if you know me then you know that i'm not good with change. usually changes are forced upon me. i don't normally go looking for them so this is a BIG step for me.
i've been teaching at york elementary in raleigh for 7 years (since graduation.) it's become my home and the people are like family. it's had it's ups and downs but i've stuck it out and the friends are what's made me stay.
if you know me then you also know that i'm not real fond of driving. if i could have a chauffer drive me around, i would. whenever anyone else is willing to drive, i'm all for it. you can even drive my car...i don't care...as long as i'm not behind the wheel! well, for the past 6 years, i've lived in cary and the drive to school hasn't been too bad. 20 minutes on some easy back roads with 1 week a year fair traffic and the occasional nc state football game or hurricane's hockey game...i could handle that. fast forward to this year.
johnathan and i moved to holly springs in december. i knew the drive would be a little longer but i didn't know how much it would affect me until i was doing it everyday. **now, i must say that my friend and neighbor sarah, has done this for the past 3 years and will continue to do it so i have to keep my complaining to a minimum. she is also a lot tougher than me. :) ** my morning drive now takes 45 min. to an hour and consist of sitting in stop and go traffic for 15 minutes and then flying 70 mph. down us-1 trying not to get rearended or honked at and hoping that someone will let me over. it's not fun and by the time i get to school, i'm annoyed, stressed, hungry, sleepy, and not in a very good mood. the afternoons are better but i still find myself rushing out and booking it back to my side of town to run errands and beat the 5:00 traffic. you can forget making it to an appointment on time. carpooling with sarah has made it easier. having someone to talk to always makes the time go by faster. then i'm dead tired at 8:00 at night and i dread waking up and doing it again the next morning.
so, after debating the transfer process, i decided to go for it. the worst that could happen would be staying where i was which wasn't 100% awful. after a few interviews, the transfer fair, and playing the waiting game, i was offered a 2nd grade position at penny road elementary in cary. it's about 7 miles from our house and took me less than 20 minutes on back roads to get there. everyone seemed really nice. i'm really excited about being a penny road panda! they're one of my favorite animals!
this also brings lots of other emotions. leaving a place i've called home for 7 years is scary. learning a bunch of new staff names will be tough. learning my way around the school will probably get me lost. i'm dreading the workday where i have to say my goodbyes. i've met so many friends at york. some have been there since day 1 and taught me a lot of what i know. some came later but without them across the hall, somedays i wouldn't make it. i worry that i'll lose touch with 2 of my closest friends since we may not see each other everyday. there's just a lot of things i'm feeling right now and it makes it hard to be really excited! i think i'm more scared than anything!
i'm a real believer in "everything happens for a reason." wish me luck!
