Thursday, August 12, 2010

Well, hi there...its been a while.

I made a promise to myself to keep up with my little bit of blog. I had been doing pretty well until last week. At least I have a good excuse...no, reason.

I HAS A JOB!

I have been M.I.A since last Thursday because I was hired as a Spanish teacher at the city high and middle school. (I have to float between the 2 campuses in the middle of the day) I have been frantically scrambling to get lesson plans and materials together. All of my general classroom stuff is still in Colorado in storage. I have also never taught Spanish. I also haven't spoken Spanish consistantly in over 12 years. I am totally excited, though, and am very much ready to enjoy what this year is bringing to my life. I have so many great kids and colleagues that I think this is a place that I will feel at home.

So, less time for writing at this point, at least until I get my head on straight and stop running like a gerbil in a spinny wheel. I promise that I will still pop by my favorite bloggy people to get my smiles, giggles, food cravings and warm fuzzies.

For now, I am going to go drink more tea, take some meds and try to kick this annual cold and sore throat that rears it scratchy head every 1st week of school.

Wish me luck.
<3 you all.
Rosie

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Cranky Old Lady Down the Street, or "They Fought the Law, and the Law Won"

Today was a good, if hot day. Sir Geek got off work early, I found out that I got the teaching job (even thought I will only be hired as a long term sub until I take the PRAXIS), got out of the house, paids some bills, hung out with the fam that's here, etc. It was decent.

We are notorious around this little neighborhood for sending our kids out to walk around the loop in the evening, especially when they are being all kinds of rowdy in the house. So we sent the 2 midgets here out for a walk while SG and I made dinner.

About 10 minutes later, there's a knock at the door.

Its my boys...and the fuzz...o.O

We asked the nice (read:huge, burly, bear-like) deputy in out of the heat and he tells us that the someone (read:grumpy, old hermit lady) called him about our boys playing "in" their yard and around their mailbox...I am pretty sure it is the same lady that called animal control on our older dog when she got off the leash 5 times in one week (she didn't start trouble, she just liked to run around and explore).

Really? They're 10 and 6...

What happened to "Hey you kids!! get offa my lawn!!"?

We thanked the bear, er....deputy and talked to the boys AGAIN about other people's property and such, and sent them to their room until dinner.

The 6 year old blew it off, I think...but the Bubba...he took it hard.

As we finished dinner, we heard a strange wailing sound. SG and I looked at each other, and went to the boy's room. Bubs was sitting in the corner, in an upright fetal position, hugging his teddy bear named Smores, and WEEPING. We asked him what's wrong, he tells us that he doesn't like getting in trouble, is scared to go to the detention center AND the Camper is harrassing him by laughing at him. >.>

It took about 3 hours, but he's better now. It only took us telling him to calm down and him eating 2 entire cucumbers and 10 cherry tomatoes from our garden.

I hope he remembers this when his hotshot friends want to do something stupid to impress the multiple girlfriends I forsee in his not-so-distant future...

Holy Crap, he's in Middle School!



Thursday, July 29, 2010

Keeping myself busy...

For most of my life, I have known someone that canned, creating preserved goodness in large batches and putting them up for later use or gifts in pints and quarts. I have always been interested in it. Partially due to my pathological desire to figure out things that I don't know much about, especially things that have been around for a long time (I am a historian, I can't help it), but mostly because I love food....FOOD! Numminess! The number one reason why I will NEVER ever be my teeny tiny pre-pregnancy size 6 again. (Number two is because my baby-morphed body laughs at me everytime I think about buying clothes smaller than size 12 EVER again.) Um, anyhow...


A few years ago, my step-mom starting canning again (she grew up doing it) as something to do while my dad was gone and to be more in control of what goes into the food that they eat. Everytime we saw them or received a package from them there was always a gift of canned goodies.

Then we moved into the deep south...

Holy moly EVERYONE cans, especially people with gardens, which is probably 60% of the population of Hometown, MS.



I now get canned goods from my MiL, SG's Mamaw, HillBilly Neighbor, kids' friends' parents, etc.

My cabinet now has a 60/40 ratio of homemade to store bought canned food.

I think that's pretty darned cool!

