"Prime Opportunity"

The words "Prime Opportunity" keep popping up in my life. Two instances specifically pop into mind -- one has a negative connotation while the other is positive. I'll start off with the negative first in order to end the blog on a positive note ;-)

Negative "Prime Opportunity"

I subbed today at the same Middle School I subbed for a few weeks ago. In fact, it was for the same teacher. I've subbed at the school a total of 4 times, all in the same classroom, under 2 different teachers.

The morning started off with early morning bus duty (6:30!) followed by my first class consisting of 8th graders. All they had to do was sit quietly and watch Mary Poppins. What should have been a very normal, quiet class quickly turned into chaos. I saw two girls starting to get into an argument and before I could get them to stop (well, let's be honest, I was having a hard enough time trying to keep the whole class talking softly, that there really wasn't any chance of preventing what happened next. . . ) they turned on each other. In a blink of an eye, they stood up, threw chairs away, and started wailing on each other. And by wailing, I mean throwing punches, pulling hair, scratching, slapping -- you name it.

Being a pro at in-classroom fights (something I wish I couldn't claim), I quickly got students back, and sent for reinforcement. Realizing the girls were escalating in viciousness, I had to step in between the two - not a place I desired to be. I only intervened because another student had intervened and was pulling one girl away, allowing me to step in and push the other girl in the opposite direction. The girls were quickly separated (one in the room, the other out) and another teacher stepped in and got the rest of the class settled.

Later, I was informed by the school officer (that's right, there was an officer at the school -- all day long) that this was an issue that should have been settled long ago. Supposedly the two girls hadn't been getting along and instead of seeking help, they saw the sub (me) as a "prime opportunity" to beat the tar out of each other. (And by the swollen, puffy face of one of the girls, I'd say they tried their best).

Needless to say, I wanted to cry and go home. First off, being in that kind of a situation is scary, especially not knowing how far the two girls'll go or who's gonna step in and continue the beating. Second, it makes me feel like a failure as a teacher because I couldn't keep my class in control. I know I was just a victim of "prime opportunity" and it could have happened to anybody. It's just hard to realize that, when I was the "anybody".

Positive "Prime Opportunity"

About a month ago, I received a rather strange call from my teaching idol Mrs. Berry. She was my 7th grade Social Studies teacher and is the main reason I decided to go into education. We've kept in touch through the years via email, and the last time we talked was briefly at our wedding 2 years ago (this just sets up how strange getting the phone call was!).

She had a proposition for me. She will be out of town for 2.5 weeks and was panicking about who would cover her class. She has never missed more than 2 days in a row and couldn't just let any sub walk in and take over for two weeks. She asked me if I would be willing to at least "think" about filling her shoes while she was gone.

I went back and forth about what to do. I, without a doubt, wanted to jump at that opportunity. It has always been my dream to return and teach at my alma mater -- Western. However, life has taken a different route and that dream remained just that -- a dream. Before Mrs. Berry had called, I had been reading a book from one of my college classes (okay I admit, I was supposed to read the book freshman year and never even opened it once). Oddly enough, the book is called Inside Mrs. B's Classroom (an interesting read about an intern in a Teach for Chicago program), The last chapter I had read before my very own Mrs. B called me, was a chapter about coincidences; however, it explained that there are no coincidences, just markers on the path of life telling you you're in the right direction. I knew, right away, that Mrs. Berry calling me, and the opportunity to sub/teach at Western was just a marker on my journey.

It sounds crazy, but this "prime opportunity" means a whole lot more to me than just subbing or money. I took it as a great honor not only for Mrs. Berry to personally seek me out, but the fact that she went to the corporate office and had them approve me to take her place. The hardest part about accept the opportunity is the amount of time. It'll be hard to be away from Steve that way, but as they say, "absence makes the heart grow fonder". And on a plus side, fall break falls right in the middle of those 2.5 weeks. As of now, we're planning on meeting up in Lima to house hunt!

It seems crazy to be gone Oct 4-22, especially a midst a relocation. However, I made this commitment a month ago, and will see it through. Plus, God made it apparent to me that I needed to do this, and He knew the timing. After all, it's not a coincidence that this subbing opportunity falls right in the middle of relocation, it's just another marker on the path. I guess this is just one more thing to chalk up on the "Trusting God" list!

Congratulations Scott & Ashley

This past weekend, we met up with all of Steve's family in Cincinnati, OH in order to celebrate Ashley (Steve's sister) and Scott's wedding.

We left Jackson Thursday night and met up with our friends Jake & Jennifer in Kentucky. We had a lot of fun going to dinner and hanging out with them at their new house. We even stayed the night at their house -- Thanks Jake & Jennifer!!!

