Happenings

Lots has happened since the last post...leaving me to envision this to become a clutter of words to be more to the extent of a novel than a quick post, so please excuse.

Lets see here...this past Wednesday I was called and asked to interview for a Pre-K position at a school district about 40 miles away, and even though:

A) It was Pre-K, I am trying to break free from that age group,

and

B) Nearly 40 miles away,

I decided, hello, you have no other job offers at this moment-you must go. So the next day, I got up at 5:30 am to go take my last set of PRAXIS exams (finishing the licensing process up for me in the great state of Indiana). The tests started at 7 am and I didn't get out until 11 am! Yuck! However, I was very pleased to know that I passed two of them and am still awaiting results from the writing portion. Barely being able to focus, I drove home and then got ready for my interview which I had to turn around and leave for. I was too tired to be nervous, which was a good thing and I was feeling a bit more at ease since I knew this wasn't my "dream job".

Once I got to the interview, I met with just one woman, which was comforting and had a great conversation with her. Most of the time we just talked and things were very informal, which I liked. I felt that things were going well and then she looked at my reference sheet. She screamed! The principal that I had just worked for is a friend of hers and they had taught together in past years. She was so thrilled and acted even more interested after figuring this out. (Score!) She got on the phone and tried to call the guy in charge of HR and found that he had already left for the day. After hanging up the phone, she said "Well, I would just like to stop this interview right now." I'm thinking...Ok? What? And she said, "I would love to offer you this position!" She went on to say that she had interviewed a few people already and just felt that with my previous experiences, etc... I would best fit the position. I about died and probably looked a little dazed. She said I could think about it and that she would be in touch soon. So, I have a job! Now, I feel 100% blessed and am eternally thankful, but will still continue to just keep tabs on a few of the closer schools in case something came up that would be more of the "dream job". I'm not saying I wouldn't be thrilled to be teaching Pre-K, I would just LOVE to be closer to home. I also am excited about this Pre-K job because there is a Scott Foresman reading curriculum and one we would follow with Everyday Math as well. Even though it's at the Pre-K level, we would have more of a set curriculum and academic base to follow which makes me that much more thrilled than just to be teaching a preschool level. So, thank you for all of your prayers! The stress is off for me, and now I can just look at the places where I really want! (I still have yet to find out about the jobs I interviewed for last week on Monday. He said he would call on Wednesday, July 9th.)

Aside from that great news, we had a wonderful holiday weekend! Here are some pictures to recap the festivities! Happy (belated) 4th everyone!

Howard cooking for us on his grill. Where is your Colts apron?

Ollie and I, hanging out after eating a yummy feast! He got plenty of scraps, that's why he's smiling.
Some of the guys at the cookout. Nathan is leaving us to go live in AZ with a family friend, Will!

Ollie getting his rubs before we headed of to the fireworks in downtown Carmel.

The next day we went car shopping. We just got a SmartCar dealership near our home and were interested in getting one. Don't laugh, but it would be very "smart" for me to drive one if I am going to commute nearly 80 miles to and fro each day. However, the waiting list for one is 1 and a half YEARS, so I will be purchasing either a Camry or Corolla at this point. (PS, don't you just love Shelb's new "Roman Sandals"?)

We then headed up to the Geist Reservoir to eat at Bella Vita right on the lake. It was fab and we will definitely be going back!

Then to end our wonderful evening, with wonderful weather, we took the old "Yard Birds" out to our favorite park. The dogs ran wild! Oliver actually ran so wild that he wasn't watching where he was going and ran into a tree! He cut up the side of his face! Poor boy.

The dogs love to run up and down these stairs!

One of the beautiful bell towers which overlooks the pond. Can you spot Sophie? She blends in quite well!Kath and Shelb posing by the sculptures!

Our crazy family of four!

Thanks for the photos Katrina!