Finally, Some Good News...

My husband on his first day of Professional Development last week.

I know this is sort of contrary to what I said this whole blog was going to be about, but understand that good news has been a rarity to my husband and I pretty much always in the almost ten years that we've been together. Having said that, please understand that when good news does come around I really want to talk about it. Haha!

Today, my husband officially signed his contract to teach for the 2018-2019 school year! We've watched so many of our classmates from college share photos and write super heartfelt posts about when they signed their contract and it almost doesn't feel real that my husband now gets to have that feeling. I even waited to post this until after he said something because he deserves to feel all the pride and joy in the world to announce it. The time between him getting the phone call offer for the job and officially signing the contract was a bit longer than we expected but understandably so. We have been walking on eggshells about it because of an experience we had earlier this Summer.

My husband interviewed for a job back in July and was actually offered the job over the phone. The only hiccup was that it was for a grade level he was not certified in so the principal said they would start him off as a long term substitute (a job he knows all too well) and as soon as he passed the correct certification test he would be able to sign the contract. It wasn't the most ideal situation but we were absolutely ecstatic about the news. We even held each other and cried in relief. We quickly began talking about all the things we've said we've wanted to do once we got full time jobs-a new mattress, a trip to Washington DC, and other things. Just a few short hours later, he got another call from the principal saying that they couldn't hire him because the job involved coaching and substitutes can't coach. It was heartbreaking to have been in such a state of euphoria and then have it all snatched away in an instant. It was like that State Farm commercial where the guy dangles the dollar in that girl's face with his fishing pole and says "Oh, you almost had it. You gotta be quicker than that." only way less funny. He had already called our immediate family to share the news and then, less than 12 hours later, had to awkwardly call them all back and explain the situation. I know the principal felt bad as well and they were so sweet about it. Rules are rules and they were just doing their job. Plus, they did try everything they could to try to still hire him anyway and we will always be grateful for those efforts. It was devastating of course, but we understand.

And here we are about a month later, and my husband will be working back in the school district that we both went to growing up. One of those funny ways that life likes to work, I guess. It's so great because he is actually working with a couple of his old teachers including one of his history teachers and football coach from middle school who sparked Andrew's passion for history and teaching. Fun fact, that teacher is also my sister's father-in-law! So, I guess Disney had it right-it is a small world after all.

It has been quite a journey for us to get here. I plan to be a substitute in the district and even though I won't be a full time teacher I am still super excited. I learned so much last year as a substitute and I look forward to even more experience and learning. But if anyone from the district is reading this, I am VERY interested in full time work in any of your elementary schools *wink*. I will also be taking this time to get my certification to teach up to the 8th grade level instead of 6th grade so I can be more available to middle schools. If you couldn't tell, I'm still struggling a bit with my identity as an educator but this post isn't about me. I'm sure we will be diving much deeper into that throughout this blog. Anyway, I couldn't be more excited for my husband!

Tomorrow is the first day of school so wish my husband luck! And best of luck to all of my teacher friends who's first day is tomorrow as well!