Week of August 26,2013 - First Week with Students

Week of August 26, 2013

This was the first week with students at school.  They came on Monday, August 26th.  I barely slept on Sunday night in anticipation of students arriving.  It was more nerves about not-knowing rather than being scared or worried.  Since this is my first year, okay 11th day, at North there are obviously things that I do not know and I am worried that it will show!!!

I started out in the back of the school welcoming students and greeting teachers as they entered the campus.  You know me, I talk to anyone and I think I might have seriously scared some of the students, whether it was my accent or the fact I spoke to them, I am still not sure.  I keep telling people, "What accent?  You have the accent."  LOL!!!  I had a great time and really love being back on a high school campus.  After school started, I went to visit my assigned rooms in the 700 block so that I could touch base with teachers and make sure they were okay.

Lunch duty is interesting.  One lunch with 2200 students is a challenge.  I have line duty which I really like because I can talk with students as they come through the line.  Again, they must think I am odd because I talk with them and ask them how their day is.  The first few days they just looked at me but they are starting to talk to me more now.  The students go ALL over the campus and there are several places for them to get food.  The Unified Student Leaders (Student Government) sell some food, the normal cafeteria is there, they have a company come and literally "grill" each day (hamburgers / hot dogs) and such.  They also have specialty foods like burritos, Chinese and such.  The kids have MANY choices.  We only have one lunch.  This seems to be a good thing because it helps free up some of the time at lunch duty since there is only one period rather than 3-4 lunches in that period.  Lunch is 53 minutes long and that is about 10 minutes too long.  You can tell when everyone is done eating, the campus gets a little louder and there are more people walking around.

I try and be out between classes and monitor "passing periods" which are 10 minutes long.  I really think this is more for teachers and the union then for students.  It only takes me 5 minutes IN HEELS to walk from the front office to the last portable on campus.  It is almost too much time between classes.  Most schools in SC have 5-7 minutes and the schools are enclosed with hallways and a tighter, harder walk to class.  

Between Classes at JW North

On Monday, we had a teacher complain that her computer lab was not done and it was suppose to be done over the weekend so......Megan and I went at the end of the day to the lab and set up all the computers for the "technology man" in order to expedite the process so that he could just work on imagining them rather than setting them up.  Now with that being said, please know that I had on a skirt and heels and had to crawl around on the ground to connect cables.  See....my time in Laurens District 55 working to quickly put labs together right before school starts finally came into use.  I was able to do this quickly!!!  LOL!!!  You always learn something with every task you do!!!!  In addition, I am responsible for educational technology and therefore I get quite a few items each day.  Since I don't have my two screens set up, I have been having to improvise with my two laptops.  It is kinda funny to see me working at night.

Yes, Megan and I did crawl around on the floor.  This is the end result!!!

Working Late at Night

As the week has progressed I have learned more and more about CA and how things are different in schools here and SC.  I will have to explain more about this is a later post so that this one does not become too long but my school is an unusual school that has a lot of different programs going on.

Now, let me tell you something funny that happened on Wednesday.  When I got up I was going to wear a black and white dress.  I had it on and was getting ready to leave and remembered, it is going to be hot today and this is a heavy material so I better wear something that is lighter.  So I put on a dress that was more appropriate.  In the 15 years that I have been working, I have NEVER had on the same exact outfit as someone else at work.  I mean, what are the odds????  Well look at this!!!

