Rockin the boat

I sat down to write lesson plans and I got halfway through before I decided to take a break. Reading is always the most tedious to write and it's done so that's good enough for me. I honestly am sick to my stomach dreading going back to school on Tuesday. There are some things going on that are beyond my control and I get no support in dealing with them. I can't really rock the boat with the school board because I need to keep my job so I'm between a rock and a hard place on this one. The school I'm at is not the right place for me but God sent me there for a reason and I have a job to do. It can only go up from here so I'm going to continue to pray that I see some changes really soon.

Survival

I made it through my first week with my new class. Barely. The other teacher apparently hasn't been doing too much with them and it's been a struggle but each day it slowly gets a little better. I have five more days until a little break for MLK day so I'm just going to try and push through this week. This class is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's in an extremely low income area so I've had to deal with cussing and physical fights breaking out. I've stood my ground pretty well and I know this is an adjustment for them so hopefully we can accomplish a lot this week.

I got a job!

In 3 days I'll be heading back to school to teach 24 kindergarten kiddos. I feel unbelievably and completely blessed to have this chance. I went on two interviews, one was at the school I did kindergarten practicum at, and neither one resulted in a job. I got a call late one evening from a principal who wanted to meet with me the next morning. I thought the interview wasn't my best, but she sent me back to spend some time in the classroom. I took about an hour or 2, then came back to meet with her. She asked to see my student teaching portfolio which was still being graded. I met my mom for lunch, went and demanded my portfolio so I could rush it back to school. The principal looked over every inch of it then finally offered me the position. It's a leave position for the rest of the school year and if I land something for the 2011-2012 school year, I won't miss a paycheck.

I got to spend a few days with the class to get a feel for them. Their previous teacher has 3o+ years of experience so I have some big shoes to fill. I'm a little nervous because the school has a lot of older teachers who don't like using technology and operate the same way they did when they started teaching so things might be a little tough for me at first. Taking over a class mid-year is one of the hardest things for a new teacher especially but I'll take it over no job any day.

For now, I'm going to soak up my last few days of freedom. I'm working on getting my house organized and doing all the things that got neglected while I was student teaching.

Life ain't always beautiful

I've been on a complete roller coaster when it comes to job hunting. I had signed up to sub and booked a few days at the school where I did my student teaching. Monday I got two calls for interviews, one for pre-k and one for k. I heard back from the k interview and I didn't get it. I was pretty disappointed since it was at the school where I did a k practicum last spring. They were nice enough to call and let me know at least. I got another call this evening and I have an interview for a k job tomorrow. Pre-k is my absolute last choice so I'm hoping I can land this k job instead. At this point, I'd take anything that comes my way but I know nothing about pre-k.

I've been on a spending freeze since I am truly about as broke as I ever could have imagined I'd be. If it weren't for my family's help, I would've already lost my car and been without electricity. I'm feeling a little better about things and I'm out of the being angry at God phase. I can't control the situation, but I can make the best of it. It's been really hard. I'd give my right arm to be able to afford to go places and do things again, but right now I can't even afford basics like food and gas. It's true that you don't appreciate what you had until it's all gone. If this isn't rock bottom, I don't want to hang around to see what that is.

What I'm Into Lately

It's impossible to recap the crazyness that has been my life for the past month in full sentences so I'm going to do some short ramblings.

Thanksgiving was great, stayed in Houston the entire week, drank a little too much the night before T day with an old friend

Finished student teaching, kids threw me a surprise party, I cried

Had a mini breakdown because of my job situation

1 substitute day lined up before Christmas (help!)

No longer employed at the house of beer and sports

Got 2 interview calls this morning, 1 interview down (praying, praying, praying)

China Glaze Lubu Heels

I'm not a huge fan of polish with glitter. I like the more opaque colors but I do enjoy a good dark polish so I thought I'd give this a try with the intention of wearing it on my toes. I bought it at Sally's for $5.99 and used it on my fingernails today. Not bad at all. The glitter is really subtle and not as tacky as I feared it would be. I used 2 coats and finished with Seche Vite top coat. It covers wonderfully. China Glaze Lubu Heels is quickly becoming a favorite.

Product Review: Sephora Tinted Moisturizer

Disclaimer: I'm not a beauty blogger nor do I aspire to be. I review products from time to time if I find something particularly wonderful or particularly awful. It's nothing but my honest opinion. I do admit I am a bit of a product junkie like a lot of women tend to be.

I order my Bare Minerals from Sephora and needed a little something extra to add to my order to qualify for free shipping. I decided to add the Sephora tinted moisturizer in Bronze to my order. It came in yesterday so I gave it a try this morning. I used to use Elta MD tinted moisturizer with spf 50 and that stuff is definitely my go to moisturizer. Another great product is Laura Mercier Tinted Illuminating Moisturizer but like the Elta it's pretty pricey at around $42.

Sephora's Tinted Moisturizer is a pretty good sub at only $8. It isn't very greasy at all which is great for my combo skin that can get a little on the oily side. It went on very smoothly and could be worn alone or under makeup. I used Bare Minerals foundation and Nars Orgasm blush on top, followed my Bare Minerals Mineral Veil. The Sephora product gave my skin a nice glow similar to if I had spent an afternoon in the sun. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it about a 7.