And just like that...

I'm a teacher! Today was my first day and I'd be lying if I said I didn't come home at 4 pm, have dinner, and take a nap. I forgot how lively high schoolers are! And I forgot what the sky looks like at 5:30 am...totally black. I forgot to take a first day of school pic but just imagine a bright dress and a jean jacket to get a good idea.

After I woke up from my nap, I made a Target run in which I spent more than intended (has that ever NOT happened?) and enjoyed Starbucks for the second time today.

Cheers to surviving!

New Car, New Job

What our life looked like for a few days- Oliver watching me watch TV, read,  etc.

Hi! A lot's changed in the past couple of weeks. But we'll start back in August. Or really, last spring. I began applying for teaching jobs earlier this year and after the school year started, I hadn't heard anything from any school. In late August, I started getting job interviews. I went on several and while they went well, none seemed like a good fit. Then two weeks ago, I interviewed at a school and loved it. Towards the end, they told me I was the youngest and least experienced candidate. My hopes of getting the job sank, especially when the day I expected to hear back came and went without a phone call or email. 

Then about two weeks ago, I got in a wreck. I won't go into the details but it was bad. I came out of it as well as anybody could in that sort of thing- with a few scratches, bruises, and banged up knees. I spent a few hours in the hospital before some very sweet friends (D+L- seriously, I can't thank you enough) were able to bring me clothes and wait with me until I was discharged at some point that night.  I was still in shock at the time and spent the majority of the night wondering where my new Bonlook glasses were. The firemen couldn't find them in my car before taking me to the hospital. Once I was at the hospital, I kept fixating on how much one of the doctors looked like Emilio Estevez. I've heard when you're in shock, you focus on one thing to cope with the stress. Now I understand why.

The next few days were weird, for lack of a better word. I ached all over and kept reliving that night. My parents were wonderful and helped me out more than I'll ever know. And Oliver was totally fine with napping all day. On Friday, my dad and I decided to go car shopping. It was his birthday and I felt guilty that he had to spend it helping his hobbling daughter pick out cars. On the way, I got a call from the school I loved. They wanted to hire me! I couldn't believe it. And my dad was so happy to be looking at cars that he failed to realize at one point that I was half asleep on a bench. 

That night, we found a car I liked and enjoyed late night milkshakes and everything felt alright again. Since then, most of my bruises have gone away, I turned in a notice at my current job, and started collecting supplies to decorate my classroom. I'll be finishing up my current job on Friday and hopefully starting my new one shortly after that.

It's wild to think of what I was doing just a month ago and what I'll be doing at this time next month. Thanks for taking the time to read all this. I'm excited for what's coming! 

2012, in a nutshell.

Better late than never- 2012 in a nutshell

January: I received a hilarious and somewhat sad note from a substitute teacher while I was out of work for an afternoon. 

February: This was an interesting month with a high on Valentine's Day and a low just before my birthday when I wrecked my car. Luckily the year just got better!

March: This was a quiet month but I did manage to see Fun. play a show in Carrboro.

April: I met a few celebrities in NYC and at the end of the month, I got to meet one of my oldest friend's baby girl, Estelle.

May: Another one of my best and oldest friends got married in our hometown.

June: I finished up my first year of teaching, went to DC, and started taking guitar lessons with the raddest instructor around. What a month!

July: I went to weddings and saw lots of good friends. 

August: I spent most of this month in coffee shops applying to jobs and watching the Olympics. 

September: What a busy month! We had our very first book club meeting and I went to HopScotch Music Festival in Raleigh, saw Florence and the Machine and Ben Folds. And my baby niece turned into a teenager...where does the time go?

October: I spent the month working on Obama's campaign by doing all sorts of crazy things. And it was awesome.

November: Obama won the election!

December: A piece I wrote was featured in PineStraw magazine! (on pg. 75, to be specific)

Quiet

Click for source

It's going to be a bit quiet around here for the next few weeks. March is likely to be spent watching basketball, grading papers, and figuring out what life's going to look like after June 10th...which can't come soon enough.

See you on the flip side, cuties.

A note from a sub

"Dear Ms. Hayes,

       They don't pay you enough to do this job! :) Wow....I'll pray for you. You definitely need mental health days."

- A funny little note left by the substitute teacher yesterday