Keri and I

On Thursday, it RAINED!!!  No, really, it truly RAINED!!!  Everyone was shocked and amazed that it RAINED!!  Not only did it RAIN - it POURED.  I was sitting with the science department in a meeting and I started hearing what sounded like rain but as you know it does not rain in Southern CA so when we opened and looked out the window and saw rain, everyone was freaking out.  Now, let me explain that I am finding out that people in CA don't get rain a lot......which means they don't drive in the rain.....which means that when it rains everyone drives 10 miles per hour and there are accidents!!!!!     Of course, I am getting blamed for the weather and many of my friends on campus are telling me that I need to send the SC weather back east since I obviously brought it here with me.  LOL!!!!  It is suppose to get better later next week so we will see.  At the end of the day, I talked with Megan who let me know we had an incident with our new athletic facilities.  Someone went on the field and literally went to the bathroom and I am not talking about just peeing!!!!  The only thing I could do is laugh.  I mean really - you could not make it off to the side?  To the bathroom that was 100 feet away?  I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go.  Since it is turf I wonder how Mike is going to get it cleaned in time for the scrimmage tomorrow???  I know that I should not laugh but it does make me chuckle.  I am choosing to believe that it is not one of our students!  :)

I have done my first discipline as well.  I had a student talk back to a teacher and say some inappropriate things.  I have had a few students cut class already also.  Now, I have made it to Day 4 for this to happen so I guess I did pretty good.  The problem is that we have not been over the discipline matrix which makes it a little difficult to discipline students.  So, I am kinda doing what I think is best at this point with some guidance from my fabulous secretary and attendance clerks who did a lot with discipline last year. LOL!!!  We will see how it goes.  Of everything that I am expected to do this is the one thing that has me the most worried and uncomfortable.  Megan, Rich and I have a great relationship and we have been talking a lot about what to do in which situations.  We are meeting on Tuesday to talk about it.

I got to meet my friend Steve for dinner on Thursday night.  This was the night of the "Horrible Storm that Caused Riverside to Shut Down," and I was 20 minutes late to dinner due to the need to go city streets that I don't know.  I was a little worried about getting their because I have not driven a lot in the city.  However, Michael and Megan have helped point out streets and things to me as we have been driving around the city and therefore I have some "bearings" and was able to make some good choices to get where I needed to go using GPS also.  It was so great to see someone from SC.  While Steve does live in Central CA it was still cool to eat dinner with someone who has a SC connection.  As Steve stated, it was surreal to be in CA talking about districts here rather than in SC.  I am so excited about the future opportunities that he has in CA and that he is doing work in the area.  I have told him if he needs help to let me know that I would be happy to come and help him out.  He will be back at the end of Sept to work with a local school district, to visit Michael's school and possibly my school.  

Thank goodness Friday got here!! Whew!!  I did not stop today and ate my PB&J in about 30 seconds as I moved from one task to another - it sure did make the day go FAST!!!  Tonight we had our first scrimmage and it went well.  No poop on the field today.

At the scrimmage

There was another warning for another storm and again, they are blaming it on me.  LOL!!  I am really hoping they are telling me the truth when they say this is freak weather and it is not really this hot.  They keep telling me this is the hottest it has been and that it will cool off.  There is an awful lot of humidity in the air right now as well making everyone miserable.  But honestly......it is not as bad as it is in SC, so no worries.  Here is what I got to see on my drive home Friday evening!

After the Rain!

I have to tell you that I really have loved this week.  It is great to be back on a high school campus and working with teachers and students in a more one:one environment.  I have truly loved this past week and while it has been busy and exciting, it feels like I am in the right place doing the right thing.  Now, with that being said, I have not had to make any EXTREMELY hard decisions yet, but I am sure those are coming.

On a side note.  I am moving into my apartment tomorrow, Saturday, so I am posing this in the morning before I leave the Roe's.  I will not have Internet access for awhile at home due to Verizon FiOS coming to set up.  I have to be at home for this to happen and since I work during the day, they can only come on Saturday and I need to unpack everything and figure out where it is all going to go before they come and set up the technology.

