Decisions, Decisions...

Deciding to leave Bolingbrook High School roughly four months ago was one of the hardest decisions of my life.  It was my first real teaching job; I had really helpful and nice coworkers; I had finally just gotten my own classroom; I was teaching an 11th grade AP course where the kids actually wanted to learn; and more importantly, IT WAS A PAYCHECK!  In this economy, that's hard to come by.  Being that I support both Alex and I financially during the school year, there is a lot of pressure that comes with that territory.  Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful that I was in the position to be able to go to work while Alex went back to school full time.  My number one priority in life right now is to get Alex through school and graduated.  It's so important to him, and I want to help make that happen.  I want to make is as easy on him as I can.  He spent many years trying to work full-time and go to school full-time while paying all his bills all at the SAME time.  Let me tell you, it's REALLY hard.  So I promised myself that once I got on my feet at BHS, I was going to try to nudge him into believing that we'd be okay enough for him to quit his job and go back to college.  It took me about four months to feel comfortable enough to send him back to school, where he belonged.  

If you don't know my husband, let me tell you, he's a genius in many ways.  His mathematical/scientific side of the brain is fully functioning while mine, on the other hand, is not.  I always tell him that hopefully our kids will get some of his mathematics genius because it's NOT coming from me.  He has a way with speeches, too.  Not only that, but outside of the classroom walls, he is so gifted mechanically.  He's not just your typical gear-head either.  I mean, this kid can do it all.  He can fix anything and everything, you name it.  He can tear apart an entire truck and put it back together in a much more sound way than it ever began.  He can rebuild engines, do body work, he can do it all.  In fact, he's been working for a solid year rebuilding his old truck from the frame up.  

He worked day and night on this thing.  I mean he COMPLETELY rebuilt it.  Today it looks something sorta like this: 

Now, this was back all in the way in March.  This was the day he drove it for the first time in almost a year.  He was sooo excited!!

His dad always is helping him, too.  I love that they can do this stuff together!  

And now today, I'm even able to drive it!! : )  He changed it to an automatic.  I'd like to think just for me!! : )  It's super loud, super obnoxious, super bumpy, but all made by Alex and that is sooo cool to me.  

So anyways, he needs to be in school.  He deserves it.  He has an engineer's brain so that's what he's doing.  He should be finished in three more semesters.  I couldn't be more proud.  I can't even think of his graduation day because it almost makes me cry.  I can't hardly wait until that day!  To think that he did this, we did this, will be so awesome.  

So really all I have to do is keep my promise.  My promise to work and keep him in school.  So, that's why moving here was SUCH a big deal and SUCH a hard decision to make.  We really wanted to be here by our family but it meant leaving behind a secure job.  I knew I was going to struggle getting one here, too.  And let me tell you, I have.  The teacher pay just two hours from Chicago is literally split in half.  I am NOT kidding.  At all.  I wish I was.  This was hard for me to swallow.  After a brutal frustrating situation with Erie High School where it came down to me and another male for a fabulous english position, I moved home to nothing. 

Until today!  So the whole reason for this post comes down to this!  I finally decided today how I will be spending the next year of my life.  I will be spending it at Sterling High School, and I couldn't be more excited!! This is really what I wanted to do and I didn't know if I could make the numbers work but I found out today, they will!!!  I will be taking over a maternity leave until October there.  I will only be doing this part-time, though and that's where the split decision occurred.  So, in the mornings I will be at the high school teaching two sections of 10th grade English honors and one section of remedial reading.  Both of these are new for me.  It's going to be an adjustment but an exciting one!!  In the afternoons, I will be subbing for the entire district.  This will keep me busy for the entire day.  After the maternity leave, I will just change to subbing full-time at any school in Sterling district.  I will also have my Iowa teaching license by then and will be able to sub over at Clinton High School too as an option.  Both have promised to keep me busy.  I have an interview with Clinton for the first week in August to be put on the full-time sub list over there as well.  NOT ONLY THAT, I'm not finished, but I'll be working part-time for Ashford University as a Teaching Assistant/Writing Specialist.  I'll be assisting five week online courses from home.  It's all done online on my own schedule, which is great.  It's roughly 10-12 hours a week so I'm hoping I can handle all of this.  I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.  That's what I'm just going to keep telling myself all year.  These things all combined will be enough to cover Alex going to school, all of our bills and necessities, and hopefully leave SOME breathing room.  If we can just get through these next three semesters, we will have defeated all odds and hopefully will come out ahead!  I know Alex can do it, hopefully I can too.  

It's going to be a big year with a lot of adjustments, but I think it'll be good.  A learning experience.  Hopefully something that will lead me back to where I really want to be--a full-time English teacher at a school that I can really settle down at, spread my wings, and hopefully soar.