Oh! What a Ride!!! The Middle....the move..

Meanwhile, I am still looking for employment. One sunny afternoon while Brian and Megan were at a doctor's appointment, my cell phone rang. It was the Asst. Superintendent from East Windsor Schools. The essence of the conversation was that I was hired without need of an interview, credential/experience review, signing a contract, etc. My word was enough. It was a good feeling, I have to say. I called Rus, very excited that I finally got a job albeit in NJ. He was happy too. When they hear of my opportunity, my fabulous Cranbury Manor neighbors, Patti and Mark Higgins, offered their guest room for as long as I wanted it! Things were falling into place quickly....THEN I received a phone call from the principal at St. Paul's School in Westerville, Ohio, not 3 miles from our home there. Sure. Isn't that just my luck? A year without a real job and then get 2 offers in a 24 hour period. I explained that I would like to interview for the position of first grade teacher at their school, but, ultimately, I wouldn't take it. She wanted to continue the discussion anyway. Two days of phone interviews (one where I was feeding Brady and supervising a craft session with Jocelyn) later, I was offered the job. I, reluctantly, explained my situation, again and reiterated that I would not be able to take the job. Amazingly, she was impressed by the fact that 1. I was honest from the get-go about not taking the job. 2. that I gave my word to someone and kept it. 3. That I was willing to come in when my assignment was finished to sub until a position became available. So there it was. The decision. The NJ job started 9/1....This was 8/22. I was still in Massachusetts with Brian

I arrived in the early evening, had dinner and got the suitcases out of the basement. I spent Monday packing clothes that ranged from shorts and tee shirts to long pants and sweaters as the weather changes quickly in September on the East Coast. I also packed 2 trunks full of teaching tools, games, books. Then I "artfully" arranged all in my Camry. The next day, after stopping by St. Paul's to formally introduce myself to the principal who was so kind as to interview and hire me sight unseen, I drove from Galena, Ohio to Cranbury, NJ feeling like a refugee.  I arrived at the Higgins' just in time for my favorite NJ dish...Pizza! The girls of the Manor had called an all-alert-meeting at Suleski's. Many of the women I have known for 20 years came to Kathy's for snacks, dessert, refreshments, conversation and to offer me their support. It was a grand grand night. It boosted my spirits from 0 to 60 in seconds!

I stayed with the Higgins' during the week - Sunday through Thursday nights. I spent my September weekends with Brian and his family in Boston. Mid-September, my teammate, Leslie, asked me if I needed an apt. She had an aunt that had an efficiency apt attached to her ranch home in nearby Monroe Twp., NJ. It was perfect for me and there were no lease requirements. I moved in in the middle of September. I have never lived by myself. I went to CUNY and lived at home. Never had that bachelorette pad because I got married, so this has been an experience! I found that I am not so difficult to live with, and my needs are very simple! So the pattern began: I went to work, came home around 5:30 - 6 daily, ate, marked the daily papers, scanned the internet for interesting facts about what lie ahead in science and social studies in fifth grade, played scrabble on Facebook, skyped with Rus nightly, read, watched TV, set out my clothes, went to sleep. Repeat daily - Monday through Friday. Once a month I went home to Ohio. I found some cheap ($140-160) flights out of Phillie. It was cheaper and faster than the 9 hour trip each way. On those weekends, it was wonderful to be home with Rus, the kids, Pepper and McGee.  I tried to do something different every weekend I was in NJ. I spent time with Bob's family, visited with Tom and Noreen one Sunday afternoon, went to parties, dances, and dinners with friends and neighbors On those Sundays that I was at home, I often traveled to the Jersey Shore to photograph some of the beautiful sights. I love the beach! I really enjoyed walking along the coastline watching the inhabitants - human and otherwise. I collected shells, even gathered a rather large conch shell after a particularly nasty Nor'easter and a rather large sea rock. It was peaceful and restorative for me.

The class was WONDERFUL! Twenty-four terrific kids who were all bright! It was a dream class. Every day was an adventure! They asked intelligent questions. The phrase "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" really holds significance to me. I had to scan the internet nightly for minute facts about various subjects to keep their attention and study my math applications because WOW, I was doing everything from algebraic equations to long division. Now remember that I most recently have taught first and second grade. Believe me when I tell you that nothing could have prepared me for the complexity of fifth grade math! And reading, oh, was that a joy! In fifth grade the kids read REAL novels. At one point, I was reading one chapter from each of 6 novels going on in the room. It was quite a juggling act and it certainly stirred my old neurons into jumping mode! The kids "got" humor and sarcasm! We would often get side-tracked with little discussions about particularly interesting part of any subject area. We talked about science, social studies, politics, religion, relationships, cultures (it was like the league of nations in the room - so perfect! A safe place to ask questions the kids couldn't ask on the playground! They came to know that there were few topics off limits and that I would always answer them truthfully. It was quite a time!) There were 9 boys....each one a bigger smart alec than the next. I was in Heaven! Why of why hadn't I even considered teaching the older kids before? This was a phenomenal experience for me! As the months wore on, and the children grew, I was beginning to feel short! There were few of them left that were shorter than my five foot two inches! What are we feeding our children?

The yearly NJ Teacher's Convention Weekend, four glorious days, in Atlantic City is the first weekend in November. I didn't go. I came home to cook and clean getting ready for Brian's family to come for Thanksgiving! I had it all ready and in the freezer before I left on Sunday afternoon. Then the Monday before Thanksgiving, I got a text from Brian to call him right away. The bad news is that poor little Brady had a double ear infection and couldn't make the flight on Wednesday. It was decided that we would all get together another time, maybe late winter or early spring. I was heartbroken! I flew home on Wednesday evening. There was a horrid storm when we were leaving Phillie. We left 90 minutes late. I was, for sure, going to miss my connecting flight in Chicago. When we landed, I was certain that I would be spending Thanksgiving eating turkey sandwiches with 100 of my newest friends from the flight. Imagine my surprise, when Southwest held ALL the connecting flights in Chicago for our planeload because we were the last flight of the night at Midway! People scattered in all directions as soon as the doors opened. Albeit an hour late, I arrived in Columbus to spend the weekend with my family! It was glorious to be home and so sad that the Boston contingent wasn't with us. We did the usual things - the Columbus Zoo's Wildlights, the Franklin Conservatory, and set up the Christmas tree though I didn't decorate because we just ran out of time. On Sunday, I took my last flight back to NJ. There were 3 more weekends left before my contract was up and I was determined to see everyone on my list before I left! The first weekend was filled with things to do including a trip to Shea Dog Farm, a Cranbury Manor tradition of selling Christmas trees and having a barbeque in the freezing cold. It was a blast! The first snow of the season fell that weekend. It really felt like Christmas was coming! I had the opportunity to go to my teammate, Kay Brown's house as well. She and her husband do an incredible job with setting Christmas lights to music. Lights cascade up and down her roof, spiral around the lawn and the Christmas trees piroutte to Amazing Grace, the Trans Siberian Orchestra and Bob Rivers. It was quite a show! I went 5 times, taking everyone that spared me a moment of their time to enjoy the 15 minute show! I went to the Elks Club too to watch Monday Night Football, play Trivia, and hang with friends. Everything was great. We were all going along smoothly. Everything was great,