Teachers Came Back - Week of Monday, August 19, 2013 – Sunday, August 25, 2013

Monday

This was a hectic day with very few breaks.  We had our first full admin meeting this morning that lasted a very long time, 4 hours.  It was good and we have a strong team that all brings a different perspective to the table.  It is going to be great to be able to all work together and learn from one another.  I did have a meeting with a lady today from a group called Safe House.  This is an organization that provides high risk students with therapy services and a place to go if they feel like they are not safe.  They have some wonderful programs.  In fact, I was surprised at how many great programs they have for individuals from age 14-22.  I wonder if SC has these programs and I just didn’t know about them.  They have a place for students to go if they are abused, homeless or are runaways for three weeks as they get counseling and find a more permanent place.  They also have a program for people age 18-22 where they can live and learn job skills for 18 months.  During this time they create a resume and find a job.  Once they do this, they put 50% of their earnings in savings, 10% for rent and they get the rest to spend.  I wish someone would have done that for me.  My BFAW (Best Friend at Work) invited me to her house for dinner since we were working late.  It was nice to get to meet her family as well before ending the day. 

I also wanted to share these two documents with everyone. The first document is the Riverside Unified School District Board Goals.  I really like how these are laid out so everyone can see them and know what initatives are coming and being considered.  

This document is from the CA State Dept of Education.  This is their 8 priorities for the state and allows districts to see what kind of data collection will have to occur in order to be sure that in our efforts we are collecting the information needed to show success.  I have not seen this in education in SC.  If it exists it is not a document that has been shared with me, or I am not reading the right websites.  LOL!!!

Tuesday

Today I got to pick my secretary.  It was really my first interview on my own completely.  I have interviewed others with different administrators but this was my true first interview for a position on my own AND I get to interview Special Education teachers on Wednesday with Megan.  Can you say – GROWTH!!!!!!  I am so excited and nervous.  What if I pick a “BAD” one……

Well the secretary interviews went well.  There was a group of 9 of us from 3 different schools who interviewed 9 candidates for three positions.  We were independent of each other but we all got to sit in the same room.  One of the other interviewers was from my school as well.  It was Megan’s secretary because you have to have “job-alike” person on the panel as well since they are unionized.  Megan’s secretary was fabulous and helped me look at resumes but she was very much supportive of my position and felt the same way as I do about the person that was offered the position.  So….I will get to have my own secretary in a week or so. 

I also had a meeting with the Educational Technology coordinator to plan for the rollout of the tablets in the next few weeks.  She is going to be a great advocate and help to me as we move forward with the technology plan in Riverside and at North.  I am very excited about working with her.  Dee helped to prepare me for this move forward as well so I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with her in D5.  The really nice thing is that if North is interested in increasing technology in our school, the district will listen and try and make it happen. 

Freshman night, called START, happened on Tuesday night so I was at school very late.  We had an incidence that happened that evening as well.  No real action happened but it was a reminder that students are on their way back and our vigilance needs to be ramped up.  The Admin team worked well together to get the situation taken care of and we debriefed at the end of the night to be sure we were all informed and ready to go for the next day.  It was a long evening, I did not get back to the Roe’s until 9:00 pm but it was a very good day!!!!

Band at Freshman START night

Color Guard at Freshman START night.

Drumline at Freshman START night

Wednesday

Today was great!!  I got to interview SPED teachers and work with some students and their parents in making decisions about their future.  I feel like I got to make some progress as to being involved today with several different things including meeting with the media specialist and the Coordinator of Science, Health and PE.  Yes, I know – you may be thinking that is me – but it is not!!!!  It is someone else!!! LOL!!! 

Thursday

I was a little disappointed today.  Not for anything big but today was the first day teachers were back and I did not get to interact with them as much as I would have liked.  We had a lot going on today, we had pictures this morning – I am including them here – the admin picture and the school picture. 

Teacher Breakfast

 

Welcome Back Address from Principal!

Admin Team for 2013-2014 at John W. North High School

John W. North High School - 2013-2014 - Staff Picture

Now, let me point out that teachers here in CA only get two days, if they are lucky to come in and get set up, have PD and arrange their rooms before class start.  So obviously, they were in their rooms a good bit and we just had a lot to do in the admin world to be ready for them on Friday and kids on Monday.  So I am not toooo upset.  However, I was hoping to meet a few.  I did get home earlier on Thursday and Jessica and I were able to hang out and talk a good bit which was very relaxing.  I actually ate vegetables for dinner – I cooked them myself!!!!  First time in about three weeks due to my crazy schedule, traveling and packing!!!

