Moving day :/

Well, here we are.  It's April 30th, and I'm moving back to Albany today.  I've been packing and cleaning the rest of my things since Friday--all day for four days.  It's been tiring, and beginning to get very boring, but I am almost done.  I have about two more boxes and a few other odds and ends (a table, a vacuum, a microwave, etc.) to put into the car, and then I should be good to go!

It's bittersweet--I want to have a place to call home again!  It's been a while with my mom trying to move things out of her house, my trying to bring some of my things over to where I thought I would be by the time I was moving out (my grandparents' house) and still freaking out about where to unpack my car into in about four short hours :/

I'm keeping my fingers crossed about the jobs I've applied for out here though.  I'm praying that I get a call soon about one of the jobs, and then I'll know I'm meant to come back out here, at least for a while.  For now, I have an interview tomorrow for a summer program in the Albany/Troy area, and I"m hoping that goes well tomorrow.  It's the first interview in a couple months, so I gotta get back into practice.

I better sign off and finish this packing. Wish me luck, Bloggers!!

Frowns are turnin' 'round.. :)

So, in the past few days, I think I've applied to about 100 jobs--that's not much of a stretch either.  I applied to a ton of teaching jobs, and even a few restaurant, event planning, nannying, and out-of-state jobs (some teaching, some in other lines of business).  It's been tiring, and seems useless at the time, with no responses from employers.  But, as I've said many times, I'll get there eventually.  I was at my wit's end last night after asking Mom to "look over" a letter of application, and she completely rebuilt it.

Today, during my afternoon half-day of substituting, I didn't have to do too much.  I was only in to cover a 45-minute period of the day for a special ed. teacher in a 1st grade classroom (however, they only had playtime, so I got to just hang out and watch).  Anyway, as I walked into the classroom, my friend who is the reading teacher at the school, was there.  She informed me of quite a few openings at one of the nearby school districts!!!!  'Not keeping me hopes up but.. I'm excited!!  I applied tonight, with a new cover letter, and a two-page writing sample.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and I hope others will do the same for me.

Anyway, on another note, I wanted to share a cupcake-topping idea for Mother's Day--it's sneaking up on us, and I am DEFINITELY making these for my mom and sister on May 13th.

http://hoosierhomemade.com/mothers-day-cupcake-toppers/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/papercupcakedesigns

Finally... this Friday a few girlfriends of mine are coming over to my almost-empty-but-not-quite-packed-up apartment to spend time together before I have to head back to Albany.  I think it's going to be a baking-and-sipping day (trying out some of our Pinterest recipes (food and drinks) we've found).  I'm very excited.  I'll let y'all know how our experiments turn out!  Wish me luck on that, too!  Signing off :)

Post-Easter

Megan's awesome-colored egg

Well, Easter was great... a few weeks ago!  I did some egg painting with Mom, my sister, my sister's friend, and my niece the week before Easter Sunday.  On Friday the 6th, I headed to Oswego to visit a girlfriend of mine (pictures from last Easter in one of my April 5th blogs of her and her brother).  We spent the night at her parents' house, and had a nice dinner/movie night, and then ran "family errands" the next day until I left around 4:00pm to head back to Albany.

When I got home, I went to see a Beatles tribute band at The Egg in Albany, where my brother works.  I figured a free concert would be nice :)  Unfortunately, the guys looked just about nothing like the Beatles, and their performance was only so-so.  But I still enjoyed my company, and, like I said.. it was free for me.

Easter Sunday morning, Mom, Christen (sister), Kelcey (niece), and I went to 11:15am mass; Christen and Kelcey came to Mom's afterward, to find the things the Easter Bunny left for us there; then "brunch" at 3:00pm with my brother (Jon), my sister's fiance, and my mom's sister's family of six.  Unfortunately, the food was cold and unsatisfying, but it's kind of the one day of the year that you're happy anyway! :)  I ended up staying home the entire next week because of a few things that came up.

Kelcey, holding the egg I made for her

Sadly, my cousin's (the one I share my apartment with out in Rochester) grandmother on her father's side passed away in Albany, so she and her boyfriend came into town for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  The wake was on Tuesday evening, and the funeral was Wednesday morning.  After the funeral, we all went to a reception at one of the nearby hotels for lunch, and to celebrate her long, loving, happy, amazing life!

I then had a much-need, long-awaited hair appointment on Thursday afternoon, and treated myself (with a gift certificate I received from someone years ago) at a day spa near my hometown on Monday morning.  It was a nice chuck of change I was given for the certificate, so I was able to get a massage, a facial, AND a manicure.  Finally, I drove back here to Western New York on Monday evening after my day spa treatment and packing.

I substituted in the middle school/high school from Tuesday to Friday, and now here we are. WOAH.  Of course, I'm still applying to three or more jobs a day, either in person, online, or through snail mail and/or email.  So far, 'haven't heard anything since my offer from Florida, so it's still a bit nerve-racking and frustrating.  But, I'll get there eventually!!!

Wish me luck!  I'm keeping my head up, even in the toughest of times.  God's got me set--I just hope sooner rather than later!! :)

Easter for the kids

Here are a couple of ideas for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, etc. for Easter morning or Easter "week" that I find exciting.  It's more fun for the kids this way than to just hear, "Alright, go find 'em!" :)  Let me know how it worked if you use the ideas.

