On Graduating

Graduating from college was not nearly as exciting as it ought to be, mostly because I have not found a job yet. Not that I expected to, but it would be nice to join the work force and begin digging myself out of debt sometime in the next decade.

Student teaching was a completely positive experience. I couldn't have asked for a better placement and better students. I learned what I needed to learn, and I can't believe that it's over already. I can't wait to have my own classroom and teach. While I was student teaching, I couldn't help but think that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. And that made all the difference for the semester. I was comfortable and challenged at the same time; I couldn't ask for anything more than that.

On a personal level, this semester has been extremely stressful. I have had school work to complete as well as all the duties of a teacher with all the worries of a mother. There were many times that I was worried about paying bills, but we always got through. Madeline was a real trooper all semester. She's watched more Dora in the past month than I've let her watch in the past two years, just so that I could get some work done. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but not by much. Our routine became: get home, fix/eat dinner, watch TV (for Maddie)/work(for me), bath time, and bedtime. Every night. But we made it.

Madeline is excited about Christmas! I can't believe that it's only a week away... time has just flown by. Madeline helped me set up our Christmas tree around Thanksgiving. Our (not-so-) wonderful cat decided that she really, really liked our tree. I came home one day, about a week after we set it up, only to find it on the floor, ornaments all around the living room, some (including Hallmark Wizard of Oz ornaments) broken. I was furious. I got all sorts of advice on how to take care of the problem (mothballs in the tree, put the cat in the bathroom all day, etc.), but the best solution came from Madeline: "Mama, I think it's time for Tinkerbelle to go live in Granny and Grandpa's barn." So, Tink now lives in my parents' barn. And it wasn't even my idea.

During the Friday-after-Thanksgiving sale, I bought Madeline her own little (pink!) Christmas tree. She is very excited to have her own tree. I think we are going to use it all year round to display her art work. I'll try to post pictures of it, eventually. I haven't been good about posting pictures recently. I blame the crazy school schedule! :)

If I don't see you before, Merry Christmas!