Friday

Well today I was super nervous about school.  Today was the first day that I presented to teachers at North!!!  It went well and quite a number of teachers are taking the engagement piece that I used and are going to change it to use in their classroom.  Thank you to Colleen, Erin, Melony, and Tami for all the collaboration, practice, help and guidance over the past year to make each of us a better presenter and look at PD in a different light!!!!  I got to sit with some of the teachers at lunch and chat about SC and how I made it here to Riverside.  It is funny because they feel the same way I do about SC.  “Why would you want to move here, of all places?” is the response most commonly heard.  That is what I say about places in SC.  So no matter what part of the country you are in, you hear it.

Now, my first traumatic experience of living in CA happened today as well.  NO, it was not an earthquake Jamie!!!  When I left school at 5:10 on Friday, my car would not start.  That is correct my friends, my car battery was dead.  Now, normally this is why I have AAA.  However, I had somewhere to be at 6:00 pm and AAA does not work on my time.  So, I called my friend Megan and she and her husband came to rescue me.  Well that was not a big deal but then at the end of my event that I was at it did not start again.  You can imagine my frustration, irritation and tiredness at 9:00 pm when this is happening AGAIN!!!   However, I just have to look at this as a new adventure with some hiccups along the way.  So at 9:15 pm at night, there is really no where that I know of to stop and get a new battery so that is on my list of things to do on Saturday.  Good thing Jessica is saying that she is going to help me because I am sure my battery will be dead Sat. morning. 

Now, that brings me to my last part of my traumatic event.  I wanted to go hiking on Saturday morning.  L  Instead I will be spending that time getting my car fixed.  Oh well…..it could be worse – remember life is an adventure and it is one ride at a time. 

Saturday

I am seriously struggling today!!  I have been fine for two weeks but burning the candles at both ends is catching up now.  I thought I was going to get to go hiking this morning and then eat breakfast with a friend of mine but that did not happen because of the car battery situation.  I was bummed on Friday night when I discovered this about the car and my plans to hike but I thought.  Leann, you are a big girl, put on your big girl panties and get over it.  I went to bed feeling okay and knowing that I had a plan today.  However, I woke up around 3:00 am this morning and could not go back to sleep so I sent a few emails and then went back to sleep, thank goodness.  Then… this morning I was awakened suddenly at 6:30 am by friendly faces looking down on me.   Two little heads bopped into the room to make sure that I was at the house and available to do things with them.  I told my little friends that I would be around today.  Jessica and I discussed what the day would look like and how to get some items done so I thought we should be pretty busy. I got up and got dressed and Jessica and I ran errands this morning and we were doing really well.  This is where I made the big mistake and I should know better because I know myself pretty well.   I talked with the girls from the GNO Group and while it was FANTASTIC to talk to them (yes – all of you), it reminded me of how much I miss everyone even though I am making new friends and having fun at my new school.   Missing out monthly get together is more disheartening than I thought it would be.   I have also been touching base with friends from SC today and that makes it tough as well.  It is a good thing that Jessica and I are supposed to cook tonight and her dad is coming over to fix my car.  Hopefully that will get my mind off of everything because I know this is just a phase.  Give me a couple of weeks and things will be fine.  I just gotta get over this hump and get my clothes and resources  here.  

If I talked to you on Saturday, this is what I was looking at when we chatted.

