Denied Three Times

Today, I feel a little like Jesus. Not in the divine way, or the male way, or the dining with sinners way (although I guess I probably do dine with sinners sometimes), but because today I was denied for the third time by the American Red Cross. They don't want my blood because I don't have enough iron. The first time I tried to give, two months ago, I was actually in the anemic range, which was weird and a little scary. Now, I'm back up into normal range, but still not good enough to give blood and walk away unscathed -- or so they claim.

The denial hurt. Giving blood is my own little form of helping others. The good news today was that this denial gave me some time to wander around Burlington, and I was inspired to take some pictures. So I did.

Tomatoes

We have neighbors who grow tomatoes. They have a farm at this place called the Intervale, which is a giant floodplain that Burlington rents out to local citizens who grow organic (only) food.

One weekend, our neighbors had a surplus of tomatoes, and put up a nice sign in the building saying, "Take as many as you want." I did. I made tomato sauce and a beautiful tomato and cucumber salad, seen below. I even documented it for posterity, because I thought the colors of the tomatoes were so beautiful. I called it Traffic Light Tomato Salad, for obvious reasons.

Taking Work Home

One of the attractions of this new job is that during the interview process, I was told that they try to encourage employees to leave their work at work, and not take it home with them. While I haven't found this to be true yet, I have started to see the glimmer of light at the end of the busy beginning-of-trimester tunnel. Unit plans are due this week (we don't have weekly lesson plans due, thank goodness, just a rough outline of the trimester due in the first few weeks of school), and after that, it's mostly just sailing through and working on longer-term projects. Not that there won't be SOME planning involved...just not an exorbitant amount.

However, work continues to go really well. It's bizarre how positive my co-workers seem about the kids we work with. Not bizarre in a bad way at all -- it's really awesome to see a group of people who hold these kids who might be considered "troubled" with "unconditional positive regard." The language at the school is really positive; we call fits, tantrums, or behavioral issues "challenges." We "process" at the end of a day rather than venting. I'm not quite used to working in an environment that's so un-jaded; it's a little bizarre to my poor sarcastic nature, but I'm trying to re-train myself, because everyone here seems to have a great attitude and good mental health as far as the job is concerned.

On another note, I went contra dancing last night here in Burlington. It was way fun, and I continue to adore the old men who frequent such events. They're so cute.

Wedding invitations are mostly complete! My awesome designer Jason (God bless him) sent samples to us that arrived today, and they are beautiful. I'm getting excited to send them out! We're down to four months, which is weird considering how long we've been engaged! We've made some progress on getting a rehearsal dinner location nailed down, and we've booked a bed and breakfast for our honeymoon. I'm way excited because we booked a room that is beautiful and big and has a bed that looks like a ship. You can see it here.

So all in all, life is good. Busier than it was this summer (and the past year for that matter), but good. We have also now begun to get paid, which is a huge relief!

The First Week

Although I am thisclose to falling into the teacher's weekend sleep coma (teachers know what I am talking about), I wanted to post a bit about my first week with students and how things are going here in Vermont.

This kids came on Tuesday, and although I was somewhat nervous, there is a great deal of difference between the specter of 20 kids depending on you to teach them and 1 kid depending on you to teach them. As I told everyone at work after the day was over on Tuesday, it's so nice to be able to put out the fires that occur and deal with problem behavior (or "challenges" as we call them) without having to also simultaneously distract and entertain 19 other children who may or may not be aware that that the problem is occurring and I am on the verge of tearing on my hair and/or bursting into tears. No, in my new job, a kid misbehaves, and I can give them my full attention, which is something of a gift.

There are a couple of other awesome aspects to my job as well. The first is the fact that stress is at a minimum as far as pushing academics is concerned. Our jobs are partly to provide schooling for the kids, but also to help them deal with their other issues, too, so if we spend a class processing feelings instead of doing our lesson plan, that's ok (at least in theory. It's still kind of frustrating to me, but I'm getting used to it). The other awesome thing is that the curriculum is totally open-ended. This semester, I am teaching units on Japan, terrorism, forensics, and web design. It spans the gammit, and it's awesome.

