Work It!

I do not have any new pictures to share when using this laptop. Sigh. Truthfully I haven't done much picture taking lately. WHat I have done is been working double duty. My new job as an ESL paraprofessional at a charter school here in Grand Rapids has kept me moving these past 3 weeks. My charter school comes with some sweet perks, such as;
- a "year-round" calendar which allows for several full week vacations throughout the year (including the entire week of Thanksgiving
- belonging to a Soup club which provides me with delicious soups every Thursday
- finding fun little treats in my mailbox like $15 gift cards (2 in 1 week!)
- having a firm time schedule (7:30-3pm on. the. dot.- and leaving at 3 is strongly encouraged)
- a fair hourly rate
- opportunity for before school tutoring at twice the hourly rate
- being able to add something relevant to my resume

Okay, a few things to get used to;
- NOT being a teacher technically
- NOT having my own classroom (all push-in or pull-out services)
- NOT being paid for days I don't work (this is a big duh for most jobs but as a teacher you come to expect those summer direct deposits!)

But overall it's going well, I'm enjoying using a lot of my old tricks and activities with the kids. It is actually a whole lot more diverse than IS 52. We have a bunch of languages and cultures that I'm learning more about.
I sent in my teacher certification application 2 weeks ago, last week I sent in the $210 to have it evaluated and now I wait for 30 days until I can check the status. Hold your breath and cross your fingers. IF this goes through I will be dropping down to half time as a REAL teacher and being paid double what I make now (thus not affecting the take home I'm getting currently). Plus the Bear and I will get to spend more time together during daylight hours of the week. :)

Oh, on the sleeping front, I'm happy to say we are going through a nice overnight stage where his wake ups are much less frequent thus giving us more sleep :) Notwithstanding, I still need to buy some cucumbers to help with these dark circles...