Surprise

The past two weeks have been filled with surprises--not the unexpected gift kind; the kind that life throws you when you become too complacent. First I was sicker than a dog (cliche) for New Year's. Didn't stay up to midnight for the first time since I was an infant. Then my husband drove my daughter out to Atlanta for school. She's moved into an apartment and needed her car out there, so they took a road trip to get it there. And then the STORM hit. Hubby was supposed to be home Monday night. Forty-eight hours later, he finally made it home, which meant I had to take the other daughter to the airport before work which threw my whole day off. But it all turned out well.

But the biggest surprise of all is an opportunity that opened up. I had planned on leaving teaching at the end of this school year. I could go into the political reasons for my quitting (not retirement--everyone keeps saying I'm retiring. I am NOT retiring. One cannot retire before one turns 50 with only seven years of work), but suffice it to say that NCLB, while a beautiful idea in theory, doesn't work in practice. Kind of like communism. I was jumping into writing full time. Full time writing made the household monetary situation a bit iffy, especially as we head into the daughters' last year of college. Then I discovered that the German teacher at the local high school quit over the winter break.

I have always wanted to teach German. I love the language, the way you can play with it, the sound, the music of it (unlike French which sounds like you're moving around phlegm--just kidding. Anyone who knows me knows I always make jokes about French--the language, not the people). Best poetry ever. So I have applied for the job.

I don't know if I'll get it. If I don't, this will be the last five months of teaching for me. If I do get it, I can see myself teaching for a while longer. My youngest is at the high school where the job is, we'd be on the same schedule, and it's GERMAN. Having a job will help with the twins' final year as well.

The interesting part of this whole drawn out story is that life throws you surprises--some good, some not so good--but I believe that's the joy in life. Not knowing what's coming. Oh yeah, you make plans, you SHOULD make plans, but life happens. So life is happening now and it makes me appreciate it all the more: the sweetness when my husband finally did make it home; the excitement and good fear of new possibilities; the uneven and unpredictable turns of the path we're all on.

Go out and find life. Oooo, and I have a kindle now too. I'll report on that next time.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Salvation in Death by Nora Roberts
The Lady Most Likely...: A Novel in Three Parts by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Connie Brockway