It's the final countdown!

I have 14 days left as a teacher. Wow.

This weekend was our Multicultural Fair. We had dancing, food, games, and each classroom learned about one country and prepared a table to teach the community about their country. It was pretty fantastic. I am amazed on a regular basis how incredible these parents are. They donated time, they came into classrooms to prepare for the dances, they sewed dresses, paper mache-ed head dresses, and bought endless 2 liters of pop.

I'm slowly telling my classroom families that I won't be returning next year. There's a lot of surprise and sadness, but the parents have all been quick to wish me the best of luck.

The universe has spoken to me- my Saturn will not be coming to Seattle. After the fiasco with the oil pan, the torrential rain leaking just a little into the car through the caulked closed sunroof, a window finally busted. There I was, driving home from work, sunny day, windows down, blasting a terribly catchy pop song that I'll never admit to liking, thoroughly enjoying life. I pull up to my house and close the windows, but when I get out of my car, I realize one didn't close. Well that would be because the motor in the door died. Yep. Not even a sound like it was trying to close, just NADA. Thankfully, I managed to strong arm it closed and it seems to have worked. There doesn't seem to be rain getting in anywhere! Needless to say, Red isn't going to make the trek to the PNW. Oh well.

Job hunting and apartment hunting at the same time. Bleh. I've opened up my search to just about anything. I've got an eclectic employment history (starting with making mini doughnuts on the carnival, being a college RA, working at summer camp, and lets not forget my various retail endeavors) and I've learned a lot from all of my experiences. I've got lots of skills (sadly, nun-chuck skills didn't make the list) and I'm a quick learner. I will be a great addition to any workplace.

Ok, pep talk over. I needed that. Thanks.

Resigning is scary!

So I decided to not return to my job next year. There are a lot of reasons for this, but the primary one is that I've been needing a change for a while and circumstances have arisen that make this a very positive step for me.

I've already got friends in Seattle. A possible roommate (if we can agree on an apartment), and endless opportunities for new jobs. I've been applying with no success yet. It's a little difficult when employers want to hire someone now and I'm not available until July. My lovely references at Starbucks are being really helpful. I'm willing to work hard and I'm going to do what it takes.

Slowly telling my co-workers. Always a little awkward. Trying to see if I should make a stand before I leave. I need to keep my positive references, but I don't know who else will take a stand.

A long time family friend recently told me she's fed up with being a responsible citizen. I've definitely done the responsible thing for...well, ever. When I didn't have a job, I moved home. I was able to pay my loans because I didn't have rent to pay. I paid more than the minimum on my highest interest loans to pay them off early. I put money into savings and kept my hand-me-down car with good gas mileage. Found a place to live with affordable rent and great roommates. Took a job I didn't think I'd like because I needed to get into my field and get a year of teaching under my belt. Worked my behind off for what boils down to minimum wage when you really do the math.

And now I'm taking this big, scary, and exciting risk. It's time for my adventure.