Three Hundred and Sixty-Four Days*

A lot can happen in a year.

A year ago today I had just finished teacher’s college. The Hubster and I had just found out about his new job and had just found a new home in our new city. With mixed feelings, we packed up all the things we had accumulated through the four years we spent in Senior’s City and set out to begin the next phase of our lives.

A year ago I had a plan. I would either have a job as a supply teacher or have a class of my own by September. I would have a summer job within two weeks of moving to Pretty City. I was ready to get myself back into shape.

If anyone had told me that none of that was going to happen, I would have laughed in their face. I was ready to conquer the world.

The past year has been an interesting one, to say the least. In that time we’ve moved into a new city and embraced all that Pretty City has to offer. We love the people. We love the landscape. It’s a city of love.

The Hubster transitioned smoothly from student life to “grown-up” life as he began his career. He continues to be successful where he is, and we hope he’ll be there for a long, long time. He also started his own company AND continues to work part-time for our university.Yeah, he’s hardcore. haha

He started playing hockey again. He also became a bushman. He’s become an archer and a hunter, and the indoor man I once knew now thrives out in the bush. :)

I spent nearly four months completely unemployed before I was able to find any sort of work. In the past year I’ve applied to nearly 75 teaching positions. I’ve volunteered in a special education classroom for eight months. I’ve taken AQ courses and french courses and my education continues.

I joined a gym. I started eating chocolate again, then stopped eating sugar and yeast.

We bought our first car. I became an aunt to a beautiful little girl. The Hubster’s family moved 1800km away.

It’s been a year of challenges, hope, sadness and joy–and I feel like I’ve been on a constant path of self-discovery. I realized just how much I love teaching, and I also realized that feeling like my dream is just out of reach is the most frustrating thing I’ve ever experienced.

When I look back on it, it’s hard to believe that a year has already passed–but I cannot wait to begin the next one.

On Thursday morning–the day before I celebrated a year since completing teacher’s college–I received this:

Hello Shop Girl:

I am writing to invite  you to a sign-up session for supply teaching with the Pretty City School Board the details of which are below:

DATE:   TUESDAY MAY 18TH, 2010

PLACE: Education Centre,
Pretty City School Board

TIME:   9:00 A.M.

Please enter the building through the doors that face the road and  obtain a visitor’s badge from the reception area. Then take the stairs to the second floor to the Employee Relations waiting area. We are the first door on the right at the top of the stairs.

Thank you!

Hiring Head Honcho

What I (eventually) read was this:

JOB!!!!!!!!! JOB!!!!!!!!!!!! JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Friday I was called and offered an interview for supply teaching with MY board, right here where I live. I was so terrified I wouldn’t get it, or that I’d jinx my one shot at getting in that I didn’t tell anyone. Aside from the Hubster, my immediate family, my references and a few friends who had recently been through the same interview I was too afraid to tell a soul.

At 8:30am on Tuesday morning I stepped through the doors into a conference room and endured a 40 minute interview. I thought that it went okay, but again, I was too terrified to let myself think anything. Sometimes hoping is harder than being let down.

When I hadn’t heard anything by Wednesday night doubt crept into my mind from every corner.

On Thursday morning I went to go volunteer, same as always. After finishing an activity with the kids I grabbed my blackberry (as the behest of the EAs in the class) to see if I had heard anything. I started reading the email, unsure of what it meant. They demanded that I read it out loud and as I read they began jumping and shouting that I had gotten the job. I read it nearly 10 times to make sure it was real.

After telling the class, I didn’t tell anyone else for nearly three hours. The Hubster and I had plans to have lunch together and I really wanted to tell him in person. Besides, I needed time to digest what had just happened: I. have. a. job. JOB. Job. Job Job Job.

It didn’t feel real. It STILL doesn’t feel real.

I was one day shy of spending a full year without a teaching position, which I know, around here, really isn’t that bad. But I needed this. I really needed this.

Am I excited? Not yet. I’ve spent so long waiting and hoping that I still can’t believe it. After I sign the contract on Tuesday there will be excitement. And yelling. And singing. And jumping.

And possibly punch dancing. (I’ve got to get the frustration of the past year out somehow! hahaha)

It’s been a long, eventful year, but it couldn’t have ended on a better note.

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!! :)