On a totally unrelated note, I'm really excited about the prospect of making muffins for next week.

And now, that comasleep.

The Schedule

At my new school, we see our students on a somewhat random schedule. Well, random is not exactly the right word, but the schedule is a weekly schedule instead of a daily schedule, so we might see a student only once a week. This is good for variety, but makes schedules very complicated and time-consuming to construct. Today, however, was the "unveiling" of the first trimester schedule, and it all worked out so well! I ended up teaching mostly math/science classes, but our program director gave me a couple SS and English classes for a little variety, which was exactly what I wanted! I'm really excited about it. There are also a couple of students who I see 3-4 times a week, which I'm looking forward to, as well. One of them is a new student, and the other is one who has been around for awhile, but I'm excited to get a chance to form a good relationship with them, and hopefully one that will be really conducive to getting work done with them. Also, my Monday mornings start out in the kitchen with a double-block of kitchen work and preparing the meal for the day, which is awesome -- all in all, a really decent schedule, and one that I'm excited for.

Technically, we're encouraged not to take work home, which is a real blessing, but this weekend, I just don't think that's very feasible. I need to do some preparing for introductory activities, and because I have the same students over again in a few instances, I need to have more "introductory" activities for them, since I can't recycle the same things for all of their classes. While the thought of "lesson planning" again is somewhat unappealing, I'm kind of looking forward to thinking through our first week, and figuring out some possible directions I can go with the students. I think it's going to be really fun and interesting!

Early Autumn

It's fall here in Vermont.

Ok, I'm sure the Vermonters around me disagree. To them, it is summer. But seriously, the past two days have been at the very least brisk. I love fall, but I also tend to operate at a body temperature a few degrees below normal, so when it's a bit windy and 68-70 degrees or so, I'm nonetheless shivering and gunning for hot chocolate (which I managed to obtain yesterday, so no worries). I'm adoring the weather, generally speaking, except for the fact that it means that winter is likely just around the corner. Which is fine but, you know, really early.

On the bright side, it means I will have a chance to employ the sweaters I've been hoarding throughout the years in the South, knowing I will be able to use them again one day. And I can make soup and not feeel silly.

On the other hand, I'm cold. And it's August. Dad would say, "Put on another layer." To which I would reply, "I'm already wearing two."

Keeping an Open Mind

On Monday, at our mini-orientation meeting, Kate, the program coordinator at our school, was talking to us newbies about what class we'd be teaching. I told her I didn't know what I was going to have, and she said, "Well, what's you preference? You'll probably get your preference if you asked for one." I told her I wanted to go the route of Social Studies or Literature, moving away from Science/Math (which is one class in this program) and she said she'd look at the schedule. Today, I was talking to Jed (the head of school), and asked him if he knew what I was teaching. He said, "Oh, you have experience in Science, right? You're in Science/Math. We have a need there right now." I was crushed, and had that moment of "I'm not going to cry at this. I am stronger than that," and I asked him if I could talk to him about it. We had a short meeting, and I explained to him that if I wanted to apply for Vermont licensure, I needed some Social Studies experience, and asked if I could teach a couple of Social Studies classes. He suggested that I make some of my unit interdisciplinary, and deal with some of the social studies standards within my Science/Math units. The units that we teach are really very loose and open to the kids' interests, so there is a lot of room for interdisciplinary stuff, so his suggestions are totally on par, and I can definitely do that and still deal with some of the things I'm interested in. But tomorrow, when we have our subject area meetings, I'm kind of dreading going to the Science/Math group and officially pegging myself as a Science/Math teacher, because that was exactly what I wanted to get away from this year. I wanted to actually teach what I'm interested in, as opposed to what Teach for America randomly assigned me to.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure it will be fine, and I'll work that Social Studies stuff in and address that facet of things. And I'm open to being helpful to these kids in an area of need, so if Science/Math is that area, I can be a trooper. I'm just a little disappointed, although trying to put on a happy face and remember that change and reassignment in the future is certainly possible as well. Patience, as mother reminded me today. Patience.

