A month of change!

September 29, 2011 - the last day I posted to Sweet City Love.  It has been a full month of neglect, of mis-treatment, of nothing. I am so embarrassed!  I was proud that I was gaining a few readers back in September. I was genuinely happy to write new posts almost every day and was loving the connections that I was making with other bloggers (thank you for not leaving me!).  And then...my daily life was rocked and completely changed.

I am here now to give an oath to my blog and to myself - I am ready to take control of my life again! Sound dramatic? My new job is just that crazy. It took a month of settling in but I finally feel somewhat ready to rejoin the world.  On September 29, I decided to take a kindergarten teaching job (ahhh!).  I was planning on working part-time this year while going back to school to pursue a new nursing career.  I studied hard this summer and did well in my anatomy class.  I was signed up for Anatomy II, signing paperwork at school for my 16 hour a week Interventionist job, when I heard a whisper of a new kindergarten classroom being made.  Numbers were too high and they needed to hire another teacher.  To make a very long story short, I thought long and hard, decided to interview and accept the position.  I simply couldn't turn it down.

I love kindergarten, I do love my school (even though it is impossibly difficult every single day) and I love the people I work with.  This brand new classroom is only for this year and then I can resume my quest towards nursing school.  As I always said, I wasn't leaving teaching because I wanted to get away. I love what I do (most days...!) but I know that if I don't try to get into medicine in some way, I'll regret it.

I was led to this job. It was an option for a reason. I thought hard about it and knew that it wouldn't be easy.  And, it hasn't been.  It's why I've been missing for the past month.  Teaching is all consuming.  Especially setting up a classroom, meeting 17 new children, jumping into lessons midyear, trying to create a sense of community and teaching routines and procedures.  I am three weeks into this new role and am liking it more and more every single day.  My life has certainly changed but, as I am now in my 5th year of teaching, I know that I cannot let it control too much of who I am.  I do it because I love it.  I'm learning this year more than any other that I can enjoy it without sacrificing other things in my life.  It's hard to remember that balance, you have to work at that balance, but I can do it.

For so many reasons, including my happiness, I am sticking to Sweet City Love.  I like it, and all of you, too much! Thanks for being there and hanging on as readers.  I look forward to many more updates of life as a TEACHER, a wife and a mom to a precious pup!