I want off this ride

Remember the job??? (Yeah that was all of 24 hours ago....)

It was taken back.

Apparently it had to be given to a tenured person in the system who didn't have anywhere else to go (wonders WHY no one else wanted her), so the principal doesn't get to hire me...

I asked God for an answer about this and he gave it to me, but I can't help being very dissappointed.... VERY.

I found out 10 minutes before class started so it didn't help that I managed to cry my way through our supervision class (Think: group counseling process).

I am back to square one... ugh.

Happy iPhone Day!

Today is the day I've been waiting for and apparently so has the rest of the nation. Why are people who have the 3Gs iphones dying for the 4.0?

Anyways, because AT&T so underestimated the demand (or at least that is what is on the door at the AT&T store), I will not be getting an iPhone today, and probably not even this week.

Did any of you actually even try to fight that crowd?

Who knows when... The AT&T stores won't start receiving them until Tuesday (at least in my area) and online it says it won't ship until July 14 and I'm out of town that week so I of course don't want it to ship to my house while I'm out of town.

For now I'm just waiting, which seems to be the theme of life. At least this time there is an iPhone at the end of the tunnel, I just don't know how long the tunnel is!

The Old Wooden Rollercoaster

You know how the old-wooden roller coasters are the ones that everyone LOVES to ride at the park? Some places even advertise them as their best attraction. So you wait in the sweltering heat with lines of sticky kids who kick you in the chin while they swing on the bar separating you and 2000 other hot miserable people waiting for a 30-second thrill ride in a tiny cart with just a lap-belt holding you in. When you finally get to the front and the ride starts going, everything is so exciting as you climb that first steep hill and hear the click, click, click. Then as the ride lets loose and the cart starts soaring downward your head smashes into the side of the cart and you strain your neck so bad to hold your head in one place that your muscles ache and you forget about the ride because you are more worried about your brain bouncing around inside your skull. At the end, I think the pain in my neck and pounding in my head was not nearly worth the shot of adrenaline that came with the ride.

Welcome to this past week. It's been highs and lows of emotion and stress. One minute things are fabulous and the next they come crashing down. Literally. So, I've avoided writing anything until things have leveled itself out a bit. I think today is a good day to let you in though because they are looking up again!

First off, I think I told you I had 3 more interviews last week, yes?



Well, guess what....




I was offered a job!!!!


I was offered a job one day last week, and there are some stipulations to it that I will go into detail about after the job is officially mine, but one huge obstacle was paperwork from the university and my degree date. Apparently I graduate 2 days after school starts and the university would not BUDGE on any sort of letter or notice to inform this school system that I will in fact be graduating in August. This was the most frustrating part because for several days I was under the impression that I may not, in fact, be able to work at all until things are 'official' and 'official' can take weeks even MONTHS! The attitudes and rudeness I received from people was disheartening!

Anyways, several days of tears and frustration went by, but then Monday afternoon came, and I found out that the school system is more willing to work around the paperwork than the university is. Woo! I am still frustrated with the university that I have given A LOT of money and time to, and they were not even interested in coming up with a solution for one of their graduates to be employed.

So, we're back up on top today, that this is job offer is a possibility! It looks like everything will go through and I've been given a 'worst case scenario' that doesn't even sound that bad.

Thank the Lord! I know he has been the one to place this job in my lap and when it is official I will tell you all the wonderful details about it. I am very very excited and also very nervous. I don't want to mess anything (or anyone for that matter) up! Yikes!

Along the roller coaster we also bumped into some obstacles in the baby arena and I've struggled with the unconditional love that I am supposed to show some people in my life. However, I'm working through most of that with the Lord and pray he'll show me who it is he wants me to be and that HIS perfect plan and timing will take over my life!!

Gulf Oil Spill

I know every single one of you have heard about the oil leaking into the gulf, yes?

Well I have a girls vacation planned for July 8 to head down to Mobile & Gulf Shores. With things still leaking and pouring into the ocean, I have no idea what sort of state the coast will be in three weeks, but we are not canceling our trip... it's more about the company than the setting.

However, a very funny/quirky friend of mine that is organizing our beach getaway has just informed us all that she signed our group up to volunteer while we are down there.

As I was reading this, I pictured myself cleaning up tar balls on the beach thinking I was going to shove her into the oil-drenched ocean for signing me up for this and ruining my vacation, but when I got to the part that we'd be working with the animal rehabilitation efforts my heart softened a little. (Okay, a lot... you all know my love for all things mammal.)

I have absolutely no idea what to expect or who we are volunteering with yet, but apparently she had to go through an interview process and everything to be able to work with this group, so it sounds pretty legit.

None the less it sounds like a unique item to add to our vacation agenda. I'll keep you posted.

Certification? check!

I have (almost) conquered one more hurdle in the education world. I have assembled my lengthy and confusing packet for my certification. No one really even told me to get started on it either which is a little scary, but I sort of bumped into the information and started reading only to realize it was a lot of information that I had to do before the state would issue my Class A Professional Educators Certificate.

