2011: Pass in Review

As I find myself making plans for New Year's Eve and enjoying all this extra time Casey has off lately, I look back at this year that has flown by.   2011 was a great year overall for us.  So great that part of me wants to stay to enjoy it some more.  But, 2012 is already starting to sound amazing, too, so  I am eager to move ahead.  I will take a moment to look at all the great parts of this year, though, and share them with everyone (if anyone) reads this.

 As 2011 started, I had just graduated from college and was already getting interviews for jobs.  None of them panned out, but I did get lucky that an opportunity presented itself within OfficeMax and I got a chance to take on a more supervisory role and bring in some extra money while Casey finished school.  This allowed Casey to work a little less and focus more on the huge course load he had during his last semester.

 Spring/Summer brought Casey's graduation and a whole slew of applications and interviews for both of us.  I drove all over the state on my quest for a teaching position, Casey applied for jobs as close as Nashville and as far away as Seattle, and I started looking into licensure requirements in other states.  We even went on a late-night expedition to Atlanta so Casey could interview for a position.  We made an agreement that whoever accepted a job first controlled where we moved (if moving was required) and made the most of our job hunting time.  Within a week's period in late June, Casey had 6 interviews and was offered a total of 4 positions.  He accepted what he thought was the best option (sorry, Atlanta...no dice) and got ready to start his career.  I quit my job after his first paycheck at his new, "big boy" job and we were excited about this new chapter in our lives.

 Now, as the year ends, Casey has just been offered a pretty serious promotion with a 30% pay increase.  In less than 6 months, he has already caught big wig attention at work and knows many of the top executives (FYI he works for a company of 40-50 employees, so it's not huge).  I am just subbing and teaching flute lessons (well, attempting the lessons part...sadly the market here is a little flooded), but his income more than pays for what we need and his raise is going to allow us to really start saving and planning for the new year.

We also just moved into a new, awesome apartment.  We increased our square footage by about 50% (we added about 500 sq. ft. to our apartment size) and got a great deal.  It is close to the interstate, major shopping centers in town, and away from campus.  We are still getting settled (after 3.5 years I forgot what a pain it is to move...), but we are loving it so far! 

We've got a lot planned for the coming year, but I feel that it deems another entry.  We have come a long way in 2011, and I can't wait for everything that is in store for us as we continue our journey together.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

Christmas is creeping around the corner, yet I don't even feel like it is December.  Things have been so crazy lately that time just seems to pass and I'm left looking around and feeling confused.  Go figure.

Last week was the Winter Concert for the band kiddos I have been teaching this semester.  I was very worried about how the concert would go, but it ended up being okay overall.  We only had a couple kids missing (the flu is starting...) and we had over 80 people here to listen to 20 kids.  Everyone was very complimentary and seemingly surprised at the concert and I was out of here by 8:30 pm, which is amazing itself.

Casey & I also moved into our new apartment over the weekend.  It is amazing!  New carpet, fresh paint, over 400 more square feet than our previous place, and quiet so far.  We are still working on unpacking and getting everything in order, so I will wait to post pictures until it looks like an apartment and not a giant dwelling of boxes.  We had some amazing friends & family help us move everything, too!

Between all the moving expenses and costs involved with the concert (feeding kids that had to stay after school and refreshments for the "reception" after the concert), though, we are very tight on money.  As in, had to borrow some money from parents for gas and food...something we haven't had to do since we got married.  My pay has been crazy and scattered, and it is hard to swing rent at two places + deposits + other fees + daily essentials on one person's salary.  See, substitutes at the school where I am currently working for the lady on leave get paid on the 15th, but teachers get paid on the 30th.  Since this lady ran out of sick days part of the way through her leave, I am getting partial pay as a sub and partial as a teacher.  Luckily I will be getting paid a full teacher salary for November & December, but because of all of the paperwork involved and such, I am having to wait until December 30 to get that pay.  So, not much money for Christmas shopping, etc.

I have also been desperately searching for job openings, but so far nothing much is out there.  We are eagerly awaiting the time when I get a job, but the longer I wait, the more I get discouraged.  It is a tough job market for teachers just as much as anyone else, especially in areas that are not considered "core curriculum" and are starting to get chopped with budget cuts.  I am hoping something comes around soon, though!  It would be awesome to be able to contribute to our bills more and have decent insurance.  *fingers crossed*

Ch-ch-changes...

