dang i miss these girls!

Hanging out with Tefera reminded me of how much I miss the kids in ET. I keep up with a couple of other volunteers and we often say how much we miss Ethiopia and the amazing kids we had the incredible opportunity to get to know. Here are two of the amazing girls I met expressing their opinion about me being single..hahaha. Man, I miss them so much!!!

Tefera!

One of the social workers from the orphanage where I worked is now living in DC! He moved here about 2 weeks ago to be here for the birth of his baby and tonight, ignoring my aching muscles and sore throat, I met him and his wife for dinner at Addis Ababa Restaurant. I wasn't hungry but I had no problem scarffing down my fair share of yatakilt wat ("carrots, potatoes, string beans and peppers cooked with tumeric and seasoned with spices") and gomen ("collard greens cooked with onions and peppers")--clarification for those of you not big on Ethiopian food. Yum! Yum! Anyway, it was so amazing to see someone I met in Addis right here in my neighborhood. Surreal, really-- and so much fun. We laughed and connected on such a uniquely special level, being that I have been where he's from and have seen what he does. He is an amazingly warm individual; so empathetic and thoughtful. He relates to the children so well and is trusted and loved by them. They go through such heartbreak and grief and he is there to offer guidance, advice, encouragement and hugs. He really is a special person and it was so good to see him!




Here he is in Ethiopia with one of the kids.

So why did I see that that private school where I interviewed is now looking for a K, 1st and 2nd grade teacher? Wonder what's going on there? Oh! And check this out! My district instituted a hiring freeze the day I signed my contract!! Can you believe it? How fortunate am I? I mean, seriously. If I had waited one more day the only thing they could have offered me is a long term sub job. I am so grateful; you have no idea!

Check out my class list. Love it!

Juan -- Jazelia -- Farhan
Emily -- Rafael -- Fabian
Lyric -- Mariam -- Yasmin
Yuki -- Lydia -- Evan
Esteban -- Emma -- Connor
Christopher -- Anais -- Mutsa

They are cute. I met most of them when I went in to observe this week. While I was sitting next to Rafael he said, "If I end up in your class, you need to remember that my named is spelled with an 'f' and not a 'ph', OK?!" Too funny! I have one more day to get prepared, have an open house on Monday afternoon for the parents and the kids start on Tuesday.

Meanwhile on the adoption front, I was at work until 7 on Friday so I didn't get a chance to take the stuff to my social worker and I know it's unlikely that I'll get there on Monday either but I plan to take what I have on Tuesday. Meanwhile, my references haven't done their part yet either so I need to light the fire under them! :)


Goal: Finish homestudy by Halloween!

Setting Up

Thanks for all your nice comments everyone! The blogging community rocks!!

Here are a few photos of what I have done so far in my classroom. I get my kids on Monday so, yes, I was there til 8 o'clock tonight! Last night I went to the PTA picnic and met some of the K parents. They are all happy to get another Kindergarten teacher but of course none of them want their child moved. Some expressed this to me at the picnic. One woman was close to tears talking about how she'd have a breakdown and end up in the hospital if her child got moved! Whoa. I hope the transition (for the parents) goes smoothly.. the kids will be fine.

All I know is on Friday I can take my contract and a big pile of other stuff to my social worker to get this daggone homestudy finished! Finally I can get back on track with this adoption!




Check out my commute to work. It's so nice!

Yay!

Last week was hectic and stressful. First I had to work out the certification issue. It took awhile but they agreed that I am able to teach K using my California certification. Meanwhile, I continued with my interviewing process. I drove miles and miles and was in the hotseat for seven panel interviews. I was asked about my educational philosophy, how to do a guided reading lesson and the elements of a balanced literacy classroom. I was asked to describe my classroom management style, how I communicate with parents, how I collaborate with colleagues, how I use technology in lessons, how I use data to drive instruction and a million other things but it was all worth it because in the end I got six Kindergarten offers! Yay!! Thanks to everyone who sent out good vibes and said prayers! Then came the decision making process. I ruled one out automatically based on distance alone (over an hours drive) and then I made a chart!

