Finally, an update!
Whew...I've been meaning to write for days, but just haven't gotten to it.
Things have been rough at school; while my students are fantastic and I absolutely love them, our principal is one gigantic moron who simply gets in my way. He's had long, drawn-out faculty meetings where he's insulted not only me, but the entire teaching staff. He doesn't do his job, and then expects us to work overtime to pick up his slack. He's an idiot, he's making me hate going to work, and I really don't know how much more of him I can take. I want to stay in the Valley for another year, so that Karen can get certified, but I'm going to have to move to another school, or one of us (me or him) will end up dead, I think.
In other news, living with Karen continues to be great. Our kitten, Gracie, keeps us both quite entertained, we have finally readjusted to no longer having to do the long-distance thing, and Karen has work as a sub in my district and will soon have work in La Joya as well. With any luck, she may be able to get a full-time job and start working towards certification in the next month or so. So all is looking good on that front.
This weekend really rocked. We went to the beach for a big TFA cookout; enjoyed some quality time with lots of great folks. Unfortunately our outing was timed to coincide with Bike Fest 2005, so there were lots of sketchy bikers zooming around on motorcycles, but we still had a rockin' time by the ocean. Hurray!
Found a new church as well, St. Mark's UMC, that we really like. It's a very welcoming community (though I'm not sure we could ever be out there) with two female pastors (always promising in the Valley) and a great congregation. Lots of kids and families. Yesterday we went to a "Dessert with the Pastors" affair they were having for people who were thinking of becoming members. I don't think either of us is quite there yet, but we are going to start attending regularly and hopefully participating in the parish life; Karen already is being worked on by quite a few people to join the choir!
Okay, must go...I have a very stressful Monday staring me the face and I've got to get myself psyched up for it. That's going to take coffee...lots of coffee.
Things have been rough at school; while my students are fantastic and I absolutely love them, our principal is one gigantic moron who simply gets in my way. He's had long, drawn-out faculty meetings where he's insulted not only me, but the entire teaching staff. He doesn't do his job, and then expects us to work overtime to pick up his slack. He's an idiot, he's making me hate going to work, and I really don't know how much more of him I can take. I want to stay in the Valley for another year, so that Karen can get certified, but I'm going to have to move to another school, or one of us (me or him) will end up dead, I think.
In other news, living with Karen continues to be great. Our kitten, Gracie, keeps us both quite entertained, we have finally readjusted to no longer having to do the long-distance thing, and Karen has work as a sub in my district and will soon have work in La Joya as well. With any luck, she may be able to get a full-time job and start working towards certification in the next month or so. So all is looking good on that front.
This weekend really rocked. We went to the beach for a big TFA cookout; enjoyed some quality time with lots of great folks. Unfortunately our outing was timed to coincide with Bike Fest 2005, so there were lots of sketchy bikers zooming around on motorcycles, but we still had a rockin' time by the ocean. Hurray!
Found a new church as well, St. Mark's UMC, that we really like. It's a very welcoming community (though I'm not sure we could ever be out there) with two female pastors (always promising in the Valley) and a great congregation. Lots of kids and families. Yesterday we went to a "Dessert with the Pastors" affair they were having for people who were thinking of becoming members. I don't think either of us is quite there yet, but we are going to start attending regularly and hopefully participating in the parish life; Karen already is being worked on by quite a few people to join the choir!
Okay, must go...I have a very stressful Monday staring me the face and I've got to get myself psyched up for it. That's going to take coffee...lots of coffee.