57 days
Well, it has been 57 days since my last post. I apologize. Many, many things have been going on. Other than the usual filling of my time with reading, researching, writing lesson notes, I now have another job. Many of you remember a couple of years ago when I battled the state about my non-certifiable status. Because that issue has never been resolved positively, I still can't teach at any private school that receives the TOPS scholarship (even though it's a private scholarship fund, it's managed by the state at the state's discretion, and schools whose graduates receive it have to meet state standards). Last year, at the classical school, I didn't have that problem as they don't receive TOPS. Of course, for various reasons, my contract wasn't renewed there for this year, causing me to substitute and launch my homeschool co-ops. Well, near the beginning of March, I started looking around to see what I was going to do after this school year. Several people suggested I look into college-level teaching, so I was working on cover letters for my curriculum vitae when a job dropped into my lap. Not a teaching job.
I can't remember what I've written about my dad looking to sue the company that owned the oil rig, but he is. He had called and talked with several different lawyers, some old classmates of my uncle, and one of them happened to be old friends with another homeschool family we know. Mom and Dad were at physical therapy one morning when he (the lawyer) called. I answered the phone, and we had a brief conversation about why I wasn't in school, that I was teaching part-time, that I went to a Christian college in Florida (he went to Abilene Christian College), and then I took a message and hung up. I didn't think much of it until the end of the week. I came home from substituting and Mom said she had news for me. They had met with the lawyer that morning and had gotten into a conversation about why it was so hard for me to teach in Louisiana. He was flabbergasted ( I like that word) and said that I seemed nice and intelligent, did I want a job? Apparently, he had just lost his assistant, would I like the job. So, I took it. So, on the side from my co-op teaching, I am learning to run someone's else's life, mostly, and also how to work with some legal stuff. It's very interesting--not teaching--but interesting. I'm kind of accepting it as an interim. It will give me a couple of years to maybe pursue some more schooling, maybe get a little house, we'll see. So, that is why I haven't been posting as much as I ought. Once school is over, I'll have more time to post--I won't be trying to squish in my lesson work. :) At any rate, that's my brief update.
My dad is doing well. He saw the shoulder surgeon yesterday, and he said he ought to regain about half the strength in that shoulder--that the muscles are strengthening well and will make up for the loss of bone. He won't ever get full rotation, though, because the socket is gone. He also had the first couple of surgeries to rebuild his ear. They seem to be going well. I haven't seen the result as it is bandaged and I have no desire to see what's underneath right now. :p My sister had her 18th birthday last weekend. We threw a luau--it was really great. Everything went well. I made chicken and pork and this really great punch. We had pineapple and melons and sweet potatoe chips. It was a lot of fun. I can't believe my baby sister is 18. It's a very strange feeling. Sigh.
On another very brief and final note: having watched the musical of recent controversy (of which I may write more on a later date), I have a couple of things to mention: that Jesse L. Martin can really sing and I would never have guessed, that some of the most amazing and intriguing harmonies are in this film, and finally, why are those of us who have the most reason so afraid to live as though there is "no day but today"?