Passed

On Friday afternoon, after checking the site constantly after taking the test last Tuesday, I was sitting at a red light (shame on me, I shouldn't use my phone while behind the wheel) and I felt the urge to check again. A few red lights later I was able to see the word that was to help get things in motion. The score was pretty high in comparison to what I need to pass. The range of the passing score to the highest score was sixty points and I scored 34 points higher than the passing score.

This past weekend was going to be the prime "complete everything else" time. Little girl was recovering from her strep throat from two weeks ago, then husband fell ill Friday night and ended up going to urgent care the next morning with a diagnosis in the tune of URI. On Sunday, little girl was cranky (as she does when she is sick) in the morning, but her urgent care center would not open until noon, so I had to succeed at getting her to take a nap...and nap she did, for FIVE hours. After our five our nap, she was as chipper as she would have been at 7am that morning. Except that late Sunday, I started to feel the tinge of illness. Yesterday, at work, I felt awful all day with runny nose, sinus pressure headaches, bodyaches, chills...and came home that night to discover a very high fever, one that reminds me of the old "Say no to drugs" ads. You know the ones.

Doctor visit this morning assures me that I get the best of both of my cherished loved ones ailments. I have both strep and URI. My fever finally broke around noon, and I feel like a sweaty mess. If you sit in my chair afterwards, be assured I did not have an accident, it is just damp from all the sweat (I'm hoping all the toxins are being pushed out of my body).

Despite the fog and initial recovery, which finds me in coughing fits ending up in stomach cramps, I did get my application sent off as well as getting the change to stop by the bank to get a form notarized to send off with the materials they need from me.

My mother, sister, and aunt will be here on Friday...and the house is a wreck - I had anticipated that today and tomorrow would be clean up days since I am off work (and I should have known earlier in the month that these would be my recovery from illness days, because that usually happens when I have an anticipated and well planned day off) but I know I need rest to make it through the next couple of weeks...fraught with more anticipation (acceptance into the program?, wowing my current bosses in an interview for a position that I have sought for three years?)

But I can only worry about today...

Crossroads

The title pretty much sums it up - my life right now is depending on the presence of one little word on a website that does not have the information needed to give that one little word. Passed. This past Tuesday I took the official first step into applying for an Alternative Certification program to gain my Teacher Certification. This test must be passed to even be accepted into an AltCert program. However, there are many other mini-hurdles to overcome to be accepted. If I planned out the courses that I have taken over the last year correctly, all the A's should help my last 60 hours very much. The next step would be financial - the summer is a pretty meager time for all of us, because my husband's private lesson studio dwindles as school is out, then add my part time hours of lovely Retail (I went part-time to really go all-out and attend school full-time these last two semesters)...Hello Ramen!

Also, a rare opportunity surfaced again at work, there is a full time Creative position, and hopefully I will get to interview for it in the next week or so. I know they are going to ask about school (which that leg of my long term plan is done, I hope) and what about my dream of teaching outside of work (which is a possibility, but the teaching market is still bruised). But if I could convince them that I am the right person, I could have some more stable routine in my retail work life, and not to mention full-time perks again. Yes, best case scenario, I would find an internship as a first year teacher starting in August...but that is still  some time away - and there are still so many things that must happen first.

Sweet girl is getting smarter and more gracious - she says "thank you", "Please"...and even "Bless You" after someone sneezes. She loves music, dancing, and Yo Gabba Gabba (which considering the formers, is no surprise). We continue to learn more about ourselves through her everyday, and I ache to provide her more. More love, more of my time, and more of the opportunities that I can only dream to give her.

...and to think maybe that whirlwind could start from a single anticipated word.