Our counseling program is newly CACREP accredited so I will actually be the first one to graduate in school counseling under these new guidelines. Which means, not too many people know the right way too go about getting my certification!

After many calls and faxes, I think I have it nearly 100% complete! I need a few more signatures that I will get Thursday on my trip to class and then I can send it to the state!

The ONE dilemma is that for my background check my first name and last name are flip flopped. Stupid. I know. I am sure that I did this last year or so and just never realized it until now... I'm wondering what sort of issues this will cause. If I call I'm sure they will tell me to redo it ($56), but if I don't will they just pull it up and let it slide?

Decisions, decisions....

I'm melting! Melting....!

It is a cool & crisp 98 degrees today in sunny Alabama. I'd guess it is a heat index of 143. Maybe a little higher. I have a lot to do today, but I don't want to do any of it because it is sweltering outside!!

In fact, I don't even want to do anything inside either! I went grocery shopping today and had 1 coupon. Yep, saved a whopping $.40 today on some yogurt. I just do not have the energy to cut coupons or plan out my grocery trips lately. Not to mention I am just not seeing the savings because I have been such a picky eater also.

I've gained 6lbs back. Nearly back to where I started 8 months ago. Its amazing to look back at weight loss and see the ups and downs every single month only to be exactly where I was when I started... again.

I know 100% that I eat when stressed and my brain can only handle 1 trying thing at a time. Not coupons, not cleaning, not eating right, just job searching. However, I'm turning over the not-so-new leaf again! For the 14th or so time!!

I am going to tackle more than just job searching, and I figure while I am not interviewing - I don't have a single one lined up this week - I should be able to devote all my attention to being healthy, cleaning my house and getting back to my budget!

I did happen to tackle yet another thing off my list (only 2 months late). #16 - Landscape. I have trimmed 5 of 7 shrubs (4 years passed due) and dug up 1/2 my irises to transplant them into the new bed that Ben built. I have 2 more shrubs and one large clump of irises to go, but did I mention it is HOTTTT out there?!

Currently our attic fan is out.... causing the air conditioner to blow warm 78 degree air. I know the power company says to keep your thermostat at 78 to save money, but has anyone actually tried living in 78 degrees?! Its impossible to sleep like that unless you have 5 fans blowing on you while you are naked.

The attic is so hot that when Ben hands me a tool from the attic (he is up there working on it as we speak) I can't touch the metal without burning my fingers! I guess I should be monitoring Ben's well being instead of blogging right now.

Happy Monday!

Chattanooga

This weekend was incredible! Ben and I went to Chattanooga for our 3rd anniversary trip. He planned most of it since I am a cheapskate and can't handle how much things cost!

We didn't realize that this weekend was the first weekend of a 10-day festival and things would be VERY crowded. Fortunately though we did touristy things instead of the festival and avoided the crowds, for the most part.

Friday he planned for us to go on a river boat sunset dinner cruise and let me tell you, if you ever go to Chattanooga, this should be first on your list! It was so much fun!

The food was delicious and the company was very entertaining. I was a little worried when we sat down because it was at a 4-top table with another couple's name at the other two seats. THIS is not my ideal eating situation. I don't really like eating with strangers. I have to admit I did say a quick prayer before they got there that they wouldn't be crazy! Well, they were a fun, entertaining older couple and things went just fine. The group sitting next to us on the other side happened to be from Birmingham too.


Saturday we visited Lookout Mountain and Rock City. Both were so much fun! We started Lookout Mountain by riding the Incline Railway which is apparently the steepest railway in the nation. It was HOT, HUMID and way too close to the other people for me. The panic started to set in at one point where I thought if I don't get off this train in 3 seconds I was jumping and sliding back down the mountain. Thankfully, Ben switched places with me and we arrived at the top quickly.
I can't get over the houses that are perched atop this mountain. There was a whole neighborhood! This one below was right next to the railway up and it was just gorgeous! I can't even imagine how much they cost!

Everything was just beautiful! Apparently you can see 5 states or something like that from the top, but I never found any signs of where to look and which was which, so I just accepted that it was gorgeous and far!

After that we went to Rock City which is a garden of rocks and caverns at the top of the mountain. It was so much fun!

Thankfully because we were walking among rocks most of the time it wasn't real hot until we finished. I did have my moments though where I thought I would have to go the 'short-way out' to avoid walking through places called Fat Man Squeeze. Here is Ben heading down through it:

But a sweet little grandmother made me go down (Here Ben was trying to coax me down, but I made him see if he could fit first... he was supposed to come back and get me but people kept coming through), she walked with me until I made it through the other side telling me about the rocks and other funny things so I wouldn't freak out!

We also ate at a very good pizza place called Lupi's Pizza (SOOO good!) and the Moon Pie General Store! Ben LOVES moon pies and we had to have a moon pie sundae!

We made it home today and both had such a great time. It was definitely worth spending the money! Ben was a little more carefree about the money than I would have been, but hopefully soon we'll have that other income to replenish the savings account!