Light at the end of the tunnel....

I am beginning to see it... the light, that is.

I have hopes that things from this point on will only be positive. That's what I'm going to put out to the universe anyway. It can only go up from here.... It has been unfathomable to me, the amount of loss that my family and friends have suffered these last couple of months. And sadly, most of those were lives that were too short, very suddenly lost, and hard to understand. But out of it, I see the strength of those closest to those angels and that makes me humble. very humble. very grateful. very thankful for what I have, and what is yet to come. I've listened to the sermons at the various different services I've attended and taken from those, lessons on what it means to have faith, and to enjoy the life I am given.

My friends are truly some of the most amazing people on the planet. When you go through rough times, it becomes very clear who your friends are... and not a single person in my "village" let me down, or made me re-think their or my purpose in each others life. We have each others back, always, in good times and really sucky ones too. I am blessed to have friends that I have had for a lifetime, which is more than most can say. It was remarked on several times by family members, how lucky I am to always have my support system surrounding me. And it makes me smile just thinking about it. I must have done something right in this life because I am lucky. and blessed.

Even the fact that my future career is in the crapper at the moment, I still have hope.  And by crapper, I mean the state of education funding as a whole. The "person in charge" of my state, and I use that term loosely, and with a twitch, has decided that in order to fix the massive debt this state is in, he is cutting funding by $1 billion to school districts. The list of cuts that will happen in my district is mind boggling. Seriously people, they are going to cut Kindergarten... Kindergarten? really? along with busing, custodians, cafeterias, and a gazillion staff members. Any hopes I have ever had of using my Admin degree are out the window. So many of them will be losing their jobs that the list of people with seniority over me will span years. They want the unions to reopen contracts and take back the seriously pathetic increase we agreed to last year. It didn't even cover cost of living, and with all the crap going on here... the cost of living is so far out of the range of normal. The hole we are in is so deep, I don't see us getting out anytime soon, and these decisions made are not going to help. Putting 100's of thousands of people on unemployment is not going to help the deficit.  But.... as sad as it all is, and will be... I can at least be thankful that I do at have a job, with enough years in where I can afford to live without an increase for the moment. And I'll have a new position, starting in the fall. So I am looking forward to the beginning of the end of my time as the Self-Contained BD Teacher. When we return from our spring vacation, I will begin to wrap up the program, pack up the years and years of stuff I've accumulated, gift out what I don't feel I need to keep, and look forward to a whole new world next year. I'll be working side by side with some people that I adore, and teaching the subjects that I love most. Math and LA. I will actually have a duty period, a LUNCH period (woot!) and all the things that most teachers take for granted. Like the ability to get to know hundreds of kids throughout the year... instead of the 8 or so I have contact with over a three year period. They are not continuing my program. With me leaving, it is being phased out. This was the perfect year for that to happen as all of my kids are moving on to the HS level, and the number of kids that would have come up are so small that they are hoping to be able to meet their needs in other settings, with added support in those areas. I don't know how well it will work, but it was not my decision to make.

On another note... I am looking forward to the first of many fun get-aways for this year. This coming weekend; what started as me & 3 of my girlfriends, has now turned into me and 7 of them, going for a girls overnight out. I am just shocked that we are able to pull it off. Given everyone's busy schedules, and six really awesome husbands taking care of 9 children, we are gratefully looking forward to some yummy dinner, cocktails and whatever else we come up with.  Yay!!!

~ Have a great week :)