Sunday
Today was somewhat of a lazy day if you know me.  Typically on Sunday's I teach a Zumba class and stay pretty busy going back to Columbia and hanging out with my mom.  Today, I got up and got some work done.  I completed the Classroom Mosaic Draft for our observations at North and got some thank you cards written.  Jessica and Michael took me with the kids today to celebrate Kennedy's birthday and to eat lunch with the Poly Admin team at Anchos.  Then I got to meet Michael's family today at his grandma (Oma) and grandpa (Ompa).  They came from Holland in 1955 with friends. They bought an acre of land and flipped a coin to see who got the left and right side of the acre and that is where they have lived since then.  His grandfather has an aviary in the back that is beautiful and he raises birds.  David Mauldin's bird business in minimal compared to all the birds here.  I have to say that I fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I think the time is catching up with me but it was a nap that I needed so I am ready to go.  Tomorrow is the first day with kids!!  Go Huskies!!!!  

First Week at Work in CA - 8/12/13 - 8/18/13

Monday, August 12, 2013 – Sunday, August 18, 2013

Monday

I got up this morning and went to get my money order that I needed for my fingerprints today at RUSD.  It took awhile to do this because nothing opens till 10:00 am.  So instead, I went by the apartment complex to make sure everything was in order and ready for me to move in.  They said that everything was fine and there was no problem.  They are taking an additional $50.00 off of the lease for the inconvenience.  After this I went to the bank to get my money order and then I was off to meet my new principal.  I got to North High School and upon first glance, you can tell that it is an older school but it has character and charm.  The front of the school is a one-story entrance with the name of the school in metal letters out front.  When you walk it, it is truly a school atmosphere.  There are awards and displays around the office area.  There are two secretaries that sit in front and you can see the counselor’s offices behind those, there are four.   The principal’s secretary is incredibly nice and helpful.  I finally met Trevor, my new principal face to face and he took me on the tour of the school.  As we walked around we talked about the school and the improvements that he has made over the past two years.  I got to see Megan who is the other Assistant Principal and who was on my 1^st interview panel.  She has been in touch and calling me the last few days and I am so excited that I am here now and will get to work and learn from her as well.  She has been great at helping me adjust and transition the past few days.  After my tour of the school I went to the district office to do my fingerprints and fill out my paperwork.   I was able to meet the Asst Superintendent of Human Resources and the other individuals I have been emailing back and forth with for a few weeks.  It was so nice to put names with faces finally.  After completing everything at the district office, I have to go and get my drug test done.  I have to go down the street to the local doctor’s office to have this done.  Now, why this might bother some people, it does not bother me.  In college, I use to have drug tests done all the time because of athletics.  This time I was able to pee in a cup in private!!!!!  I am supposed to get board approved later this evening so I decide to go and change clothes.  On the way, the District office calls to let me know that I have passed my drug test and my fingerprints came back negative so I am good to go.    Later that evening the board approved me and now I can start my first day on Tuesday, August 13, 2013. 

Tuesday

Tuesday is my first official day at work and I spent a lot of time today talking to people and trying to figure out where different things are in the school.  There are several buildings since this is an outdoor / open school.  There are some buildings and then a majority of the area is portables.  The portables extend back on the school grounds so that the campus is long but not really wide.  There have been recent athletic upgrades so the track, stadium, pool, concession stands and scoreboards are new.  It really is a beautiful.  They have turf but it is the same turf that was put in in D5 with the little pellets.  Around 4:00 pm, I finally get my email address set up so that I can access email, which is Outlook.  I guess if I ever change jobs again, I will finally have an email that I am familiar with.  Laurens was Groupwise, Lex Rich 5 was Gmail and now I am in a district that uses Outlook.  This makes it tough to move around my calendars.  So here I go to learn a new program.  At least I will be proficient in a few different ones.  I stay that evening until about 6:00 pm talking with Megan and getting to know about things at North High School. 

Front of High School

Yes, there is Water Polo and Swimming!!!

Part of the Open Campus

The Library

The Pool!!!

Football Field - Track is new!!!!