Getting Outdoors

When I was younger, my brother would constantly berate me for sitting in front of the computer while he played outside. He was right -- I was a pretty pasty and un-fit child and teenager. On the other hand, I could carry and tuba and march, so I guess I wasn't totally lazy.

In this move to Vermont, I've been trying to be a little active and enjoy the beautiful weather of what I'm told will be a short summer -- just yesterday, as I was signing paperwork for my new job, the director's office had a beautiful breeze blowing through that just screamed "AUTUMN!" This morning, I decided to go out on a "long" bike ride down to Burlington along the bikepath. I ended up doing about 7 miles, which isn't really that far by bike, but made me feel good. I also got to see Lake Champlain -- it's no ocean, but I'm thrilled to be living in a town "on the water" nonetheless.

See those mountains in the background? How much more beautiful could this get?

I'm feeling pretty lucky about my new location, and my new job, and I'm also feeling pretty psyched about the fact that I plan on taking this same bike ride tomorrow to go to the Farmer's Market in Burlington. Weekend goal: stew. I figure I might as well take advantage of weather that already feels like fall, local produce, and my beloved Crock-pot and do something useful and hearty this weekend. Updates on said stew to come.

The rest of today has been spent lazily watching the Game Show Network, reading my new Marie Claire that came in the mail today, and napping. Work starts Monday, but vacation is so very nice.

The New Job

And again, the theme of my move to Vermont appears to be "Thing Happen For a Reason."

A little background:

Back in March, I applied for a job as a "Counseling Teacher" with a school here in Vermont that works with high needs kids. I followed up with the application and resume, and never heard anything back, so shrugged it off and moved on the with the job search, applying to a lot of admin assistant jobs, a few periphery school-type jobs (not teaching, since my license is non-transferable), etc.

After the whole Catholic School job fiasco, I noticed that the same job I had applied for re-appeared on schoolspring.com, the website where teaching jobs are often posted. I was kind of miffed, so I e-mailed the person in the job posting, asking if they had ever received my application. He said he hadn't, and asked me to send it again.

So I did, and got an interview (on the phone). Then I got another interview (also on the phone). Then I set up an in-face interview for after I arrived last week, and voila -- a job offer materializes the day after I meet the director of the programs.

I was lamenting to Andy that "If only they had gotten back to me in March, this would have been a lot easier," to which he pointed out, "Right, but then you wouldn't have come up for the Catholic School interview and then we wouldn't have found the apartment." "Huh," I replied.

So, like all good novels, things have come back full-circle and I am employed at this school that provides both academic instruction and therapeutic contact for kids who have behavioral and emotional problems. Some of the details are still a little unclear (like what, for example, I'm teaching!), but I love the people I interviewed with, and the "orientation" that is taking place over the next two weeks includes a lot of autonomous time for us to plan, and events such as "Self-care day: Hiking," in which the staff can join a leader who is taking everyone to his favorite spot to hike for the entire morning. Not shabby.

The other cool thing is that the teaching itself sounds really flexible, and the place really focuses on kids' interests and strengths, as opposed to straightforward academics. So if the kids want to build a half-pipe to skateboard on, that's cool -- as long as they research the plans and materials, buy them, and do their own construction. Pretty sweet, huh?

The New Apartment

We have a new apartment.

The apartment saga was kind of a long one. Andy and I were all set to take an apartment in his old complex (a two-bedroom, as opposed to his little one-bedroom), and it was given away out from under us. Long story, lots of frustration, although, as Dad told me and I knew deep down, things happen for a reason.

About three weeks after that happened, when I was in Burlington for the fateful Catholic school interview, Andy and I looked at a few apartments on a whim. What we found was a much bigger, much nicer one than the one we lost, WITH a washing machine and dryer AND dishwasher...for exactly the same price.

When I got here last week, it was a little bare. Andy had done a good job getting furniture from Craiglist, but my room was totally empty, and we had a tons of closet space. A visit from Mom and Dad, along with a Uhaul, fixed that.

The new digs:

My room

Our huge hallway

Andy's room (and also a bit of a workspace for unpacked stuff...which is shrinking in amounts!)

Our kitchen (ahhh!)
And finally, our living room, complete with one Affianced watching the Olympics