So, what's new here within the last week?  Well, Casey & I found a new place!  We spent several days looking into apartments, houses, and townhouses for rent in the area and created a crazy spreadsheet, then narrowed it down.  Sadly, none of the houses or townhouses made the final cut due to the price difference, but we did find some awesome prices on apartments.  We spent Saturday looking at a few places and decided on a complex called Indian Park.

We will be moving into a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment early in December.  For $700/month, we are getting a wonderful apartment!  1,300 square feet with a fireplace, a decent sized kitchen, an actual laundry room, and many other wonderful things.  The complex is close to I-24 and away from campus, so it seems perfect for this time in our life.  Plus we will have more than enough room for entertaining friends or guests to stay.  We are hoping to stay here 1-2 years then *fingers crossed* we will both be settled in jobs and ready to buy a house, etc.  In the mean time, we will be able to start saving money for a car and down payment for a house and enjoy a great place to call home with the killer deal we are getting.

Besides that things are fairly normal for us. I am still filling in for the lady on leave.  School is out all next week for Thanksgiving, so I believe I will be doing some serious cleaning and packing.  Woot!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it sounds like I will have some wonderful, drama-filled stories about the holiday.  Oh, the joys of family?  *cough, cough*

November

I have been meaning to write an update for weeks now, but things have been a little crazy for the Glossons, so there hasn't been much time for blogging and such.  It seems like the days fly by now and I can't really keep up.  Such is life I suppose.

October came and went like a tornado, and boy was there lots of wind!  First of all, I have been spending 2.5 hours in my car each day to drive back and forth for a job I lucked into.  It's just temporary, but at this rate it appears I will be here until Christmas.  "Huh?!"

Well, just as I was making preparations to take a band director's maternity leave in Rutherford County, I get a phone call from a very nice lady who works with my mom (and happens to be the music/band teacher at the school who I have been subbing for 3-6 days/month since school started), "So, could you sub for me this week?  My husband's chemo isn't going so well."  I, of course, was more than willing to help her out.  Then, halfway through that week, she said that her husband would be needing constant care at home.  She decided that taking a leave of absence would be the best idea for her family and the school, so naturally they asked (more like begged) me to take it.  Her husband passed away last week, but there still has been no hints at her coming back before Christmas.

So, for the past 3 weeks, I have been in complete control of a music program.  I make the lesson plans, assign grades, run the fruit sale fundraiser, pick music for the Winter Concert, etc.  I am happy to have something that is paying well and giving me a sense of stability, but at the same time I really feel like I am having to step around carefully.  I don't want to seem like I am taking over, but there is no way I can do things the same way this lady would have done.  We do not think alike, we have completely different educational and cultural backgrounds, and we handle the classroom differently.  I am trying to keep things going but still maintain my personal philosophy of music education...but boy is it tough!  I am not sure how much longer I will be here at this point, and that is also causing frustration.  Overall, though, I can't complain.  I have a job that will help my resume and the principal can't say enough good things about me.  So that's a plus.

Also, we are getting ready to move for the first time in 3.5 years.  Why?  Well, we have been talking about getting a bigger place that will allow for us to have friends over for dinner, family to stay from out of town, and just not be so cramped.  But, for the past two weeks, we have come home on several occasions to the destruction and company of a squirrel.  Not only is this just gross and scary, but the apartment management seems to not care.  They simply send a maintenance man to help "catch" the squirrel, then do nothing.  They have not made attempts to figure out how the critter is getting into the building or call animal control.  So, we have decided to just move when our lease is over in December.  We have found some good deals and will be touring places this weekend.  Sadly we are no where near ready to buy, so we are just looking for a nice place to rent for a year or two until we are (fingers crossed) ready to buy.

Not much else exciting to report, but I feel those are some big things.  Hopefully my next entry won't be too far in the future.

"I'll have the Asshole with a side of Rude Remarks, please..."

Last night we went out to dinner with a few friends.  The food was great, the company was wonderful, the waitress was on her A Game, but there was just one issue:  the one asshole at our table.  I guess I have to give him an introduction of sorts before I ramble on about him.

So, a good friend of mine has a pretty serious boyfriend named Frank.  Frank is about twice our age, currently unemployed and going back to school, a trained chef, and a proclaimed "know it all."  He ends up being incredibly awkward anytime he comes along with a group of us because 1) most of the rest of us are pretty silly and random, 2) he has absolutely nothing in common with any of us, 3) his contributions to conversations usually involve explaining how we are wrong or misinformed, making a "joke" involving weapons, or making comments like, "I saw them in concert back in '89."  You also can't go out to eat with this man because he will explain how your food was made incorrectly, how the establishment is not following some procedure correctly, or how the waitstaff is not doing something to deserve a decent tip.