Then I analyzed it.
And analyzed it some more.
Made a decision.
And then questioned that decision!
But in the end, I got a great K position--not too far from my house--and I start tomorrow!

the drama continues

Man, has this ever been crazy. I have been humbled.

"District C" called to tell me that they won't hire me for Kindergarten because my old credential didn't allow for Kindergarten. I keep trying to explain to them that my current credential does allow me to and I have taught Kindergarten. I really want to teach Kindergarten.

While trying to work that out, I decided to check on "District B" to see if they had hired for the second grade-- the one where the principal taught the second grade class on the first day of school. I sent him an email inquiring about the status of the position and got back an automated response. What did his email say? That he had resigned as principal to go into the ministry! On the second week of school?! Huh?! They do say things happen for a reason. If "District B" hadn't lost my paperwork (oh, did I mention that? -- I learned they hadn't called me to sub or teach because they lost my file! I was not in the system...as if I had never applied!) so if they hadn't lost my paperwork I would have accepted that position only to have the principal resign. He was one of the main reasons I was interested in the job in the first place. So in the end, it is good I didn't end up there. Their complete disorganization,though, led me to rule them out completely. I do worry that my file will end up in the wrong hands...ID theft and all.. but what can I do?

So, now what? Well my best hope of finding a teaching position is with "District B"--the one that won't let me teach K. I am hoping that will get worked out so this week I went on five more interviews with "District B" from K to third grade. The good news is I've gotten two offers so far. One is a 1/2 combination class where I would teach first grade reading and writing in the morning and 2nd grade reading and math in the afternoon. It's a really nice school and I liked the principal a lot, but it took me 50 minutes to get there, without traffic. It will be an hour commute on a good day. The other one is Kindergarten. Also a really nice school, nice principal, but only 20 minutes from my house. In this job I will be doing pull out as well--reading and writing in the morning and math in the afternoon with the highest kids; basically kids reading on the first and second grade level in the morning and those on a first grade math level in the afternoon. The craziest thing in this whole process is the realization that if I had known I was going to end up in "District B" anyway I would have started the process months ago and had many, many selections and been working by now. But instead I wait for the certification office to re-review my credential and make a final decision. Sigh. I hope to hear today. I want to accept the K position and be done with it. Wish me luck!

interviews...

Sent off six more resumes and had two more interviews.

The first was for a second grade position at a private school. I drove up and knew it wasn't going to pay well. The school is located in an economically depressed area and the campus was very small, the buildings shabby. Paint was peeling off the sides of the buildings, lawn neglected. I almost wanted to cancel right there and not waste my time but I was there so I went in. My wishful thinking also had me trying to rationalize that since school had already started on Tuesday and they were in need of another teacher that perhaps they would offer me decent money out of desperation. Ha! Not. About 8 min into the interview she interrupted me and said, "Look, I'd love to have you but I need to let you know up front that the most I could pay you would be $30,000." (she was serious) It's sad; it's a 100% African-American school that's been around for 54 years and that's all they can pay their teachers? How on earth can they attract talented, committed teachers?? If they've been around for 54 years you would think they would have s figured out how to do some serious fundraising, have partnerships and sponsors, receive grants and have auctions. She said the tuition hadn't been raised in years to make it affordable for the community ($6,000/year) but I would think if they could raise tuition and fundraise, they might be able to attract more qualified teachers, beautify the campus, strengthen the programs, offer financial aid and perhaps attract families outside of the immediate area who would be able to pay the full tuition. Hell, what do I know, that's not my area of expertise but those kids deserve so much more and it seems so doable. Well, I can' t help them out so I crossed that school off my list.

