Today was my first day as a preschool substitute. Needless to say, it was FAR better than my job as a nanny! Forget that the fact that I made the same wage in 6 hours as I would in 11. That's just icing on the cake.
I'm working 11-5 preschool all week, floating between the 3 of the 4 classrooms while others are on breaks. The girl who normally works that shift is working the preschool room while that teacher is on vacation, because I'm not certified yet to teach by myself. But I did confirm today that subbing in preschool WILL count towards getting preschool certified, as long as I do some in-services too. I just have to be in preschool consistently, which they plan to do. Now lets just hope that a position opens up after I get certified!!
The kids there love me, of course. :) I made little friends in each of the classrooms (except downstairs, because they were all napping when I was down there). I'm one of the younger teachers (actually, probably the youngest in preschool, and maybe youngest in the whole school.) and the little girls seem to really like that. Not sure why.. maybe because I'm not old and grumpy yet? Hehe. Wait til I bust out my cute socks and fun little accessories, (which I have far too few of) then they'll really love me.
Is it sad that I relate well to pre-school girls?
Probably.
So, it finally happened.
Someone around here recognized me for my Aussie fame. Bound to happen when I'm not holed up at my nanny job 793024720 hours a week. (Okay, sorry, no more former nanny bitterness) I was discussing long plane trips with a little girl whose family is from China. She was wondering if you would have to sleep on the airplane if you flew to the other side of the world, and I confirmed that yes, you would, because I did that when I flew to Australia a few months ago. My co-worker then said "Wait... you're... that Ashley?" Why, yes, yes I am. It was kind of a little bit embarrassing to be recognized like that. It was expected in Australia, but there wasn't that much exposure here. Or so I thought. Apparently the local paper ran something about it while I was gone, with a bunch of photos and things. Wish I had known! I wonder if/where I could get a copy. Hm. Anyways, we discussed Australia and how amazing the opportunity was. She told the other teacher in the room, who hadn't heard about the story, but thought it was cool anyways. I wonder if the whole building will know by the time I get there tomorrow.
Maybe I should get some kids cricket sets for the school now. :-D
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
New Directions
A lot has changed in the past 9 months, since I quit blogging. It was a tough time in my life. Times I didn't really feel like blogging about, but I probably should have been. The input would have been nice. And it definitely wasn't all bad. Just tough.
I graduated from college in May. I knew the job market was tough, and I knew I had a very small window of time to find a job. (Generally by September, all teaching jobs are filled.) But I was confident and hopeful that I'd get a teaching job. Too confident. Too hopeful. At first we were planning to teach in South Korea, but we (or rather, I) decided that I'd rather have a chance to teach here in U.S. If we went to Korea, I'd miss out on teaching the year we can back as well. (We'd come back in mid-September - when most jobs are already filled.)I'd also miss the first year of my new nephew's life. I spent hours upon hours applying for jobs. I got one interview, on my birthday.
We moved out of the apartment at the end of July, still hopeful that I'd find a job. Readying ourselves for a quick, last minute move to wherever I found a job, we moved into Danny's parents house. The night before we moved, we knew it wasn't going to be a good idea, so we started formulating a back up plan. We moved into Danny's parents house, September came and went, and we jumped into Plan B... moving to Massachusetts and renting my aunt's basement. The only thing we needed was for one of us to find a job before we moved. So I became a nanny.
We moved to Massachusetts in October. Dan got a seasonal retail job. We were content and happy to be in a new place.
In November, things got a little insane. I had the first extended family Thanksgiving since lord knows when. I went Christmas shopping with my aunt turned landlord and roomie. I realized that I'd become an overnight twitter sensation... in Australia, for not being a freaking cricket match.
December was spent preparing for Christmas... and a trip to Australia. I shopped and wrapped during the day, took care of the children in the evening, and did Skype and phone interviews at night.
I spent Christmas Eve with Danny's parents, Christmas Day with mine. We drove back to Massachusetts from Maine on "Boxing Day", while braving an epic, record breaking snowstorm. We missed our flight, but luckily got on one the very next.
We spent 10 days in Australia, enjoying my 15 minutes of fame. I watched cricket for the first time, met celebrities, enjoyed being in the summer time in January. Spent New Year's Eve in the harbor in Sydney.
We came back, and life basically went back to normal. Except now Danny was unemployed, and my boss was preparing to have surgery - which meant that my job responsibilities tripled, as did the time I was being asked to put in, with no increase in pay whatsoever. I got tired, stressed out, and basically completely fed up.
I applied for a job as a preschool teacher. I got it. And then I lost it. The state of Massachusetts wouldn't certify me, based on not having enough experience with the age group. Regardless of the fact that I am more than qualified for the job. But they offered me a substitute teaching job. I took it. I quit with my nanny job with a blaze of fury. The same week, Danny got a job as well.
We decided to start looking towards moving into our own apartment. We decided to get a puppy from my aunt and uncle's litter and name her Sydney, after our once in a lifetime trip.
And I decided to start blogging again.
I graduated from college in May. I knew the job market was tough, and I knew I had a very small window of time to find a job. (Generally by September, all teaching jobs are filled.) But I was confident and hopeful that I'd get a teaching job. Too confident. Too hopeful. At first we were planning to teach in South Korea, but we (or rather, I) decided that I'd rather have a chance to teach here in U.S. If we went to Korea, I'd miss out on teaching the year we can back as well. (We'd come back in mid-September - when most jobs are already filled.)I'd also miss the first year of my new nephew's life. I spent hours upon hours applying for jobs. I got one interview, on my birthday.
We moved out of the apartment at the end of July, still hopeful that I'd find a job. Readying ourselves for a quick, last minute move to wherever I found a job, we moved into Danny's parents house. The night before we moved, we knew it wasn't going to be a good idea, so we started formulating a back up plan. We moved into Danny's parents house, September came and went, and we jumped into Plan B... moving to Massachusetts and renting my aunt's basement. The only thing we needed was for one of us to find a job before we moved. So I became a nanny.
We moved to Massachusetts in October. Dan got a seasonal retail job. We were content and happy to be in a new place.
In November, things got a little insane. I had the first extended family Thanksgiving since lord knows when. I went Christmas shopping with my aunt turned landlord and roomie. I realized that I'd become an overnight twitter sensation... in Australia, for not being a freaking cricket match.
December was spent preparing for Christmas... and a trip to Australia. I shopped and wrapped during the day, took care of the children in the evening, and did Skype and phone interviews at night.
I spent Christmas Eve with Danny's parents, Christmas Day with mine. We drove back to Massachusetts from Maine on "Boxing Day", while braving an epic, record breaking snowstorm. We missed our flight, but luckily got on one the very next.
We spent 10 days in Australia, enjoying my 15 minutes of fame. I watched cricket for the first time, met celebrities, enjoyed being in the summer time in January. Spent New Year's Eve in the harbor in Sydney.
We came back, and life basically went back to normal. Except now Danny was unemployed, and my boss was preparing to have surgery - which meant that my job responsibilities tripled, as did the time I was being asked to put in, with no increase in pay whatsoever. I got tired, stressed out, and basically completely fed up.
I applied for a job as a preschool teacher. I got it. And then I lost it. The state of Massachusetts wouldn't certify me, based on not having enough experience with the age group. Regardless of the fact that I am more than qualified for the job. But they offered me a substitute teaching job. I took it. I quit with my nanny job with a blaze of fury. The same week, Danny got a job as well.
We decided to start looking towards moving into our own apartment. We decided to get a puppy from my aunt and uncle's litter and name her Sydney, after our once in a lifetime trip.
And I decided to start blogging again.
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