Miscommunication

For over a year now I've been working through the Alternative Certification process to become a teacher.  In May 2015 I got my first certification in Mathematics Grades 4-8.  I applied for many jobs last summer but remained employed as an iPad tech throughout this past school year.  This past April I added a certification in Core Subjects Ec-6 thinking this would make me more marketable.  I've been applying for anything and everything that could potentially lead to my ultimate goal of being a teacher at a campus close to my home.  Often I have felt like Frogger because there are so many ways I could get to my ultimate goal.  I pray a lot about it and have told God I will accept the first job that is offered to me and assume that is where He needs me.

I was trying hard not to invent signs that I thought were from God.  I went on an interview for a clerical position in my 2nd choice district and it went well.  But they drug their feet in making an offer to me.  In the meantime my current principal said she had a position she really wanted me to fill if I could get certified.  A few fays later she told me again how much she really wanted me for that course.  Then it dawned on me - she was offering me the job (contingent on certification).  

Once I realized that I started seeing signs right and left that indeed this was where I was supposed to be.  That night on Facebook a colleague posted a meeme that had a very manly man wearing a unicorn costume with a caption that said, "Sometimes you just gotta say, 'Screw it, I'm gonna be a unicorn'."  (Unicorns are actually our school mascot.)  This reminded me of years ago when I was agonizing over whether to remain at the local grocery store or take a job with AT&T and I went into the kitchen to open a jar and actually looked at the rubber circle used to open jars and it said "AT&T, the right choice."  I hadn't even realized it was an AT&T thingy.  

The next day when I was driving to work the road that has been under construction for 2 years was finally open.  So the road to my campus was paved.  I walked down the hallway and passed the room that would be mine and it was the only door in the whole hallway that was open, even though nobody was in it.

So I began studying for the test.  First I spent every spare minute reading about Textiles.  But at night i would dream about potential test subjects unrelated to what I'd been studying.  One night I dreamed that I was insisting that my last name was Light.  So the next day I studied residential and commercial lighting trends.  The next night I dreamed that I was in an unusual shower.  So then I studied about bathroom design standards.  I was curious to see if my dilligence in studying all these random things would reward me with being able to answer related questions on the test.

In fact there were no questions about lighting or bathrooms on the test.  But, I passed so no harm done.  Two days later I go to the interview (more of a formality) prepared to take it seriously and present my best self since I did have some actual competition for the job.  That's when my principal informed me that HR had informed her that in my first (probationary) year of teaching I could not have a part-time position as this one was.

WOW!

What is going on here?  Not only were the study topics suggested through my dreams not even on the test but now my whole assertion that I would take the first job offered is out the window.  I had even turned down the clerical position when they finally did call me for it explaining that I already had another position in the works.

So I'm back to square one - applying for anything and everything and ready to take the first offer.  But more significantly I'm feeling like the communication tower between my and God has been crashed.  The only bright side I can see is that maybe this means 7/12/17 is also a big misunderstanding.

Quoting Mark Twain

Yesterday as I was driving I heard on the radio a quote from Mark Twain.  I really liked it and thought I would write a blog about it.  I didn't try to memorize it because I figured I could just google Mark Twain quotes and find it with no problem.  Hours later I tried and found 60 pages of quotes on goodreads.com.  It would help if I could remember the basic subject of the quote but I couldn't.  So I started reading though them and realized I like a lot of Mark Twain quotes, which is odd because I really don't like his novels at all.  After reading even more quotes of his I suspect he'd have something to say about that juxtaposition.  Anyway, here are a few of my favorites:

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” 

“A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.”

“Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.” 

“If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.”

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

“God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”

Apparently he had some views on religion, education and politicians which he didn't hesitate to share.  It seems like his words would have created quite a scandal in his time, much like Donald Trump does today.  If I could shuffle the order of people I would put those two together on one stage and see what ensued.  As Twain said, "“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”

Podcasting

Summer comes and I'm off schedule!  Originally I posted every Wednesday but somehow that slipped around to Tuesday.  Every Tuesday on my lunch break I make a post.  Even though I work in education I am still required to work in June and my schedule has changed so much I keep missing my postings.

Anyway - so here I am.  And I was listening to a bunch of nutrition podcasts while I was working this week and on one of them I heard an interesting thought - alzheimer's is like diabetes for the brain.  With diabetes a body gets out of whack largely due to nutrition.  There is now a theory that alzheimer's comes about because improper nutrition robs the brain of elements it needs to function well.

Certainly one more motivation for me to follow a proper diet.  Realistically I have a way better chance of getting Alzheimer's or Dementia than cancer.  Emotionally I'm more afraid of cancer.  Today I really wanted some chocolate but didn't have any available and I was too cheap to go hit up the vending machine.  Also I want to lose six pounds by the end of the month so I was fighting the urge.  I did have a Dr. Pepper in the refrigerator and I contemplated whether that would satisfy my chocolate craving.  Then I thought about all the podcasts I had heard this week and told myself it's not Dr. Pepper - it's cancer in a can.  I made it through the afternoon sans chocolate and sans Dr. Pepper.  Finally after dinner I had Nutella on toast and that took care of the craving.  I was also happy that the Nutella label lists "health fats" and no added sugar.  Can't rationalize the bread though but Nutella on a spoon just didn't sound appealing.