'

'Definitely using one or both of these next year--definitely for the students, maybe for the niece--to see how they work.  I think they're a fun little "kick" to the norm--and who doesn't love scavy hunts??


How about these religious dessert recipes? (Retrieved from apples4theteacher.com)

      Easter Sunday Cross Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 oz.) white cake mix
• 1 C of milk
• 3 T corn starch
• 1/2 C of margarine
• 3/4 C shortening
• 1 C fine white sugar
• 2 t clear vanilla
• Yellow food coloring

Preparation:

1. Prepare the cake as directed on the package for a 9X13 size cake.
2. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 7 minutes then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Place the milk into a saucepan over medium heat.
4. Stir in the corn starch and stirring slowly cook the mixture until thick.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring until the mixture cools.
6. Place the margarine, shortening and sugar in a bowl.
7. Beat with an electric mixer on low for 7 minutes or until creamy. 
8. Add the cooled milk mixture and the vanilla and continue beating about 4 minutes or until the icing resembles whipped cream.
9. Remove 1 1/2 C of the prepared icing and tint with the yellow food colored until desired color is reached.
10. Remove the cake from the wire rack and place on a cutting board.
11. Cut the cake in half lengthwise.
12. Cut one side of the cake in half from side to side.
13. Place the longer piece of cake in the middle of a piece of flat cardboard.
14. Cover the piece of cake with the white icing.
15. Place the 2 shorter pieces of cake 1/3 down on each side of the longer piece to form a cross.
16. Spread the remaining pieces of cake with the white icing.
17. Using a pastry bag pipe the yellow icing around the outside edges of the cake at the bottom and around the top to form shell boarders. (Makes 12 servings)
    

    Easter "Angel" Dessert

    Ingredients:
    
18. 1 prepared angel food cake, cubed
19. 1 (20 oz.) can cherry pie filling
20. 1 1/3 C of cold milk
21. 1 (3 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
22. 1/2 C sour cream
23. 1 (8 oz.) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Preparation:

1. Place the cake cubes into the bottom of a 9X13 cake pan.
2. Spread the cherry pie filling over the cake cubes.
3. Pour the milk into a small mixing bowl.
4. Sprinkle the pudding mix over the milk.
5. With a wire whisk blend the two together for 2 minutes being sure all the pudding mix has dissolved into the milk.
6. Let the mixture stand until soft set about 2 minutes.
7. Fold the sour cream into the pudding mixture.
8. Gently spread the pudding mixture over the pie filling.
9. Spread the thawed whipped topping over the pudding mixture.
10. Cover the pan and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. (Makes 12 servings)

Easter is coming!!

It's been a while, and so much has happened since I last wrote.  I said that my sister is engaged, and I'm so happy for her.  On Wednesday the 28th, I went to a "Teacher Recruitment Day" in Rochester, New York.  What this is, is this:  You arrive at the "convention center" early in the morning (between 7:15 and 7:45) and the doors to the next room open at 8:00.  Between 8 and 9 AM, there are a slew of tables set up in the room, and you go from one to the next (with recruiters from schools all over the United States), but only those you are honestly interested in working for.  My first choice was a school in New York, whose list was filled by the time I walked over to the table--as was my second choice, Richmond, VA.  So, my final two choices were Palm Beach County and Polk County (both in Florida).  After you sign up for interviews, depending what times they are, you sit around and wait.. for a whole bunch of hours :/  BUT, it was worth it, because I was "offered" jobs in both counties!

(Some information on Teacher Recruitment Days can be found here: http://www.rochestertrd.org/ and other TRDs can be found through Google searches)

Thankfully, those offers can be back-ups.  I am honored to have those offers, but I'd prefer, if at all possible, to stay closer to home.  Applying EVERYWHERE is a big deal for me right now, since jobs are sooo difficult to come by.  The Pottery Barn Kids management job, I think, is out the window.  I'm not sure if I'm up for it--not the management/leadership thing, but more the POTTERY BARN thing.  I've applied at the school I substitute for out here, and a Catholic school back home.

This week, I drove to my apartment on Sunday night to work Monday morning.  During my lunch, I received a call from BOCES back in Albany, asking to interview me for substitute teaching back there, in case (which, yes, most likely I will) I move back to Albany.  However, the problem with that interview, was that it was the next day.  So, I drove home, grabbed a bag of clothes and my toothbrush, and drove three-and-a-half hours for the second day in a row.  After the interview, I decided I might stay in the Capital Region for the rest of the week until... you guessed it!... Geneseo called and asked me to substitute Wednesday and Thursday.  Back to Western New York I drove--third day IN A ROW!  That's where I'm at right now.  It's finally the weekend, and I'll head to Oswego (to visit a friend and her family) for some Easter fun until Saturday afternoon.  From there, Albany for Sunday Brunch with the family.

Left:  Last year, Easter Egg coloring with Caitlin in Oswego at her parents' house

Right:  Last year, 2011, Easter Egg coloring with Caitlin and her brother, Chris, at the house


Below: Caitlin and me, and her Great-aunt

Easter in Disney three years ago with Caitlin (Florida roommate from Oswego)

More stuff to come shortly!! :)  What do you do on Easter?  What do you celebrate?  Do you really know and think about the real meaning of Easter, and thank God for your life, even if you have things to complain about every once in a while?  I do!