So, back to last night:  We went to Ruby Tuesday, which happens to be one of my favorite restaurants for many reasons.  I have always had good experiences there, and everything on the menu is good.  Frank's opinion, though?  Terrible all around (of course).

It all started when the waitress came out to apologize to my husband.  He had ordered something with lobster, but she had not been informed they were out of lobster.  So, like any logical person, my husband says, "I will just have this other dish instead.  Thank you."  But, our wonderful little guest would not let the waitress off so easy.  "Are you out of lobster tail, too?  Well, then why can't your chef improvise and make this man's dish?  If you were truly a good restaurant, you would give your customers what they order." 

From that point, everything else was just icing on his cake.  The end result was his complaint to the manager, his food being free, and his girlfriend apologizing to all of us while he was not at the table.  What the heck, dude?!

We ended up leaving the waitress a great tip, as did our other friends.  There was nothing wrong with the experience we had.  And, as someone who has never worked in the food industry but has plenty of family (both blood and in-laws) who has worked in the food industry, I feel that he was just being a complete jerk.

The point of this story?  Mostly to rant because I am still livid that this guy is always such a jerk, but also to point out that people should really think before they act.  It is not the fault of the waitress that they were out of lobster, nor is it the fault of the cashier at Wal-Mart that they are remodeling and moving product around.  So treat people with respect and kindness and the world would be a better place.  The end.

Recent Events

I was hoping to keep this blog updated more regularly, but the past few weeks have been jam packed!  This week appears to be tame thus far, so I have a few moments to update the world (or the few people who read this) on my recent life.  Now, the question is, where do I begin?

I am happy to announce that I have a job...sort of.  I am substitute teaching, and boy, is it action-packed!  In the past 3 weeks, I have been booked for 12 out of 14 possible days.  Some days I have even had people call me after I had already accepted another call, but hopefully those people will call me in the future.  I may not be the breadwinner or even contributing to half of the monthly income, but if things continue on this route, I will be helping with a major chunk of the monthly bills and be able to pay my students loans without the help of my husband. 

Speaking of the husband, he has been amazing through all this job hunt/no job time.  He was awesome enough to let me quit my horrible retail job when he started his "big boy job" and made the agreement with me that if I could make enough money to pay my student loans each month I could do whatever I wanted job-wise.  The flip side of that was that I am to do a majority of the household chores and cook dinner during the week.  Not a bad system at all if you ask me!

I also felt that I needed a musical outlet and have joined a local community band.  The first rehearsal was last week, and I had a blast!  I am one of the few people under the age of 40 that play, but that's ok.  The music for this first concert is quite challenging, but that just means I will have good reason to work on it at home, too.  I hope this will give me some satisfaction and fill the void I have felt lately.

Also, some close friends got married last week.  It was horrible weather-wise (rain and wind gusts are not good for an outdoor evening wedding, but we all made the most of it.  Casey served as the officiant and I was a bridesmaid.  We loved being a part of the special day in such wonderful ways and couldn't be happier for our friends.  

A candid picture a friend took at the wedding...

I suppose all things considered, our life is fairly mundane as of late.  For the most part we are getting by fine and daydreaming of the future.  We would love to get a bigger place (we'd love a larger kitchen and a 3rd bedroom for guests to stay...) and it would be amazing to have a newer car that gets better gas mileage than the Ranger and doesn't have to be taken in for repairs every 6 months like the Sentra.  We hope to also start saving for retirement next year, we would love to take a nice vacation or two, and there are other dreams and desires we hope to start fulfilling in 2012...

...and I really should get back to getting the apartment back into shape, posting some things on ebay, and get ready for my Substitute Orientation for another school district today.  Happy Monday!

Learn to Live with What You Are

Unfortunately, I have come to the recent realization that a full-time job may not be in the cards for me at this particular point in time.  I am a little devastated, but when I look around I see all kinds of young people who have gone to college and are now stranded with nothing more than debt and countless rejection letters, messages, and e-mails.  I am not alone in my quest for the job that doesn't exist it seems.

I am very lucky for many parts of my life at this moment, though.  I have a wonderful, supportive, and loving husband who has been by my side through it all.  He was blessed to find a job (he was actually offered 4 of the 7 jobs he interviewed for because he's a rockstar like that...) that would be more than enough to sustain us and give us more room to breathe with the budget than we have had in our entire 3.5 years of living together.  We have a decent apartment that we got for a steal of a deal, both of our vehicles are completely ours and in decent running condition, and we have great families who support us and love us.  I am also very lucky to have the chance to substitute teach and have some people who will be allowing me to get some major time in working with their students.

