Well, much has happened in the life of this person. A blessing of having mostly been out of work is that it let me have a good set of holidays to enjoy the stress of the holidays and not work. Christmas with Josh's family was a very new experience to me. It takes a holiday to see just how different one's families are.... for example, excepting maybe Thanksgiving foods, my family doesn't have firm traditions at Christmas. (although gumbo seems to be becoming one.....) and it was interesting, because there were some things I wasn't quite prepared for since Josh had no intimate knowledge of the female workings of a holiday kitchen. I did really appreciate the time I got to spend with the females in our family :-) and snagging some excellent cookie recipes. It was just bizarre to see an odd look when I suggested that maybe the boys should do the Christmas dishes after my sister-in-law and I were voluntold to do the dishes. (I didn't mind helping and offered much help; I just felt weird being "told" to do them...)
I missed stockings though. I've been missing stockings since it's not a lot of fun to stuff your own when it's just the two of you. It was also hard, but a gift in itself, to not use the credit cards for Christmas gifts--hence, making for a very light materialism. I realize how much better this is and how much more responsible we are finally being with God's gifts to us, but it was tough especially as we are unsure of yet how to budget not knowing my exactly monthly income any more. But I predict this will be a good time for us to learn how to live and pay off debts with just one primary full-time income anyways. (No I'm not pregnant; we're just thinking ahead to a future full-time motherhood)
It was wonderful (renting the trailer was a Christmas gift to ourselves) to bring back BOOKSHELVES! another bed, desk, and the ARMOIRE ("The Great It"). While we have things settled into place (JUSTIN, LEATHERWOOD, BARBOUR, and JOSH: ya'll are the bombs for moving the Great It) we aren't quite unpacked/resorted into it all yet. I do love the room that is becoming our mini-library.
New Year's was a great time, even though I must still perfect my lasagna, Chocolate Chambord Cake, and Cheesecake skills. It was great to spend time with our friends and just have fun and be nerdy :-)
So that is my ramblings about my holidays of 2008.
Today was my first day as a substitute teacher. I subbed for a P.E. class. It was....interesting, and an easy/good experience for a first day of subbing. I have a much greater respect for p.E. teachers and the structured chaos that they must maintain..... It was also interesting how "at home" I felt being back in a school surrounded by teachers and secondary students again. I didn't quite expect it. Plus, the school is very well run by all indications I saw today. Not to mention, the ease (from my perspective as a sub) of what I saw for teachers ad substitutes with the sub system. Then again, it's really easy to be a sub for a P.E. class when the hardest part is taking attendance. Well, there was the adaptive P.E. class....It was fun. but wow. It's hard yet to put into words--the heart that is required for dealing with these very special differences, and the great patience and training necessary for doing things very differently.
Tomorrow I have a half day of math subbing scheduled. While it's still a bit hard to tell, judging by how quickly the computer system grabbed my phone number for a math position (the computer prioritizes subs with similar certifications) I may be able to stay almost full-time subbing with many math positions.
Posted by Anna at January 6, 2009 09:18 PM | TrackBack