Eric’s Blog

There’s not much to tell about the last week; it has been blissfully dull for a change. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing. We definitely needed a break from everything that was going on.

The houses

We did get a call from the realtors on the Eastern Shore about the house there. The buyer returned to the country on Friday and everything is through underwriting. Closing for the shore house is scheduled for this coming Friday. As soon as we have the funds from the sale of the shore house, we’ll be going to closing for the King George house. So we’re looking at a week, maybe two more and we’ll be all settled. If everything goes according to this plan, we’ll have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

My job

My job is going well. I’ve completed the eight-week technical course of instruction that is required prior to becoming a certified instructor. There was a lot of good information throughout the course, and I did better than expected. The material was a good refresh of things I’d learned while I was in the Navy. It was also an eye-opening experience. There is a lot more material than I ever knew was available. The information that was taught in the class is just the tip of the iceberg. It made me realize that I hadn’t even scratched the surface and will need to continually work to stay well-informed.

Since I don’t have to focus on the class any more, I’ve been working on my instructor certification. I personalized my lesson plan and have been rehearsing it. Once I have the information and my flow locked in, I’ll schedule my PT2 (Practice Teach 2). If I do well enough on the PT2, I can schedule my certification and then I can teach in front of actual students. Then, I can become certified in other topics.

Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day and I’m used to having that day off. I have to go to work tomorrow, but there won’t be any students, so I’ll be able to wear jeans and sneakers. There’s something nice about being able to go into work in casual, comfortable clothes. I also like the fact that there’s no pressure at my new job. I just show up and do what is expected of me, and I go home at the end of the day. The people at my job are awesome too. They’re all prior military and they’re all smart and funny. There hasn’t been a day since I started that I haven’t laughed.

Adrianne’s job

Adrianne has been having a rough go of it in her classroom. She misses being an administrator and her support system from the Eastern Shore. The other teachers didn’t want to departmentalize this year, so she has to teach all five major subjects every day. Her administrators don’t seem to be as engaged as she was when she was holding down that position. Also, she has a student in her classroom that has been nothing but trouble. Last week, the student tried to stab another student with a pencil until Adrianne got in-between them. Adrianne thought she was going to be stabbed for a time until the admins showed up and removed the girl. More than likely, the girl will be back in Adrianne’s classroom on Tuesday when class starts back up. She’s had problems like this all year long and the admins don’t do anything about it. Adrianne is so fed up that she applied for an administrator position in Stafford county.

This weekend

This weekend, Adrianne went to the Eastern Shore to recharge her batteries, visit Austin, and her friends and I stayed here at the camper. I bought a leaf blower and cleaned up the leaves around the camper. I also washed the truck, scrubbed the bathroom, did the laundry, read a book, played with the cats, and watched some movies.

It’s nice to be together, but it’s also nice to have a bit of alone time.

Hopefully, by this time next week, we’ll have confirmation that the house on the Eastern Shore has transferred to the buyers and we’ll be planning our upcoming closing and move into the King George house.