I did it, all by myself!

Right now I'm sitting in the hostel in Chicago I'm staying at while I do this 3 day bus tour of Chicago Public schools. I just want everyone to know that I'm QUITE proud of myself at the moment. No, I haven't gotten a job (but that's the next mountain to climb). However, I did manage to make the entire trip here all by myself! This included the 3 hour drive to Nashville (next time you try to fly to Memphis, fly into Nashville and save yourself $300), flight to Chicago, subway train ride, and walk to the hostel. Despite a close call on almost missing my flight, I made it! Now, on to finding a job....

Speaking of which, I have a great one for the summer! The daycare I have worked at for the past two summers hired me again, but this time, I'm a full day teacher! Before, I was an assistant/floater/substitute that they used whenever they needed me. This summer, I have eight 3.5 year olds to singlehandedly conquer and teach. I also get my own classroom to decorate! While this is all really nice and great, it's been more than a little stressful trying to get everything ready for that classroom, while still preparing to come to Chicago and kick butt at this Teacher Fair business. Oh, yeah, and then I'm supposed to sleep. The long weekend sure came in handy. On Sunday, my mom and sister came to help me at school and we spent 6 hours cleaning (mom's job), decorating (Marissa's job), and organizing (my job). BUT, it looks fantastic! Like kids could really learn there and I could be okay there everyday. The dirtiness that it was made me really, really unhappy. Good thing we fixed that.

So, tomorrow, we're going to some schools on the South side of Chicago...we'll see if it's really as bad as everyone says. This is all very exciting, but so overwhelming, too!