...I am looking into alternative teacher certification programs. Never again will our insurance be dependent on the corporate sector. Am waiting for a rep to get back to me. I have a degree on English and Political Science, but am also looking into what I have to do to get accredited as an ESL (or TESOL, as it is increasingly called) teacher. I wanted to learn Spanish anyway, which is not necessarily a requirement, as far as I can see, but cannot hurt given the ESL population I would encounter in Texas. Also bilingual teachers have an edge, period. No idea if I can learn Spanish by next June but I also have no idea if I can't until I try. One of Henry's interesting Russian friends is hooking me up with the Rosetta Stone for Spanish. I think I would be a very good ESL teacher. I think I would be a very good English literature teacher and social studies teacher, too. If I could be accredited in all three, I think I could find a job pretty easily.
My job is nice. It is hard on me physically but I like my coworkers, think I am doing a decent enough job and like most of my customers. I get lots of comments on my glasses. Old men flirt with me. Homeschoolers in Williamson County come to the store a lot. Evidently other places - meaning other book stores - are not as accommodating of the idea that homeschooling makes these women teachers and they appreciate that we don't hassle them over their discounts. I am shocked by the things I know. A customer came in wanting a copy of something called Corruption by some guy named after a gem, like Ruby. Of course she needed Collapse by Jared Diamond. All of us pull things like that out of our heads. It just depends on if you have the weird book girl (me), the music guru, the comic guy, the literature nerd, the mystery genius, etc. in front of you when you say what you need.
I am far less depressed now that I am working. It's almost amazing.
Henry is crash-learning Drupal. Since Drupal is based on PHP, the learning curve is not so horrible for him. He hopes to convert his site and then build razedbycats.com (raisedbycats.com was taken already and the person holding the site, which has been a sole place card for years, doesn't respond to requests to sell it) in Drupal. Not that razedbycats needs to be built in Drupal but it would give him something to add to his portfolio. There's a Drupal conference this Saturday and Sunday and he's attending. Maybe knowing Drupal will give him an edge in getting a job or freelance work. There are certainly Austin companies who need Drupal developers and cannot find them anywhere. Henry's astonishingly smart. So I have no doubt he will know his Drupal stuff in short order.
He's also helping build a new website/client management system for a local food pantry, The Storehouse. Volunteer work is completely resume-able, but the Storehouse does very good work. So he's meeting people and doing good things.
The Universe gave me a job, defeated the idiot ex-friend in the TWC squabble and has blessed the Kitler Tripod with continued health and vigor. We are still waiting to hear back from our mortgage company but that is because the TWC filing and my new job caused our paperwork to change. Fingers crossed they work with us and decide keeping us in the house at a reduced mortgage for a while is better than foreclosing and selling the house for pennies on the dollar.
We are dark at times and sometimes we quarrel but far, far less than most people in our situation. I think had we given into the depression we would be in North Carolina by Christmas, and in divorce court by June. I don't see either happening. I believe more good things will come our way if we work hard and keep our eyes focused beyond us.
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