We met up in Cincinnati Friday afternoon where we picked up Steve's brother Ian and headed to meet the rest of the family at Scott & Ashley's house. We hung out there for a little while until it was time to head to the hotel and ready for the rehearsal and dinner.

The rehearsal went a little longer than expected, delaying dinner an hour. It was better to have it work out that way and everyone prepared for the wedding, than to cut rehearsal short (despite everyone being hungry!). At the dinner, the Ackerman family got to meet the O'Bryan family. There was plenty of time to interact and hang out with each other, especially since the dinner went longer than anticipated ;-). Salad was served around 8:30, and we didn't leave the restaurant until after 10:30!

The wedding wasn't until 6pm on Saturday. All morning we just hung out around the hotel, and got to sneak in both Dewey's & Graeter's visits! Dewey's is my favorite pizza place and is original to Cincinnati. Graeter's sells wonderful ice cream, chocolates, and bakery items that again originated in Cincinnati.

Steve's aunt Jill and myself were in charge of getting the bows tied to the chairs for the reception. Steve and Ian were ushers in the wedding, so we volunteered them to go to the Art Museum (reception location) with us in order to knock out the bows and head to the wedding together. We had a system with the bows, making the boys hold them still while we tied. Our team work got the job done quicker than expected, so we just headed to the church early and waited for the rest of the family to arrive.

The church was absolutely gorgeous. It had very ornate decorations, a huge pipe organ that served as the back drop for the alter, and huge stain glass windows. The wedding was very beautiful and truly showcased Scott and Ashley's love for each other and their commitment to each other through Christ.

We then headed to the Art Museum for a cocktail hour -- complete with hors d'oeuvers and jazz trio. The actual reception area was situated in a lobby in the middle of the museum, upon which had a balcony and winding stair cases that the wedding party, bride, and groom entered the room from. I wasn't sure exactly how the reception was going to work in an art museum but it was absolutely lovely. Ashley and Scott had specifically requested a "twilight" lighting on the ceiling which created an "under-the-sky" feeling -- a very romantic, intimate setting. The reception was filled with wonderful food, talk , laughter, dancing (who knew John was so crazy?), and most of all, a focus on Scott & Ashley's marriage.

Steve and I especially enjoyed being able to spend time with his family. We had a lot of fun hanging out and catching up with Aunt Jill; Uncle John; Uncle Barry, Naida, David, & Benjamin; Nanny & Poppy; and Doug, Trisha, & Ian! (And of course we can't forget Scott & Ashley!).

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Scott O'Bryan!!!

Lost In Middle America

This post is 5 months in the making. On April 5, we found out that P&G was selling Pringles to Diamond Food. We then found out that Steve had the option to stay with P&G, but had no idea when his transition would occur.

Well we don't have to wait any longer!! We found out earlier this week that Steve would no longer be reporting to Pringles as of December 1st. We weren't given any other information so we decided to just keep it ourselves and see what the week would produce. Steve had contacted the lady who had interviewed him for the Lima position over the summer and heard back from her today. She extended her previous offer and Steve quickly accepted!

We have no other info, except that we will be in Lima by December first. I'm a little stressed with the thought of finding a house and having it move-in-ready in 2.5 months. Oh well, we'll worry about that once we figure out the relocation process. For now we are celebrating and just praising God for His mercies during this process!

Girl Talk

I had the joy of being host to my friend Jennifer last week. (In case you've forgotten, she and her husband have sadly, for me, moved to Kentucky). Her husband had some business in Ohio and she was left behind. Instead of staying at their new house working the whole time, she decided to come hang out with me!

The week was full of chatting, Kardashians, HGTV, and shopping. She was only supposed to be around for 3 days, but her husband's trip got extended an extra day. That just meant she and I had another day to hang out .

The timing of her trip couldn't have worked out any better. Steve's project at work was implemented onto the line, meaning he had to monitor the line during second shift (2pm-midnight). So it worked out nicely to see him in the morning and to have Jennifer around to keep me company all afternoon/evening while Steve was away.

I'm so thankful to have been blessed with her friendship! Who knew a year ago she and I would be up to sleep overs and painting together? Luckily, we will be reunited yet again in a week. . .

A Furry Little Critter

Meet Ramses! He is Steve's and my new Robo-dwarf hamster. We had been throwing around the idea of buying a hamster, and pulled the plug today. He was very active while at the store. He was doing laps in his little bin; however, since getting him home and setting up his cage, he's been pretty skiddish and docile.

A Roborovsky (robo for short) hamster is known as a "Look but Don't Touch" pet. It's not because of their behavior, but because they're small and fast. He shouldn't bite (the store employee said they don't bite, and we've not had that issue yet). Steve held him while moving him from the store carton to the new cage, but it was only for a minute because the little guy was running up and down Steve's arm.

