School's out for summer!

I'm feeling kind of sad right now. The last day of school was on May 31st.  We had a "Graduation" for those who were moving on to the High School. It was so special. I'm so glad that I got to work with them these last few months. I'm also grateful that I get to go back this fall.
In the meantime, I'm going to miss everyone. So, I wanted to show some of the pics from the Graduation. One of our students got an awesome gift from the teacher & I'll leave the narration off here.  I'll let you enjoy the surprise @ the end.

New job = more stress? Maybe.

I started a second job on the 13th of February. I know, I know: as stressful as my life is w/ my other job, you may ask why I'd get another. Well, the simple answer is: for me. I'll explain:

I've wanted to be a Teacher for most of my life. Mom says that as a small child we would play "school" & I was always the teacher. I love teaching! Being able to pass on the knowledge I've collected over the years, help children work toward becoming better people through that knowledge, is so rewarding. One of the best feelings I've ever had has been watching someone understand & learn something new. In my opinion, our lives are more enriched w/ everything we learn, regardless of whether we learn in school or not. Our lives are full of learning & I am proud to be able to help w/that.

Sorry for getting a little side-tracked, but I'll keep it in the blog because it helps explain who I am.

To get back on track: last month I was shopping @ Wal-Mart & ran into my former Supervisor from when I was a teacher aide @ Mt. Logan Middle School many years ago. She asked if I was still working w/the school district & I told her I did last school year, but didn't get hired back this year. She is now the Director for Special Education w/the district & she told me they had @ least 5 openings & if I applied again I could probably get hired on.

Probably wasn't even the right word: she pretty much got me the job. I got a call from the Special Ed teacher @ Mt Logan who told me that Marci had recommended me for the job & she "wasn't exactly going to tell her (she didn't) like her friend." Still, I know Marci & she wouldn't have recommended me if I wasn't qualified.

So, I am now a Teacher's Aide @ Mt. Logan for 3 1/2 hours every weekday! It does add more stress (I'm now working 50-60 hours a week) but it's time doing something I love, I can turn off my work phone & have a break from NES, & the pay is helping to get us caught up financially (Lee's also increasing his hours every 2 weeks @ the D.I.) so it's also helping w/the stress.

Hopefully I've explained what the title means. We'll have to wait & see what it all means in the end, but that's where we are today!

FYI: the pic is of my "battle scars" from one of my students. . . it's a good thing I love my job! :-)

Long Time! :-)

Holy cow, it's been more than a year since I posted last! That's a lot of catching up I have to do. I think I'll be as brief as I can. Not a lot to say anyway, haha.

Lee stayed @ NES until May. I was very proud of him. Working w/People w/ Disabilities is not easy to do, & he was working w/ physically behavioral clients. He then started working for the D.I. in July. He's been there for 6 months and is doing well.

I'm still working for NES & was promoted in May to Resident Manager. My life pretty much revolves around my guys @ work. I'm pretty much On-Call 24/7. I love the guys, but if anything happens in my life, it involves them; even holidays. I haven't seen a lot of my family in over a year, & even more in 2 or more years. I miss them all so much.

As for health, we've had ups & downs. We had our own miracle: a few months ago we had Lee tested again & he came back negative for blood clots on both the blood test & ultrasound! He's still on Coumadin & still has his own physical & emotional problems to overcome, but is working hard to get better.

As for me, my depression, asthma, & acid reflux all kept getting worse as time went on & my stress kept increasing. Thanks to my Bishop, I started getting counseling, but it actually increased my stress because I was beginning to face my problems instead of ignoring them. By December things came to a dangerous head & I took a chance, made payment arrangements for bills, & went to the doctor for myself. I'm now on my own meds & our medication payment each month is enormous, but it had to be done.

Finally, Lee & I have started a new exercise routine which is beginning to show results, so we're keeping our fingers crossed!