Later on in the day I went to my second interview. It was for a Kindergarten job in one of my former districts. I liked the school when I finally arrived. It was far. I have never commuted more than 30 minutes in my entire working career so the hour drive wasn't fun, but I left there with a good feeling about the place. The vice principal called me to schedule the interview so I thought it was just going to be the two of us in the room, like my morning interview. One on one interviews like that don't make me nervous --if for a teaching job. I usually feel pretty confident and can answer the questions pretty well. Well, the principal came to get me in the reception area (where I was waiting with another woman who was obviously the next candidate) and led me down a quiet hallway. As he put his hand on the knob he said, "We are all kind of crammed into this little space. I have a group of people helping me with this process." Did he ever! I walked into a little room, about 14x14, with a large conference table taking up the majority of the space. Every seat of the conference table was taken (except for mine) with a total of ten people in the room: the principal, vice principal, reading specialist, some other support person and six Kindergarten teachers! There went my sense of calm! I was so nervous, but they looked like a friendly bunch and I felt prepared and within a couple of minutes I was at ease. It was actually fun--for an interview! We were all laughing and joking and I felt quite comfortable with the staff. I think it went pretty well. I asked how they imagined this transition was going to go (school started last week) and he said the person hired would get a nice classroom near to the other K teachers. One of the present K teachers would move to another part of the building to make the transition easier on the new hire, which I liked. Also, apparently the district will allocate a day for a new hire to prepare the classroom and lessons but he was going to advocate for two days; and he said he would ask the current teachers to do most of the decorating of the new room so it looks like the other K classes. That's great cause I really don't have many K materials. It was very well thought out to make the transition for the new hire as smooth as possible.

So different from an experience I once had in California. I was teaching Kindergarten and due to enrollment, our school had to make a K/1 combination class in October. I was a brand new teacher to the district but my principal still wanted me to teach the class--not relevant to her that I would then have to learn two new curricula. On top of that she told me this on a Friday afternoon and expected me to be ready by Monday--in a different classroom! When I asked her when this was supposed to get done, she said, "You better speak to the custodians about their schedules cause you are going to have busy weekend I guess." Nice.

Anyway, at the Kindergarten job they said that the district would allow them to hire in the next week or two, which is exactly what I heard from the other three schools where I left my resume. The other three are all also Kindergarten positions. One is 20 minutes from my house and a good friend of mine teachers K there. One is down the street from my old school and has an initiative in place to study the achievement gap. That would be very interesting. The third is a quick ten minutes from my house. I think I might prefer any of those to commuting an hour, though a good fit depends on so many other factors so not necessarily. What I really hope is to get offers from at least two so I have options.


My second grade class in Long Beach.

Labor Day Weekend

Another Labor Day Weekend, come and gone.

It's strange that I've been writing on this blog long enough to be repeating holidays. Journey to Motherhood was the title I gave it, cause when I started it last May, motherhood was very much on my mind and I thought at the time that I was ready. Last year at this time I had just downloaded the I600A. Who knew that it was going to take me eleven months to actually file it?

When I began the process last year, referrals were coming really quickly, around 3 months in a 3-5 month estimated time frame. Although I had a great job with on site day care and everything was set for a baby to come into my life but it all seemed to be too quick. I was under the impression that I would be a parent in March sometime and I just couldn't quite visualize it. Motherhood was something I really wanted but I couldn't imagine how I'd manage as a single parent--I didn't want to be a single parent--so I did everything at a snail's pace until I eventually decided to just put the whole thing off.

After rereading last year's Labor Day Weekend post, I clicked on the comments. Someone commented that day that she was in the same stage in the adoption process--just filed her I600A so I went to her blog today to see some pictures of her child. I couldn't believe it, but she hasn't gotten her referral yet! It's weird to think that I was so sure I was going to be a mom so quickly that I put it off, but according to her time frame my child probably wouldn't even be home. With no referral yet and then having to wait for a court date and then to travel, I imagine the earliest she (we) would be in Ethiopia would be January/February--almost a year later than I had anticipated. I think if I had known that I might have continued. That gave me that extra year after all. But meanwhile, here I am stuck in a holding pattern while I look for the right job before I can continue and who knows how long it will now be before I can bring my child home.