Wednesday

I spent time with the Admin staff in meetings today and then with Megan, trying to get to know how things work at the school.   Megan and I take a walk and she shows me where several classrooms and buildings are as we investigate computer lab situations and other rooms.  We discover there is a room that is not being used and we decide that we are going to use it for a PD room.  Megan and I spend some time brainstorming about what to do with this room and how we are going to transform it to be a model classroom so that we can do PD for teachers.  It is great to know that I have gone into a staff situation like I had at LexRich 5.  I was worried that I would end up in a situation with no one to brainstorm with and have shared collaboration.  I cannot tell you how much this puts my mind at ease knowing that I have “landed” in a position with this type of environment. 

Thursday

Today is the Leadership Summit.  Dr. Rick Miller, the Superintendent started the event and got up and lead the Summit.  It was refreshing to have the opportunity to see him lead the district.  He made all of the new members of the team to get up and introduce themselves.  We had a great day with wonderful table discussions.  I must admit that I feel like Dr. Miller may have thought that I was being rude but Megan and I were actually texting back and forth with each other during the event.  I was furiously taking notes to be sure that I have everything written down and I understand.  The morning was all about Making Room at the Table for everyone who needs to have a voice and be a part of conversations.  It was a great lesson in diversity and cultural acceptance.  It also had a lot to do with Social Justice and making sure that all of our students are being represented and have a voice.  I truly enjoyed the discussions and meeting everyone at the table. 

They served us lunch at the event and they had VEGGIE BURGERS!!!!!!!  Do you believe it????  I was totally impressed!!!!  I did not even tell anyone I was a vegetarian, LOL!!!  That is one of the things I love about the west, there is always different things to eat at different places and they take into consideration all of the different dietary considerations without asking. 

In the afternoon we had information presented about budget constraints and the new funding rules going into affect in the next few months.  We heard about this in the morning from Dr. Miller and then again from Dr. Fine and a guest speaker in the afternoon.  At the end of the first day of the summit we were all invited back to Dr. Miller’s house for the Riverside Association of School Managers (RASM) social and fundraiser.  REALLY!!!!  We are going to the Superintendents house??????  For a fundraiser??????  OMG!!!!  Can I tell you how different this is?  I was able to sit and talk with several other administrators from different schools and really be able to get to know them. 

Friday

We had our second day of the Leadership Summit and it was just as good as the first day.  In the morning we had a guest speaker from LA that came and spoke about making Room at the Table also.  She brought up the point that sometimes you don’t want certain people at the table because they can cause some problems as well, so you sometimes deliberately excuse them from the table.  It was an interesting point of view because so many times we try and take such a positive slant on views and include everyone at the table.  I was surprised to hear the message but I get what she was saying, sometimes you want to excuse people from the table or not let them the come to the table because they stop all progress, they are “Energy Vampires,” and we do not need or want “Energy Vampires” around. I had a chance to have a one on one conversation with the Superintendent.  It was very refreshing and nice to be able to chat with a Superintendent again.  I told him how much I enjoyed the Summit and shook his hand to say good-bye and I said that it was nice to meet you Dr. Miller.  He paused and said, "That is not my name."  I almost flipped thinking I had used the wrong name and then I looked at him and said, "Rick?"  He smiled and said, "That is right."  Wow!!  As one of 180 administrators in the district, it was nice to be able to call a Superintendent by his first name again.  :)  

Saturday

On Saturday, I went into work to help with the Master Schedule.  I am not really sure how much help I was but I did learn a lot about the schedule and classes that are offered at the school.  As we were double-checking the board in Megan’s office, she would often tell me about the curriculum of the classes.  It was very enlightening to get more information about the differences in SC and CA classes. 

Overall the week went well.  I had a great start to a new position and I am excited with all that I have to learn.  The admin team I am working with is wonderful.  There are five of us and two of us are new. Mike is the AP of Athletics and is energetic.  Rich, who I have only met briefly, seems like a very nice guy who will teach me a lot about discipline.  Megan has been working on the Master Schedule and does a great job of being patient with me with all of my questions.  I have a lot to learn from her as well.  Trevor who is the principal is calm and collected.  I have a lot to learn from him. 

