perspicacious.org

I'm not by nature an angry person. I think I'm pretty good about just going with the flow and not getting angry about little things. But I have to say that I really hate driving in this city. I gave myself a month to try to adjust, see if I could just sing along with the radio and not be bothered by the traffic, but I just can't do it.The last straw was tonight- I was going to go check my P.O. Box. Usually it takes me 15 minutes to get there and 15 to get back. Today the whole trip took close to an hour. No, I didn't go anywhere else, just to the post office and back. I left my house at about 5:30, which was probably a bad idea, but the rush has usually died down by then.

Because of the rebuilding of the big-i (that's where the two interstates intersect) I didn't even try going on the freeway. There are 3 major streets that run east-west toward where I was going, all of which cross under the freeway. Two of these streets are cut down to one lane where they cross under the freeway. The problem is that it's a different two streets every day. This brings me to my driving pet peeves:

1) People who know that a lane is going to close and then drive all the way up to where the lane ends and expect you to let them in.
2) Drivers trying to force their way into a lane.
3) Cars full of teenagers trying to show off.
4) SUVs that block my view and act like they own the road.

There are others, but the one that bugs me the most is #1. If I can see the "right lane closed ahead" sign, then the other drivers should be able to, too. Today somebody almost hit me because they crept up to the end of a lane closure and then tried to force their way into my lane. I braked hard to let them in, and then the person behind me almost hit me. Grrrrrrr. I'm becoming a hermit. I'm not driving in the city again. Except maybe at 3AM when there's nobody on the road. *sigh* I think that driving here is not like big cities, say, on the east coast where people are used to driving in heavy traffic and know how to handle themselves. My poor, backward state. I love New Mexico, but I think that we have a higher idiot ratio than other states.

Thanks for listening to me rant. I don't do it all that often, but sometimes you have to, you know?

2000 was really a good year for me. I think it was probably one of the most important years of my life so far, as far as being a stepping stone toward… Toward what I'm not entirely sure- toward the future at least.

I celebrated the New Year 2000 with my parents at their new years party, and then went back to Las Cruces to start my last year of school. 2 weeks into the New Year my grandmother died- the closest family member to me that I have ever lost. I drove back home, went to the funeral, got a chance to see many of my relatives that I hadn't seen in a long time. Sad that only weddings and deaths are really enough to bring the family together sometimes.

Spring 2000 was probably my hardest semester of college, coursework wise. I took 18 hours of classes. 12 hours were education classes (bilingual)- methods courses in math, social studies, language arts, and reading. The other 6 hours were library science (boring!) and mythology (fun!).

In May I flew to Bucerias, Mexico and live in Nana and Grandpa's condo. I taught swimming lessons and English classes to a slew of Mexican kids. I was there for 6 weeks, but the time flew by incredibly fast. I spent a lot of time there laying on the beach and reading. Some things never change.

After Mexico I came back to work the rest of the summer at the pool. I taught more swimming lessons, got a good tan, got a nice case of pool hair (which I later cut off,) turned 22, and generally goofed off. In August I went to an institute for people involved in a grant dealing with my student teaching. I met my cooperating teacher for my student teaching. I also met some other great teachers.

I started student teaching in August. I remember thinking that I would never make it through 18 weeks of it- I was teaching all day and then going to school or to work in the evenings. I thought it would kill me, but it flew by. In December I was done with my student teaching and ready to graduate. I completed the graduation ceremony on December 16th. The next week I packed up all of my belongings and moved up to Albuquerque. It's good to be an Albuquerquean again, despite the horrible traffic.

This seems short, but the year 2000 really was pivotal for me. I wonder if I'll look back and think that 20 years from now? It was over in a flash… I wonder what's in store for 2001?

I put not one but two applications in with the Albuquerque Public School system about a month ago. One was for a licensed teaching position, and the other for a substitute position. I got all of the peripherals sent to them, and called to check occasionally on the status of my file and possible hiring. I went pretty stir-crazy waiting for them to call and give me a job. I knew that APS needed subs- badly- so why weren't they calling me?

Eventually I sort of gave up on it. My mom told me about a patient she had who worked for a catholic school in Albuquerque. Her patient mentioned a long-term substitute position that was available at one of the catholic schools. I decided to go apply not only with the catholic schools but also for a temp agency that I did some work with before.

On Thursday I picked up an application from the Catholic schools. On Friday morning I went first to the temp agency and filled out an application. It seemed likely that they could find some temp work for me starting on Monday. Then I went back to the catholic schools office to turn my application in. The superintendent, a really nice nun, just happened to be in and had a few free moments. She interviewed me right then, and referred me to the principal needing the long-term sub. I scheduled a meeting with the principal on Monday morning.

This morning I visited with the principal. She showed me the school, including the classroom that I would be teaching. She didn't ask me too many questions- I was expecting all of those philosophy questions that they ask in teaching interviews. You know- "What is your philosophy on teaching reading?" "What is your philosophy on discipline?" She didn't ask me too much, though. Then she offered me the job! OK, I knew that she was in need of a teacher and was looking to hire someone soon, but it was still nice to get offered a job on the spot. I talked to the school accountant and did some paperwork so that I can start getting paid. I'm going to be salaried, which is just awesome- I was expecting to get crappy substitute pay. The pay is not really that great, but I get benefits, and sub days, and all kinds of great stuff. It's pretty exciting.

Tomorrow I will go visit my new class and see what's going on in there. I will actually start teaching on Monday. Oh, I didn't tell you why they needed a sub- The teacher who had this class was going to retire at the end of the year but she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I think that she is doing pretty well as far as treatment goes, but not well enough to keep teaching. So, I guess my good luck came out of someone else's misfortune. I guess it just works that way.

Anyway, send your teaching ideas my way, I can use all of the suggestions I can get!