When we moved here, I decided to start a garden. I <3<3<3 tomatoes and peppers and would eat them everyday if they were available...and now they are, woot! My parents decided that between the garden and our plethora of local farmers that they were going get me started canning. Which is good, because last week alone I ended up with nearly 40lbs of veg from multiple sources. I even used it all, before the parents got here with my canning starter kit, heh. I had a few jars and lids that I got as gifts (with food in them) that I decided to practice pickling peppers. My brother asked me to send some with step-mom since he was going there to visit. My very first attempt at canning yielded 1 and 3/4 pints of pickled jalapenos and banana peppers from my garden.

It was beautiful.



I think I am now addicted
>.>

Yesterday the little boys and I made Blueberry Banana Jam.
3 quarts of fresh blueberries
2 mashed bananas
1 lime: pulp and juice (I sliced the peel and boiled it with the fruit to get more flavor and pectin from the pith)
3 cups of raw sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
(The original recipe didn't call for pectin, but so far, its more like a thick chunky syrup than jam, so I may add some next time I make it)
Yields 5 pints

 
 
The Bubba picking stems and sorting out the icky berries
 

The Happy Camper mashing 1/2 the berries.
  
   
Such concentration for the little one!
<3 this baby.
 
Holy teamwork, Batmom!
They're actually working TOGETHER!
*GASP*

Before cooking down.
 
 
Jar-ready, steamy goodness.

Tadaaaaa!!!


This is Mamaw's, I put her jam in one of her own jars so I could return it to her...good idea, huh?

We had some BananaBerry nummies on our fluffy pancakes this morning, it was sooooo tasty!


And on tomorrow's schedule?

Peach Melba Jam.

The fruit is currently macerating in between layers of raw sugar.

YUM!

Here's the scoop...

Sorry for sucking at posting lately.

This last week has been a lot of ups and downs for me. The downs have been mostly due to the fact that this will be the first month that I haven't received some sort income. I have NEVER EVER in my life been unable to contribute financially. It is rather suckish, to say the least. The ups have been more often, but almost more tentative. My husband is amazing, he does everything he can to cheer me up when I start to worry about money. He is working 50 hours a week to cover everything and never complains about me not working yet. 

Also, if you have remember, I left a rather vague post about the possibility of having a job, but didn't say anything else about it because I didn't want to jinx it. I have been spending the last week trying VERY hard not to worry about it and just let things happen as they will. The situation is this: I am a certified Secondary Social Studies teacher that hasn't had my own classroom in 2 years. I have subbed, but in every other subject possible...except math...we have a hate/hate relationship...I would've damaged children forever if I had to do more that proctor a math test. I made a random trip to the city school district last thursday while out running errands. I had sent in an application for a S.S. position, as well as subbing, if nothing full-time came up. The receptionist was great, someone had filed my teacher app under clerical (wth?) so she went through and checked all of my experience and made a list on the front of the app (it was a long list, I have taught or been involved with a LOT of different subjects.) She noticed that I did a long-term sub job at the other HS in town in Spanish and Drama.

She looked up and asked "Do you speak Spanish???"

Er, yeah...a little rusty but enough to teach level 1 and 2.

"Stay right here while I make a copy of your app."

Me: Um, sure...>.>

She comes rushing back into the lobby with a copy of my app and tells me that I need to go over to the HS RIGHT NOW and talk to the pricipal there. That they have a Spanish position open and haven't had ANY applicants and that "he would LOVE to speak to you!"

Not one to argue (hush, mom) I said "Yes ma'am, thank you very much!" and headed over to the school...
Did I mention it was 104 degrees, I barely had a touch of make-up on and was dressed semi-casually? (I usually don't dress up or put on make-up for errands, but randomly took an extra few minutes to doll myself up a little)

Well, she told me that he may not be there at that time, but to leave my app with the receptionist with my number, so I really wasn't expecting to have him walk into the office as I was introducing myself to Ms. K and telling her that Ms. P sent me over here about the Spanish position. He stopped in his tracks and leaned over to his AP and said "Wow, we are on a roll today!" He asked me to wait while he finished his current interview. I just kept thinking that it is a great thing that I have spent so much time in theater and food service, because I can switch on my game face and confidence like nothing else!

The interview went great, he was asking me all kinds of random questions not necessarily related to teaching, but I realized that he was "feeling me out" (not up, you pervs!) When I mentioned that my daughter was a sophomore and an amazing singer and was really disappointed that the choral program at her school (the other HS in the area) had been eliminated his eyes got big and he said "Well, you know, we are a performing arts school and have a great choral program. As an employee, your kids would qualify to come here."