He's only 2" long, and probably won't grow anymore. You can see from the picture that he's smaller than his food dish. We'll see if he keeps up his docile act or goes back to running around like crazy. According to our reading material, it'll take a few days to get acclimated to our home. Ha ha... as nutty as it is here, he'll get acclomitaed just in time to move!

In case you wondered. . .

Many people have been asking me if I'm subbing this year. Until a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure what the answer was. I thought I would have been contacted over the summer about remaining as a sub; however, I was never contacted by the school.

Instead, I got my answer by a teacher calling me, looking for a substitute. I turned down his offer, and avoided a 5:30am phone call another day. I just wasn't sure about returning to the school system. I ended last year off on a great note with my 1st graders.

However, I finally decided I'd sub for any of the elementary schools and possibly for the one middle school I subbed at last year. Well, lo & behold, I got a call to sub at the middle school for the same position (choir teacher, but the teacher is different). So my decision was made, and I chose to sub.

The experience was better in that the teacher left me amazing instructions. She described every part of my day, my responsibilities, and where to be at what time. My day started off with eighth graders and they were a handful. I was quickly reminded as to why I will never work as a middle/high school teacher for an "inner-city" public school. All the students had to do was watch movies (end of Fiddler on the roof & Mary Poppins). I was fine with the students talking with each other; however, their levels were loud and louder. I thought the rest of my day was going to be spent shushing students, but the 7th graders redeemed the day. They were wonderful!

But I knew it was too good to be true and I ended off the day with 6th graders that were 5x worse than the 8th graders. They wouldn't do anything I'd say, they were up moving around, and there were 27 of them and only one of me. At one point, I had to slam my hand down on the top of the piano to get their attention. Oh well, I survived the day.

I probably would sub there again, although it's not a first choice. I think I'll just plan on accepting elementary subs. I came home with a sore throat from yelling to get their attention & a sore hand from slamming the piano (although, that was my own fault). It was funny to me that I remembered some of the students from subbing at the school the previous year. I also recognized a few of the 6th graders because I had subbed for them as 5th graders at Andrew Jackson Elementary (where I became a 1st grade teacher for 6 weeks, too). I finally found the answer to my question from last year. It had to be the students since I had the same problems with the same students this go around.

A Little Getaway

Steve was slated to work over Labor Day Weekend, meaning we couldn't make any plans to go anywhere. However, his project got pushed back a little, allowing us to sneak out of Jackson for a few days.

We left Jackson Friday afternoon and headed to Nashville, just a couple hours drive. We went to dinner at The Loveless Cafe, which has been featured on Man V. Food & Diners Drive-Ins & Dives. It is known for it's fresh, hot biscuits, homestyle southern cooking, and fresh jams. It was one of those small town hole-in-the-walls. We enjoyed the experience but probably wouldn't go back. The biscuits were good, but I prefer mine to be more flaky.

After the cafe, we headed to Centennial Park in downtown Nashville. We went to see the life size replica of the Parthenon (for you non-history buffs, the Parthenon is located in Athens, Greece and house a statue to the Goddess Athena). The replica in Nashville is home to Nashville's Art Museum which also houses a re-creation of the Athena statue. We went after the museum was closed, so we just got to walk outside the Parthenon.

The next morning, we headed to Andrew Jackson's home -- The Hermitage. We spent several hours touring the grounds, which include a Garden (his tomb is located there), the house, and replica cabins where the slaves lived. The tour of the grounds included a very interesting audio tour. It was a little hot while walking outside, but most of the grounds were shaded with trees.

The best part (both Steve's & my opinion) was the tour of the actual house. It had been renovated because the Great Depression left the family without money and the house ran down. However, the wall paper in the main entrance, and almost all the furniture were all original. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures inside the house :(.

After visiting the Hermitage and a quick bite to eat, we went to Lane Motor Museum (homes unique cars). We spent awhile there looking at old, foreign, and innovated cars (like cars driven by propellers, a boat/car, and lightweight mini-cars). Even though Steve is the one that is more into cars, I enjoyed myself and got a kick over some of the cars.

We ended off the evening going to eat at Caney Fork located next to the Opryland Hotel. We had originally planned to go out to eat at lunch and dinner at other Man V. Food locations (Pancake Pantry & Prince's Hot Chicken Shack). However, the wait for the Pancake Pantry was way too long & Prince's Hot Chicken Shack was a hole-in-the-wall that was located in a sketchy part of town. We went into Prince's and the place was extremely small with only 4 tables and lots of people standing around. There wasn't a real menu, no prices, and the ordering didn't make sense to us. So we left and quickly found Caney Fork (thank goodness for Smart Phones! How did/do people survive without them?!).

We returned back to Jackson early Sunday afternoon and spent the rest of the weekend just being lazy. It was a nice little get-away, especially since we weren't able to go anywhere for our anniversary.