OMG, we’re actually selling our house
We have been talking about and planning for building a house since before we bought this house 7 years ago. Because of this it still doesn’t seem like we’re actually going to start the building process in the next month. Even buying the land hasn’t made it real b/c all we have done is sign a piece of paper. But tonight we rented a storage garage and took some extra furniture out there so our house looks bigger. Tomorrow my hubby is putting in a new kitchen floor which is going to look AWESOME! It’s making it finally seem real. In about a month we’re going to put that “For Sale” sign in our yard, maybe then it will seem real.
Today my principal informed me that I didn’t get the guidance job and then tonight the letter came in the mail that made it official. I’m glad that I can tell people now when they ask and then plan for next year. When he called me into his office today I think I discovered his opinion of me for the first time. I have always believed that he thought I was a good teacher but beyond that I wasn’t sure. Today he told me that since I’m staying he’s rearranging a few things he was going to do so that I could hold one of the new leadership positions w/i our school. He might have been blowing smoke up my a$$ but he said that this new arrangement is in place purely for me to provide leadership to a group of teachers that really needs it. It should be interesting b/c he and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on things but he knows that I speak my mind so I guess he’s in for the challenge. Either way, it was nice to receive a compliment after I was feeling like a loser for not getting the job.
Today has been VERY active but a struggle w/food. I worked out for 45 minutes before school, 1 hr 15 minutes after school and then spent another 30 minutes moving/lifting furniture and furiously scrubbing the floor for a total of 2 hrs 30 minutes! After we hauled furniture to the storage garage I had to stop at the store to get tomatoes and broccoli for my supper and I was tempted to screw the healthy meal and get something easy. Actually, the broccoli and tomatoes are easy so I guess it would be something comforting. Fortunately I was still in my sweaty workout clothes so I reminded myself that I had worked too hard today to make a stupid choice like that. It’s about 2 hours until bedtime, I’m going to hang strong until then. I’ll have to figure out a plan for tomorrow when tomorrow comes.
Progress toward workout goal: 19/300
On-plan points this month: 90
Wooohooo one step closer to being on the market. Our agent told us it looks like maybe it is picking up right now. That is a good thing.
Good job on NOT eating out of stress and being short of time. I am proud of you. You have a great weekend.
I’m so glad your principal made it clear to you that you’re an asset to the school, Brandi. I know that means a lot. I also know how it makes you feel when you don’t get a job you applied for.
Remember when I wrote a couple of weeks ago about Vicki Jo, Elsie, Rick and I? When I decided it was time to leave after being with one school for 12 years, I knew I would be able to transfer without any problems. I had two masters degrees and was finishing up a third. I had excellent references and reviews and knew a lot of principals and leaders in the district. I applied for the first position and was more or less told that they had to complete the interview process but it was only a formality. I HAD the job and they would call me in the next week. A few days later, they called me and told me they had hired someone else. It cramped my style a little bit but I wasn’t too upset. I applied for another position and the same thing happened. That one stung quite a bit. The same thing happened after I applied for a third school. It’s quite a slap to the ego to keep getting turned down and I was really hurt to think that no one wanted me. My confidence was undermined and I felt really rejected. A few days later, I ran into a principal that I knew pretty well and he told me, in confidence, that he had overheard some talk and knew that my current principal was doing everything he could to block my transfer. They’d been playing golf. A foursome of principal buddies and my current principal was talking to one of the principals I had applied with and said, “Seriously, she’s involved in just about everything that goes on in the school and you’d be putting me in a real bind if you take her. All you need is a math teacher and there are plenty of good ones out there. I know you can find someone else without any problem.” He told me my current principal was even taking advantage of a policy they had that would allow principals to block the transfer of people in “key positions within the school that would place severe hardship on the school if they transferred”. I was so angry! The reason I was transferring in the first place was because the new principal was giving all the “good” kids, good positions, and best rooms to new teachers and taking total advantage of the old teachers. He had never even let me know that I was an asset to the school and had turned me down many times when I’d make requests for something only to give it to less experienced new teachers. The thing that really got to me was when my principal friend told me that he had laughed about the situation with my transfer and said, “Pat doesn’t know she’s in Hotel California. You can check out but you can never leave.”
OMG! I was furious. He was using a “hardship” rule that was meant to be used when key employees such as principals, assistant principals, athletic directors, or teachers who couldn’t be replaced try to transfer. I was just a regular math teacher and he could have replaced me very easily. With the help of a few of my “friends in high places” I applied for another position but they slowed down the process so that it didn’t go through all the channels until the day before school started and he couldn’t use the “hardship caveat” because it couldn’t be applied the week before school started.
I’m not a vendictive person but I was pretty gratified to hear, down the road, about the difficulties he encountered after I left. If he had simply told me that I was valued and done things to show me that I was valued, I never would have transferred in the first place.
So…the one thing I learned was that things are not always as they appear. I’m certainly not saying that your principal blocked your transfer but I’m saying that so many things go on behind the scenes and it’s difficult to know why you didn’t get the position you applied for. Don’t let if affect your self-esteem or confidence and just enjoy the reinforcement your current principal is showing you. Obviously, he values you and respects your work.
I’ve found that hard as it is to not get selected for a job, we’re always better for trying, and often it opens the path to things we wouldn’t see otherwise.
Good news about the house!