My current motto (and the title of this entry) is going to be a simple phrase that I need to always keep in mind when I get down.  Thank you, Mr. Ben Folds for the wonderful song and keeping my spirits up.

And now, back to cleaning!

"And this one time...at band camp..."

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to serve as a staff member at a high school marching band camp again this year.  Although it requires being out in the sun and on my feet for 8-10 hours/day for 5-7 days, I absolutely love working with the students and learning new things.  This year was somewhat different from years past, though...and I liked it.  

Here's a quick list of the differences:


1)  I was referred to as "Mrs. Glosson" instead of "Megan."
This may seem silly, but I felt more like an adult and less like a child/college kid.  Go figure.


2)  I actually contributed to musical changes/additions and drill writing.
Not only did I feel able to contribute suggestions, but I was actually consulted for my opinion on more than one occasion.  I felt more like part of the team and useful, plus I was pretty pleased that I seemed to remember so much from methods classes, etc.  I also owe some thanks to my cooperating teachers during student teaching for pushing me so much and really educating me.


3)  There was no drama or under qualified staff members.
Something I have observed over the years is that asking alumni back to work as staff members is not always the best idea.  This year there was a lot less of that and it seemed to work well.  Although we ended up with a lot less staff, the people that were there really seemed to be there to work and not make friends with the students or complained about everything.  I will probably not ask alumni back if I get a high school gig of my own, nor will I ask people who are not qualified.

4)  I absolutely loved working with the students, seeing the progress, and feeling a passion for what I was doing.
I have spent the past 6 months doing nothing but working in retail.  I have felt a giant hole and complete lack of interest in anything.  Quitting my job and getting back into teaching, if even for a brief week, has me fired up again.  I feel amazing!

I had an amazing week and can't wait to get a job!  Now to get back to job hunting and fixing up my resume some more...

Goodbye to an Old Friend

Wednesday was my last day at OfficeMax.  It was a day of mixed feelings, but overall good.  After 4 years and many days of anger and exhaustion later, I'm free.

Me working at OfficeMax

OfficeMax was the first real job I ever had.  It paid my bills every month while I was in college.  It was there when my husband lost his job and we needed money.  It gave several of my friends employment, and I made several new friends while being there.

Tiffany with an interesting eye patch...

 I also made many enemies.  I discovered how horrible some consumers can be over the silliest things.  I learned to treat people with great respect while shopping and to always front face items while making a last minute purchase late at night.  I discovered how much of humanity has no respect for the general public and the property of others.  I discovered how lazy people can be and still get promotions while others work hard and get nothing.  I learned the world is not a fair place, but you just have to go with the flow and hope some luck comes your way.  You also have to learn how to have fun even when you feel like you are having the worst day ever.

Grace hiding in "Narnia."

 I can honestly say I have no clue what my future holds at this point, but I do know that it does not involve working at OfficeMax.  Although the pay may have been nice, it wasn't worth the headache and it wasn't getting me where I want to be in life.  And with that, I say goodbye to my old friend OfficeMax.

Fail.

As far back as I can remember, I have always made choices based on feelings.  I pick the clothes I wear each day based on how I feel or what I want to feel on that particular day.  I once chose to go to school instead of going to the mall with my mother and grandmother because, "It just doesn't feel right to skip school."  I married the love of my life while we were both in college and broke because being with him makes me feel amazing.  The list goes on and on...

It was in this same fashion that I chose my college major and future career.  I have always loved music and felt that teaching was "in my bones"...so why not be a music teacher?  I picked the best school my limited money could buy and worked hard.  Now, nearly 7 months after walking across the stage and shaking the university president's hand, I'm still unemployed.

Sure, I've applied for jobs...38 to be exact.  I have also had a fairly good number of interviews:  13.  Yet, month after month, job after job, I still find myself working a horrible retail job and expanding my search even wider.  I have applied for jobs in 4 states.  I have interviewed for jobs outside my focus area.  And.  Still.  I.  Have.  NOTHING.

People keep saying things like, "It has to be the right fit," or "The job market is tough right now, especially for teachers."  Regardless, I can't help but feeling that I have failed.  I have failed at making myself a worthy candidate; I have failed at really impressing someone.  Is it more than that, though?  Maybe, just maybe, I failed in my choice.  Maybe, just this once, making a choice based on feelings has left me in a horrible, expensive, nasty mess....and failure.