Official

Today, I went over to the district office for my new job and turned in all the crazy forms that need turning in. W-4 for taxes, I-9 for employment eligibility, the form in which I promise to report any and all suspected child abuse I may encounter. I gave official copies of my transcripts. My background check had already gone through and been sent to the human resources lady in charge of all new teachers. She made copies of my driver's license and Social Security Card. We chatted about how excited I am to be the new choir director at one of the district's high schools (it's a high school district, so it's entirely comprised of them, no elementary schools).

And when we were finished, I officially became an employee of this school district. I will start school in a few weeks, and get my first paycheck on August 31.

Petite School was a stepping stone last year, but at one day a week with no potential for growth, I never truly felt employed. It's the kind of job that would be great for a semi-retired teacher who wants to continue working with kids without being full-time, but for a young woman fighting her way out of two years of unemployment, it was just a stepping stone. I loved what I did there, but it's time to move to bigger and better opportunities. I'm so excited to do so.

Tomorrow, I meet my students for the summer job, teaching English to exchange students from Austria, China, France and Germany. I'm looking forward to meeting them and helping them navigate my language and culture. I know they will be overwhelmed and jet-lagged (they arrive in country today). My co-teacher and I are combining our classes (we each take half at a time) for the second half of the day, and doing a lesson on American food which includes Thanksgiving. So I made two pumpkin pies today, to give the kids a taste of an American tradition.

So many BIG things happening right now! As I keep saying, I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm confident (but not over-confident). The next eight weeks will fly by and before I know it September will be here and I'll be settling in to the new job and looking forward to the fall holidays. Summer and I have some plans for adventures in the works, and the new job will have me bringing home a lot more each month than I did this last year. Between that and my private music lessons, I'll be able to sock a bunch away in savings, pay off my credit card, and work towards being in a much better financial state than I've seen since I lost my job in 2010.

I'll do my best to document it all here...every Wild and Absolutely True detail!