A little rejection is good for the soul

Yesterday was the Forensics State Meet for High School in Ripon.  It's a bit of a drive, but the competition is always fun and I get the added bonus of visiting my friends Lelani and Jonathan.  Last year they were kind enough to host me that Friday night so that I didn't have far to go for the early morning start of competition.  This year I had work to get done on Friday and it wouldn't have let much time for visiting so they kindly met me on campus for lunch, and even sat in on the semi-final round of Solo Humorous that I judged.  A lovely day that ended in a fifth place win in Play Acting for our team.

A couple months ago I applied to work at Apple and in the time since I have been interviewing and nervously biting my nails while waiting for the next call.  The wait was over this Thursday when I learned they would be moving on with another candidate.  It's devastating really.  I let myself get more excited about this opportunity than I'd like to admit.  I know that the atmosphere of an Apple store is one that I would fit into perfectly and I'm sorry that I couldn't demonstrate that to them.

To be honest I thought the drive to Ripon on Saturday would be a sad one with too much quiet time to myself that would be spent wracking my brain about what I could have done differently.  Fortunately the drive cleared my mind instead.  I spent it making plans, thinking on projects, and singing along to Queen.  It didn't hurt that the day was beautiful.  I watched the sun rise on my way there and set on my way home - so poetic that it nearly cliche.

While I know that I am more worrier than warrior I'm ready to fight for my future.  It means not settling on a job for the sake of minimal financial security, a mistake I am guilty of repeating, but going for the one that will both bolster my bank account and be truly fulfilling.  Here's to rejection leading to better things.

Happy and Sleepy

Some days are just meant for snuggling with the puppy. It's spring but there is snow coming down outside my window. Yesterday was a long work day, and because I like to run my errands while I'm already going that way I try to do them on the way to and way back from work. So yesterday was a 13-hour day with 9 hours of work smack dab in the middle.  That was just a really long way of saying I am thoroughly exhausted.

Tonight is Festival of Nations at school (think open house) and the Forensics team has a bake sale table to raise money for our trophies and end of season banquet. 

More Saying "Yes."

Last Saturday at the High School forensics meet - the students took 3rd in medium schools! - a judge from another school went table to table asking every one if they would like four free tickets to a hockey game that night. Every one she asked said no. So when she came to me I said... Give me a minute to see if I can find three other people, and I'd definetly take them. 

I'm trying to say yes more.  When my back issues were at their worst I had to start saying no to invitations and commitments, for the sake of my spine and mental health. Unfortunately I let myself fall into a comfort zone of turning down offers even after I started recovering. Now that I'm well on the road to better health, with only some delays and detours, I want to say yes more. 

We had a great time at the hockey game - my first! Our friend Sarah (Teacher and judge) came along with Zoe, a former student and one of Rich's former soccer players.  The tickets were for row E, so we were super close to the ice. As luck would have it we scored a free parking spot when we arrived, so that plus the free tickets means we had a super cheap date night - just $4 on a giant pretzel to share. That makes my cheap side really happy. 

2014 Reading Continued

3) Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Easy, fluffy YA novel. A little predictable with flat characters, but still a pleasant light read. 

4) The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Two words: emotional blackmail. Not the best time of year for me to read this, still wonderful. 

Third place still takes home a trophy!

This past weekend I scheduled our team for two tournaments. The kids did well at both of them but pulled out all the stops on Sunday taking home two individual second place trophies and one individual  first place trophy. 

Nine of our eleven entries had City/State qualifying scores and thus we brought home this Third place Small Schools beauty. 

Our very own Oscar! I am so immensely proud of our students!  

I think it has also given us a great kick of excitement leading up to the City Conference this weekend.