Spring Break Is Done ... Back to the Grind

I haven't blogged in forever, mostly because life has been super chaotic. To start with, about a month ago we got a fantastic puppy, Daisy. The plan had been to wait until summer to get a dog. We thought it would be perfect if we spent the first week of summer on vacation, and then got a puppy when we came back and I could devote the entire rest of the summer to training and loving the puppy. The only thing we hadn't decided on was the breed. We were torn between a Brittany and a Lab/Golden Retriever.

Apparently, Mark's puppy fever was worse than I'd realized because one day Mark asked me to help him get dinner out of the car, and there was a puppy in the back seat. She was an adorable Lab/Siberian Husky mix. While I was thrilled, it was unexpected and frankly, we weren't prepared. Daisy has taken over our life, mostly in a good way, but puppies are a lot of work. We managed to make it through the next two weeks until my spring break started to give me the extra time I needed to devote to puppy-motherhood.



Work was more insane than usual. Not only were we two weeks from the end of the quarter, but the March 15th pink slip deadline was looming. Our school was temporarily on the list of lowest performing schools in California and rumors took over. On the last Friday before vacation, me and several other teachers received emails that we would be getting pinks slips via certified mail the next day. I wasn't too worried, because in our district, there are several different versions of the pink slip, including the one that I got last year which said that there was a low likelihood that I'd actually be laid off, but that it was a precautionary measure.

Well, not this year. I started my spring break with a notice that my "services will not be needed next year." Yikes! Unfortunately, with 22,000 other teachers in California also getting that same letter, its highly unlikely that I'll be able to find another teaching job next year. This is devastating to say the least.

I spent my two-week long summer break working out, playing with Daisy and trying not to spend too much, and made the best out of a bad situation. But, Monday, I have to go back. I have 10 more weeks of doing a job that I know I have already lost, and I have to say my motivation level is lower than low. I should be spending the next few days prepping for next week, but I just don't care.

I'm trying to focus on the positive: no more hour long commute, no more grueling hours. But teaching is what I love to do. I just can't imagine doing anything else.