The Return of Rocket! (plus Facts 4&5)

Well, it's time for Fact #4 & 5 (I thought I would write about them together because they both seem to involve some kind of commitment phobia.), however, first, news about our wildlife! Rocket is back!! When DH got home tonight, he was refilling the bird feeders when he came across Rocket Girl near our crawl space door. Not wanting her to disappear before I got home, he put her in the pond:


When I got home, we took her out and placed her on the ground with some dried fruit (out of blueberries).
Here she eyes a dried cranberry:

And goes for it! (stepping on the white raisin in the process)

Rocket Girl update: DH says she is back in the pond of her own volition. We've got to put in a ramp!

Okay; just back from putting a piece of split firewood at one corner of the pond. I placed her on it--half in and half out. We'll check on her later.

On to changing jobs and changing homes. I feel like making this quick. Reasons I've changed jobs: to move up; to de-stress; to try being a full-time homemaker (if you know me, this is a laugh riot); to travel; to have more flexibility; to go to school. Thing that made this possible (beyond changing jobs to move up, which I mostly did before I got married): marrying a man who had the potential to make a good living and whose passion was to make me happy. Problem with this strategy--I'm never happy for long. Why he still loves me: I don't know!

Now, moving: my family did that a lot before my parents bought their first house when I was 12. They stayed put for a long time after that. When I met DH, I had just purchased a small town house in the suburbs and he was renting a town house closer in, which meant my mortgage payments were a lot less than his rent payments. Therefore, first move was from his place to mine. Next move to get a bigger townhouse. Next purchase to move closer to town; next purchase to move to a bigger house, then back to a smaller house to save money; then to a house in a small town to set up shop as potters (more on that under "I love clay"); next move to another big city for DH's job; next move to a small city for DH's job (because he hated the previous job). Final two moves: one to be closer to school during my graduate work (neither one of us can stand long commutes); one to the current house, close to both of our jobs and a house that we love.

Whew; that's it for tonight. Hope all are well.

Random Fact #3

Fact: I have 2 degrees in early childhood education, but never taught or worked directly with children.

So, when last you visited, I had received a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. On to a career in teaching, right? Wrong. . .After student teaching for the last semester of my senior year, I ended up hating teaching!! Now, I didn't go into this just willy nilly. When, during my sophomore year, I thought I might want to teach young children (1st grade was my inclination), I spent a week with my uncle who was an elementary school principal and assisted in one of the first grade classrooms. I loved it. So, what went wrong? I don't know. Student teaching was like one continuous test. Every day your work was being observed by the classroom teacher you were working with or your college professor or both. It was draining and nerve wracking. Keeping the kids focused was a challenge. I could feel my patience wear thin with two or three boys with problems (these were 7 year olds!). If I was losing my patience as a student teacher, how was I going to be a good "real" teacher? Also, after all the schooling, it was amazing how unprepared I felt to actually start a classroom. Here's your room; now what? Anyway, much of this can be chalked up to immaturity and the rest to the fact that I just did not have the personality characteristics to work with large groups of children all day long. I should have investigated becoming a reading teacher or something where I could work with students one-on-one or in small groups, but I was not smart enough to think of that then and just wanted to get out! So, I graduated and then went floundering around in the job market for years, mostly using the clerical skills I had learned in high school. I may try to remember all of the places I have worked and list those tomorrow, but for now, let's move along to the second degree.

I maintained my interest in child development and educational policy (and, along the way, child care policy) and one day, about 6 years ago, took a job with a small non-profit early childhood education-focused association. The job turned into conference planning as one of the main programs of this association was to hold a statewide education conference. If you've caught on to the theme of my life at this point, it will come as no surprise to find that I hate conference planning!! (Of course, I didn't know that at the time and didn't know the job would have such a narrow focus.) This is when I had a revelation. If I wanted to be involved in the early childhood education field in a more substantive way, I was going to have to get more education. So, off to graduate school I went with the goal of earning at least a master's degree. I found a nearby program that offered a Master of Arts in early childhood education. It was for people who were interested in policy and research and did not require participants to have had a teaching background. It was, in fact, geared toward people who wanted to get a doctorate in education, but who did not yet have a master's degree. I had decided that I wanted a job analyzing research and making recommendations for early care and education policy in the U.S. or evaluating education and care programs and policy. What I didn't know was whether or not I needed a Ph.D. to do that. Being the reluctant student that I am, I was always questioning whether or not I should go into the Ph.D. program.

To wrap this up, I received my M.A. in 2004 and continued with the Ph.D. program, always with a finger to the wind hoping that the right job would fall into my lap sooner rather than later. That happened in 2006 when the non-profit where I had worked 6 years earlier, and was then serving on the Board of, decided to hire a new Executive Director. Ta da! I have just finished one year as the Executive Director. I wonder how long this will last?

The Next Phase

It seems that DH and I are about to enter the next phase of our lives. He is ready to retire and I just started a new job a year ago. Actually, that was the plan. I was in school for 4 years prior to taking this job. I got my master's degree and was working on a doctorate when this job opportunity came along that was more attractive to me than 2 more years of school. So, the plan was, when I finished school and got a job, he could retire. Thankfully, for our finances, he does not really want to retire, just step down from his current stressful position, which he finds increasingly distasteful, and get something less demanding (which usually means something less lucrative, as well). So, we spent most of today looking at our finances, figuring our retirement income and talking about various job possibilities for him. It is scary to know how much, and how soon, he would like to leave his current position without knowing what he might do instead. However, he will turn 63 next month and he has been the major contributor to our finances during our marriage, so I whole heartedly support his decision to "downshift." For my part, I better go into work tomorrow with renewed vigor and commitment because it's my turn now to be the major breadwinner (although, if he finds another suitable position, we might not need to touch our retirement savings for another 3 years or so). Well, that's all that's fit to print for today!