Happy Holidays!

Hi everyone! :)
Happy Hanukkah/Merry Christmas/Happy Kwanzaa!
Or as the old commercial says- Have a merry christmahanukwanzika!

Work is going well- I'm already 1/2 way done with my 3rd rotation of 6th graders, and just started my new 3rd rotation of 7th & 8th graders today. It's going so fast! I was talking with the girl I got hired with the other day, and she put into words exactly what I've been feeling- "It just seems like after winter break we'll go back to school, and realize that this has all been a dream and we won't have jobs!" Yipes! I certainly hope not! It took me long enough to find a job, let's not lose it now!
I am getting kudos from my bosses though- I've been really involved with talking with the AP's (assistant principals) about a student with a troubled home & school life, and I've been actively talking to a team about a student having issues with getting work done. My principal emails me a lot just to say "Good job Megan!! Way to stay in touch!" w00t!

**cool side note- did you know that Miriam-Webster has decided to put w00t in the dictionary???**

Anyway, I digress (one of the vocab words I'm teaching my kids!)

Wedding plans are currently on "pause" until Derek determines a positive graduation date- either March or June of 2009 for him. How's a winter wedding sound?!?

That's about all for now! :)

Four Things...

I found this on Nicole's profile...and it's giving me something to do! Hurray!

A) Four jobs I have had in my life.

1. Reading Specialist, Woodland Middle School
2. Special Services Assistant, Grove Avenue School
3. Teacher, Huntington Learning Center
4. Site Director, Deerfield Park District

B) Four movies I would watch over and over

1. Finding Nemo
2. Forrest Gump
3. The Fifth Element
4. Madagascar

C) Four places I have lived

1. Park Ridge, IL (born here!)
2. Wheeling, IL
3. Soon to be moving to Grayslake, IL
4. That's it...

D) Four TV shows I watch

1. Gray's Anatomy (woooooo)
2. House
3. Law & Order: SVU
4. Ugly Betty

E) Four places I have been

1. Key West, FL
2. St. Thomas, USVI
3. New York, NY
4. Hillsboro, IL

F) Four people who e-mail me regularly

1. Dina (at work and not!)
2. Derek
3. SurveySpot
4. My building principal

G) Four of my favorite foods

1. Chocolate chocolate chocolate
2. Grilled cheese & tomato soup (every Friday at work!)
3. Cream soups
4. Brisket

H) Four places I would like to be right now

1. At the beach
2. In a bookstore
3. In my own townhome
4. In a hammock

I) Four things I am looking forward to next year

1. Cubs win the World Series! (Hey, a girl can dream...)
2. Moving into Derek's & my new townhome!
3. Getting asked back at my school to start working towards tenure!
4. Only 1 more year until our wedding!

J) Four things I am not looking forward to next year

1. Having to find a summer job
2. Paying tons more bills than I have money for
3. Driving in the snow
4. Cubs not winning the World Series

JOB UPDATE!

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

woooooooooooooooooooooooo

I just got hired to work at a Middle School in Gurnee!!! I am SO EXCITED! I am going to be teaching reading to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders who just aren't meeting state standards in reading. HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh. My. God.

There are some things that even words can't describe, but I'll try!

Tonight US99 was giving away Kenny Chesney tickets (oh the excitement!!) every 6 minutes at the Shop-N-Save in Des Plaines. "Hurray!" I thought. "Free tickets from a place that I know how to get to!!!" So I made up my mind to go. Now, my mom and I are the country fans in the house, but she was going to dinner with friends. So I dragged Mandy along to get another name in the drawing. We got there around 4:30 and had a drink at Potbelly's while we watched them set up. At 5:00, we walked over and filled out the little form. Dropped it in the basket, and then we found a spot on the curb and waited. While we waited, we people watched, and here are the results: (We've named them for their anonymity...or not)

1. Plum Girl: Chubby girl wearing a plum velvet tracksuit and black high heels. She had quite the ghetto bootie, and since she was leaning back against a lightpost, it literally looked like the pole went in her butt and came out the top. Seriously.

2. The Toothless Wonder: Middle-aged lady, on the shorter side, smelled like a litterbox. When she smiled, we saw that she was missing EVERY TOOTH on the top row except for two. EVERY. TOOTH. *gak* The smell did not help things either.

3. The Chaw Boys: A group of 2 frat boys who thought they were just all that. As soon as they got there, they whipped out their can 'o tobbacy and shoved such a ball into their mouths that their lower lip stuck out 4 inches. So for two hours, we were forced to watch them shift it from one side of their mouth to the other and every 30 seconds, spit brown drool into the street. YUCK.

4. Flab Woman and Santa Claus: Can you picture it already? She had absolutely NO butt (her back turned into her thighs) and a shirt that was way too short. However, in case you're wondering where her butt went, let me tell you- it was UNDER HER SHIRT. Seriously- her stomach that was flopping out from her shirt had a line up the middle so it looked like her butt. No joke. And her husband, who resembled a stoned Santa Claus, was wearing a shirt from the Hog's Breath Bar in Key West that said "Hog's Breath is better than no breath at all!" Um. Gross.