Me: Oh?? (amg amg amg he is talking like he's already hired me!!!!) That's great, I think she'd really do well here.

So why am I not hired already? The only obstacle is the fact that I am not certified in Spanish, even though I can speak it. I had planned to take the Spanish Praxis this summer, but cash was super tight, the test is $80. The next test in in mid-September. So, after the Principal spoke to the Spanish teacher that I subbed for (she gave a glowing recommendation and he told her that he really liked me!) he called back this morning and said he thought that the impromptu interview went really well and he would love to have me on board. He needed to call his admin office and see what process was available to get me hired on without the Spanish endorsement. BUT that even if they couldn't find a way to get me in the classroom that there was another position there that he would be willing to hire me for just to get me in the door at the school. It would be as an ISS Instructor, and wouldn't pay certified salary, but...its a job, right? I told him that obviously I would prefer to be in the classroom but that if the lack of endorsement was an "immovable object" that I would definitly want to have the opportunity to get on at the school in any way so that I have a better chance at another position later.

Great, right?

 I have been really trying not to think about it, because I don't want to get my hopes up. But I feel really good about it, and for totally "superstitious" reasons.

Every time I have been hired for a new position, it has been within a week of the start of school.
Every time I have been hired at a new school, I wasn't actually planning on an interview that day.
Twice I have been hired to teach something other than my certified area and had to jump through hoops.
Everytime I have been hired I have had to completely build my materials from scratch, I have only taught the same subject from one year to the next once, my 1st and 2nd years.
(can I tell you how much it stinks to have to scramble to create all of those documents over and over again?)

Their colors are Red and Black....EVERY school I have worked in has had RandB as their colors.

Mr. Principal said he'd call me back later today with news.

Trying to keep busy...which leads to my next post!

<3

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Trying something.

Ok, I have a secret...well, not really. I am still new to this whole bloggy thing. I am trying to figure out how to link to some of my daughter's choir songs that I hosted online. She is a singer and has an opportunity to go to a performing arts school if I get the job I mentioned the other day.

Please let me know if it works.

<3
Rosie

06 Peter Piper at MySpaceFileHosting.com06_Peter_Piper.wma

03 Pura Vida at MySpaceFileHosting.com03_Pura_Vida.wma

Friday, July 23, 2010

She's Gone Country...

Well, sort of.

Drama Llama has never really been the physical type, despite her naturally athletic build and solid musculature lurking quietly beneath the surface of her squishy girlness.

She's a bit of a couch potato, in fact...well, bed potato is probably more accurate. She spends the majority of her free time laying on her bed, listening to random music and reading.

So, imagine our surprise yesterday that she volunteered when Sir Geek asks if anyone wants to go to his dad's place to help throw and stow hay.
WOW.

We got down the the spread around 6pm and met the rest of his help; Butch and Daniel. We piled onto the flatbed trailer and rode out to the big field to start loading the bales. It was still well over 90 degrees with 98% humidity. I made it one lap around the approximately 6 acre field before my weight and hypoglycemia stopped me in my tracks. I threw probably 12 25lb bales before my hands stopped working and my breathing got difficult. (Sir Geek said he never expected me to do that much, not in a mean way) I walked back to the house and sat in a rocking chair on the patio trying to cool down. When they came back with the first load Dad's GF came to check on me. She was surprised and worried about how red my face was and asked if she needed to call someone. I am so tired of being over weight and restricted by my bloodsugar issues.

Anywho, little miss Drama Llama continues to help Butch on the trailer stacking and stuffing the bales so they can get as many in one trip as possible. They unload it at the shed and head back out to start up again. Dad told his GF that he was surprised at how hard she was working, how strong she was...GF says she's not surprised at all, not the way DL is built and the fact that she has 3 little brothers to toss around. 220 bales later, Dad tells DL that he's impressed and will have to remember just how good of a worker she is as he gives her a hug and slips her a $20.

I knew she had it in her somewhere...maybe it was the 2 country hotties that she was working with; Butch and "Arms", lol. Butch is married, though, and "Arms" is dating a girl at DL's school. But they're both great boys and I think they were a bit surprised at how well she worked, too.

I am a bit of a proud peahen at the moment.

Second trip out.



Thursday, July 22, 2010

Holy Potatoes, Batman...

I just might have a job! Its not quite official, but in the research process...I gotta run more errands but I will post more info as I find out more...

AMG AMG AMG!!!!
<3 Rosie