Education is education whereever you are.  There are some differences in the calculations of funds and different things that occur but overall there are not a lot of differences.  Credentialing and classes are a little different as well but nothing that is not hard to learn.  In addition, the graduation requirements as a whole are calculated differently but it is nothing that I cannot figure out.  They use an A-G system, which is basically just the number of classes in each subject area that is required.  If the students graduate with A-G, it mean they are ready for any University of CA college. However, the requirements are somewhat minimal and the students are encouraged to take a more rigorous course load during their high school career. 

The Trip West!!!

Friday, August 9, 2013 – Sunday, August 11, 2013

Here we go!!!  I am on my way to CA to work at Riverside Unified School District at John W. North High School as an Assistant Principal.  I am very excited to be making the move to CA.  I love SC but I wanted something different and a change of pace.  Maybe if I would have left the state for college, I would feel differently but I have completed two degrees in SC (USC, Furman) and am working on completing the third through Clemson.  This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time but have not been brave enough to do or had the contacts.  This position really "fell" into my lap in June and I never thought it would materialize.  I think a lot of this has to do with the efforts of one of my dearest educational friends, Michael John Roe and his hiring in this new district.  For those of you who I did not see before I left please know that I am sorry but this all went very quick.  So I am off on a brand new adventure and one I am embracing with open arms!!!  I am hoping to learn a lot of new skills that I can share with my friends in SC and bring new ideas to the district / school I will be working at and my new colleagues that I am excited about.

This move is being done in two stages.  Stage 1:  I have to get out there and get started.  I am technically jobless at this point.  I am no longer employed at Lexington-Richland District 5 and will not be approved in Riverside until Monday, August 12.  If approved, I start on Tuesday, August 13.  While the higher ups tell me there is not going to be a problem, for those of you that know me, I do worry about things like that and there is nothing I can do at this point but wait.  I have been told that my paperwork is fine and the approval is just a formality so there will be no issues.   That is what I am counting on!!!!   Stage 2: I have to move into an Apartment.   Rachel Traynham called all over the area to find me an apartment while I packed boxes.  Thank the lord for Rachel.  She found about three locations and then let me choose.  The apartment is a ground floor, two bedrooms, and two-bath place with a pull in garage and entry from the garage.  When we called and I was suppose to be able to get into the apartment on Aug 24^th but the complex called the evening of Aug 8^th and told me the present tenets will not be leaving until the 23^rd and therefore the apartment will not be ready until August 29^th.  Not good… So I will be staying with my friends until.  So I am jobless until August 12th at 6:00 pm and homeless until August 29th.  Ummm..... Adventure....Yes, it is.  

It has been a very difficult 2 ½ weeks.  I had to resign a position that I loved, not tell anyone until this was completed, work on tying up loose ends and prepping for the new coordinator, packing the house and saying good-bye to people.  I am not good at good-byes, I just cry!!!!  It is not because I don’t want to go, it is because I hate leaving my friends even though I will make new ones and will see my veteran friends later; they are coming to visit!!!!!!  If you are reading this and I did not personally say good-bye to you, please don’t take offense and know that I do treasure your friendship and influence in my life and hope to see you soon.  It truly was that everything happened so quickly and there was so little time to see everyone.

