it just happens out of the blue, when we realize we have finally reached that stage of life. All I know is that I haven't reached that place yet.

nothingness

So I just realized that I haven't written in this thing since October. Seven months! Seven months full of nothing and everything at the same time.

Well, here is what the last seven months have held.

I still don't have a job, and that fact is growing more and more difficult as each month rolls by. Somehow by the grace of God we are still making it financially, but the prospects are ever dwindling as more and more money is taken from our state (and country's) educational budget. We are looking for teaching positions across the country, and it is very possible that we'll be moving to North Carolina in the next few months.

On that same note, I started a photography business. It's been a lot of fun and we've met some great people. I'm hoping that it builds up enough that I can put teaching on hold until the recession is over, so we'll see. It's a popular thing now for photogs to have their own portraiture blogs, with a few portraits and quick spiel about their clients...so that's where I've been doing my writing for the past few months. The link is here if you are interested in checking it out!

Other than that, things are moving right along, I supposed. We've been in Tahoe off and on for Ben's work. It's nice getting to stay in a hotel for free in one of the world's most beautiful bodies of water for several days on end!

That's about it...see you in another seven months (hopefully it won't be that long!)

the woes of unemployment

Is it just me or does it seem like it's more difficult and stressful to live off of unemployment than to work for a living? I swear, I put just as much time into filling out the paperwork, handing out resumes, researching ANYONE that might have the budget to be hiring, vying for interviews, getting turned down because I either have too little experience or too much experience, and trying to get ahold of someone at the unemployment office every few weeks because they have once again messed up my check?

But, alas, the school districts are still not hiring, the economy is as bad as it has been, and there are no jobs in site that will pay what my unemployment does.

I wish I had a job.

testing, 1..2..3..

I don't know what to say. With all that's been happening, I must admit it's been hard not to get depressed. I still don't have a job, though everyone says I should have gotten one by now and that they are "crazy not to hire me." Apparently "they" aren't aware of this. My mom has been in and out of the hospital 4 times in the last few weeks, and I don't have the money to keep driving over there to be with my family. I feel helpless and lost, and I'm trying SO hard to be patient and to have faith that this will all work out for the best.

I guess it's these times that really test your integrity and faith, huh? I hope this is a test I can look back and say I passed with flying colors.