I had hoped to finish my homestudy by the end of August. Well, that didn't happen. I will now project it to be done by the end of September and the rest of the paperwork by the end of November, putting me on the referral list in December. With a wait time of 5 months, that gives me an April referral, July court date, September '09 travel--if I make it before the courts close. If not, that could be an October court date and December '09 travel. In all likelihood I am not going to be a mom before 2010 and that now seems very, very far away. In fact, at this point, it even seems at times that it isn't ever going to happen. It's almost hard to imagine it at all with all these twists and turns my journey has taken me. But it remains one of the only things that I have always known that I have wanted in my life so I just have to continue to have faith that it is all going to work out.

Thankfully, most of my friends and family know it is going to happen somehow and are supportive of my journey to motherhood and I am grateful for that. I even have a couple of other single friends come to me for advice in the past month about how to begin this motherhood process (somehow I have become the local expert on sperm donation, IUI, adoption, single parenthood, etc. and I by no means am since I have done none of the above) but it's so wonderful to have support in this journey and others who are experiencing the same things that I am. I put a little reminder on my bathroom mirror last week to keep me focused and remind me that it is eventually all going to work out. I am going to get a great job and bring my baby home!!My parents and sister came down for a couple of days and it was really nice to spend time with them. I took them to the church that I like on Sunday. During the announcements, the minister shared that one of the families in the congregation was celebrating bringing their baby boy home from Ethiopia! Here is a picture of my parents walking back to my car after church.
The difficult length of time became all the more apparent this weekend, though, while having my parents here. I so much want to have my child here for them to enjoy and I expect that I will, but they are in their 80's so the sooner she arrives the better. As they were leaving to drive back to Pennsylvania my neighbor, Allison, came by to see them and show off her beautiful baby. Allison was pregnant last summer and now her child is a year old! My parents look positively radiant interacting with Allison's baby!
You can see in my mother's face how much joy holding Tatiana gives her and I so much want to be able to do that for her. So, please say some prayers for me that I will get an amazing job offer in the next week or two so I can get my baby home before 2010!


Overall, it was a great weekend. Highlights included eating a lot of meals out, purchasing and playing around with my new camera (thank you for the fantastic recommendation, Angie!), listening to my mom's newest book, and going to a cookout with friends and not doing anything off my to-do list!!! Here are some pics from the weekend.

Eating at Jaleo's with my parents. Yum-my. Love tapas! (and the sangria was good, too!)


Listening to my mom read to me from her new book. This will be her ninth children's book!


I refused to any housework. Look at the laundry pile waiting for me to fold!


Dancing at the bbq. The barbecue that Andrea invited me to was so cool. There was a live band! I have never been to a barbecue with music. So much fun!

And check this out. Two of my friends, yes two, asked me this weekend to be the Godmother to their children! Ayanna and I have been friends for over fifteen years. We met at Howard when we were in some of the same education classes. We are both AKAs, love photography and writing, are both teachers and committed to healthy living, and now we are both embarking on this single motherhood thing at the same time. She doesn't have any children yet so we will be doing this together! She said she had been thinking about asking me for awhile and even though she has a very large family (and tons of friends) she wanted me to be her future child's Godmother because she said I have a 'nurturing spirit'. Sweet! I was so honored! Here is a picture of us at homecoming last year.

Then, two days later Allison asked me to be Tatiana's Godmother! Once again I was humbled and honored. Allison and I have known eachother for just over a year. She lives two doors down from me and we met when I was driving back from church one day and saw her on her front lawn doing some yardwork. I introduced myself and we became instant friends. A funny story is I kept inviting her to do things last August which she couldn't attend and after one such invitation she said, "I have something to do this week, I'm sorry I can't make it." I guess she sensed that I was a bit disappointed so she continued, "I have to go deliver my baby!" I had no idea she was pregnant!!! LOL As we got to know eachother we realized we had lots of friends in common and both have a love of travel and similar life goals. She has lived all over the world and speaks five languages. When I went to Ethiopia she put me in touch with a good friend of hers there who took me and some of the volunteers out to dinner. She is a single mom who is teaching me how to raise a happy baby while holding down a demanding career. I was so surprised that she chose me because she too, like Ayanna, has many, many friends. She said she knew I loved Tatiana and was a gentle, loving person. Yes, I do! So much love all around!