Update on us.

So I've been bothering my wife to write more in our blog.  She is hesitating for some reason.  So I'll do my best to fill the void.

Our girl turned 5 in July, and got a violin for her birthday.  A kid one.  Little did I know that there were sizes even smaller than the one we got for her!  Luckily for us, the strings teacher at the university happens to have contacts and a daughter.  Through his contacts, he found the right sized violin for Analee, and through his daughter, we're getting her some violin lessons.  Now all I need is to get a job so I can afford violin lessons and ballet lessons, and I think we're set with her.  She starts school soon, and is really excited about it, but I'm really not.  She's ready to start 1st grade, so I wonder if she'll get really bored in kindergarten.  I hope not.

I almost got a job at the 3rd-best school in the nation (BASIS Scottsdale, which is 5th in another metric), but finished 2nd in that race.  I wanted that one, too.  I got a call at 9 PM one night, but it came from the 480 area code (imagine that!).  I have a friend with a 480 number and didn't get past the area code, thinking it was him and that I was sleeping (until the phone rang), so I didn't want to answer it.  (My good wife, after the incident, said "his house is on fire, but you're tired.  You did the right thing."  Sarcastic little girl, isn't she?)  The next morning as I woke up at 2:40, I checked my phone.  There was a message.  So I listened.  It was BASIS, calling to say that they were very interested in me.  I'd turned in that application months ago!  So I waited until noon (!) to call Scottsdale.  In the mean time, my wife and I looked at housing in the area and school options for Analee and how long it'd take to get there and what we'd do with all of our accumulated stuff.  By lunch, I'd walked 10,000 steps, which is usually my entire day's output.  So I called and John Hillis, the school's head, said that he'd like to interview me in a couple of hours.  So more waiting.  You know how when you're waiting for something, time seems to almost stop?  Yeah.  Those two hours took forever.  Finally, the interview came.  Have you ever had one of those interviews that you know you just nailed it?  Yeah, that was it.  I nailed it.  I knew I did.  I nailed the interview so much, in fact, that I knew it'd come down to me and the interview after me.  That's how much I rocked that interview.  Mr. Hillis told me that they were rather rushed, so he'd try to get back to me that night.  More waiting.  Great.  Finally, I went to bed at about 9 PM.  My wife stayed up until midnight repeatedly checking my email.  At about 1:45 AM (so they were up late, even on West Coast standards), I finally got an email telling me that I finished 2nd in the race.  It wasn't unexpected, but still deflated me for a couple of hours.  I got the email at 2:40 when I woke up, and by 9 AM, I was back to being happy.  I'll get a job when the Lord wants me to.  I am applying everywhere, and will get a job on His time, not mine.  So I'm fine with not getting a teaching job this time.

That said, here's what I don't get.  Assuming the top 3 schools in the nation each have 3 history teachers, and I finished just outside the 3rd school, I'm the 10th best teacher in the nation, right?  (We all know I'm not, but bear with me.)  Why couldn't I get a call from Detroit (where I applied) or anywhere else in the nation?  Detroit's schools...  well, they aren't the best.  ...and yet, they wouldn't give me the time of day.  Weird, right?

Nevertheless, I'm happily continuing my search.  I'll be a full-time teacher yet.  When I am, I'm sure you'll read about it here.

~J.