5. He/She: Either a woman with way too much testosterone, or a man with boobs and a purse. Now, it's not so bad, until you consider the fact that they also had a 5 o'clock shadow and armpit hair!!!!!! When you see something like that singing Leanne Womack, you just know that the song will never mean the same thing again.

6. He/She's Mom: About 95 years old, chunky, white hair (what was left of it), missing 2 teeth on the top row (hey, she and Toothless Wonder should get together!), and her toenails...yellow, cracked, peeling, and curled over the TOP of her TOE onto her SANDAL!!!!!!!!

7. Fondling Man: Skinny guy, fairly tall, wearing a ripped t-shirt and really shorty shorts. He kept accosting the Deans' ice cream guy for all of his free samples, and in a 2 hour period he ate about 10 Popsicles and ice cream sandwiches. Every once in a while, he'd sit down on the curb, bust out his cell phone, and dial some number but never talk. While he was listening to whoever was on the other end, he'd slowly start running his hand up and down his leg, and pretty soon, he stuck his entire hand UP HIS SHORTS. That was bad enough, but then he started to pinch at his shorts right between his legs...we almost threw up!!!! It was awful!!!!!

*Gasp*

I had to breathe after that retelling- it was awful. I need to go shower now...and I didn't even win tickets. How sucky is that?!?!?

What a night. Remind me never to follow the rewards team again!

Still Waiting...

I was supposed to hear from the principal at the Junior High I interviewed at a week ago, but I didn't. So I emailed him last Thursday, and I heard from him yesterday- "Hi Megan, we're still interviewing. Thanks!" I still have a shot! *crosses fingers*
I also have an interview on Wednesday at Huntington Learning Center, for some part-time work or maybe more if I don't have a teaching job by the fall. I hope this won't end up being the case, but it's nice to know I could have a back-up just in case.
I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow! Not sure what I'm going to be doing with it, but I'll probably keep it longer just because I like putting it up. Then Wednesday is the chiropractor (finally!) before my interview, and that's it so far for the week.
I have discovered that I really miss Gray's Anatomy and Law & Order: SVU's new episodes. Now, instead of watching TV, I get shpilkes (figits, for those of you non-Yiddish speakers) and cook something instead. You may be thinking, hey, that's not bad, good for her (and Derek). But it is bad! Then I eat it! YARGH. I really need a job. Otherwise, I'm just like, hey, what's the most chocolatey thing I can think of to make...and then I make it! Yipes.
On a good note though, I went to my favorite store the other day where I get all my fab costume jewelry. They were having their "Christmas in July" sale, where all preferred customers (me!) get 50% off EVERYTHING in the store. That's right. EVERYTHING. So I went only slightly crazy (got there 1/2 hour before the store opened...was the first one in...) but only spent about $80! I got 4 different full sets of stuff - necklace, earrings, bracelet, etc. FABULOUS! :-D
Alright, 11:00 is late enough for me- I've gotta leave the house at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
By the way- Harry Potter the 7th was GREAT. I stayed up until 1:00 in the morning last night (or this morning?) to finish it. It definitely answered some questions, and I really don't think anyone can turn a quick profit by trying to make spinoffs of it.
Goodnight everyone! :)

Job?

Just a quick post... I interviewed in Niles today (East Maine #63!) and I think the interview went really well. I met with the principal first, and then he had me meet with the assistant principal after that. He said to me "We only do that to the candidates we like," so hopefully that means a second interview for me!
Now to go and review what dangling participles are...

~me~

Summer Lovin', Had Me A Blast...

So I watched Grease last night, so sue me. :-P
Obviously I did not write about when I got back from St. Thomas, but who really thought I was there for 3 months? I wish! It was great to get away, and the weather was marvelous, and of course the drinks were great... but then I came back.
Work wrapped up a week & 1/2 ago, and do I have a summer job? NO! Do I have a job for the fall? NO! I wish I did, but the applications are still cranking, and I did have 2 interviews last week. Now I'm just waiting. The waiting sucks, but there's not much I can do about that.
Otherwise, not much is new. I want to move into my own place, but that hinges on a job and where I'll be, so I just have to wait (again with the waiting!).

C U L8er gater. (soooo lame :-X)

And I'm Off!!

Hello, faithful blogger readers! (am I being hopeful to ask for more than one? :-X)
Right now, it is 10:57 P.M. on Sunday, March 25th. I am leaving my house at 3:15 A.M. on Monday, March 26th. Is there really a point in me going to bed? I'd get what, all of 3 hours of sleep? Hm...maybe it's better I don't, so I'll sleep on the plane.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the plane. (de plane! de plane!) My flight to St. Thomas leaves at 6:30 A.M., with a quick plane-change in Charlotte, North Carolina. That's right- St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. w00t.
I just printed out maps of the other airports' terminals, so we can find our way around easier. On the way home, we fly from St. Thomas to Washington Dulles, and have 1 hour and 3 minutes to find the terminal with our plane to Chicago O'Hare, where we will land at 10:46 P.M. Judging from the looks of their map, it will take 1 hour and 2 minutes to get there from where our first plane lands. Sooo...might I be taking a sick day on Monday from work because I was stuck overnight in the Dulles airport? Stay tuned for an update on the exciting news when I get back.
Until then- think sun, sand, and scuba! :-D