The Trip

So, I left SC on Friday, August 9th and began the drive to CA at 1:30 pm after saying good-bye to a few people in Laurens.  The plan was to drive as long and as far as possible to get to CA by Sunday.  I have to be at Riverside Unified School District Office by 1:30 pm on Monday so it would be nice to be able to get there and get some sleep before going.  The route chosen is I-20, I-10, I-8, I-15, and I-215.  Things started off well enough, although slow.  I stopped in Cola to give my mom a hug one more time and then off to CA.  Things were going well.  Made it out of SC and into GA with no problems, just a little rain.  I was able to avoid rush hour traffic in Atlanta but the rain hit and that slowed the speed of individuals on the interstate.  On the eastbound side (opposite side of the interstate I am traveling) there was a car that flipped and caused the “Rubbernecking Delay,” which almost caused several other accidents.  Once passed this accident the speed picked up and all was well.  Alabama was the next stated and to tell you the truth, for the short time there, it truly is a beautiful area.  Now mind you, I was only on I-20 through Alabama but there was lots of trees and greenery, very lush and pretty.  My friend Clark went to school in Auburn and as I drove through, I wondered how many times he made this trip and noticed the scenery.  I must remember to ask him about this!!!  Clark – I know you are going to read this – is Auburn like this????  From Alabama, the state knows as M, crooked letter, crooked letter, i, crooked letter, crooked letter, i, humpback, humpback, i.  You got it Mississippi!!!  This state went really fast and next it was onto Louisiana.  Now, apparently there is no Bon Temps or Fangtasia here so therefore no Eric.  I was willing to spend some time her to go and visit the sights from Charlaine Harris’s books but they don’t really exist so that plan was shot.    The one city referenced in the books that was here included Monroe of which I drove through at night so all I can say is the lights were pretty.  From LA, TX was the next state.  Now, let me say that at this point I am feeling pretty good.  I mean there are 9 states between SC and CA, including SC and CA.  I am officially through 5 of them and it is 4:00 am in the morning so I have only been in the car really 14 hours.  I must be making great time!!!! 

Then Texas happened.  OMG!!  Who let Texas be so big?  That state really does need to be cut into four smaller states or at least two states. Guess how long I spent in TX driving – go ahead – guess.  If you guessed fourteen hours you are correct!!!!  The really cool thing about TX is that you can FLY in a car.  I mean what other state lets you go 80????  You know that to me that translates to 5-10 miles over the speed limit so 90.  There was no traffic anywhere in TX on Saturday so it was easy to make really good time.  Granted there were many bathroom breaks, gas fill-ups, a few food stops and a picture of the Fort Hancock exit sign (where Andy sends the postcard to Red before he crosses the border) but at 4:15 pm, TX was behind me and that included the two-hour time change.  I immediately decided that since TX was behind me that it was okay to stop.  So I had the pleasure of staying in Las Cruces, New Mexico that Saturday evening.    Now, let me say that I have never heard of Las Cruces, New Mexico but it is a cute little town.  I asked the manager of the hotel for a good restaurant and he directed me to Andele, a local establishment known for its Green Chili Enchiladas.  OMG!!!  This was the best Mexican food I have ever had.  I would seriously consider living here just to be able to eat at this local family owned restaurant.  I wonder if they can ship the sauce!!!  The night proceeded uneventful and I was able to get some sleep after watching the Disney movie Cars to wind down from literally 28 hours in the car.    

I woke up that morning and had breakfast at the hotel.  Did anyone else know that the Holiday Inn has a pancake machine?  If I ate pancakes a lot then I would want one of these at the house / apartment in the morning.  Tooooo cooollll!!!!!! 

The Pancake Machine

At 7:00 am, I was on the road to CA again only to have to go through a Boarder Patrol check.  Now, let me say, I was slightly excited about this.  What were they going to ask, what would they look for.  I am obviously clean and have nothing to worry about so my interest in this was purely educational.  When you enter the border patrol checkpoint, the cars and trucks go to two different lanes.  As this yellow car pulled into the car lane, the car in front pulled off and the boarder patrol officer stepped to the car.  All he asked was, “Are you a US citizen?”  The answer of course was yes and the office said, “Thanks, have a nice day,” and waved me on.  Now, I gotta tell you I was disappointed.  Really…. That is all….. Either I look really innocent and honest or they were looking for something specific.  I guess I should be happy but they did not even confiscate my fruit as they did a few years ago when I entered CA from Nevada. 

 

New Mexico from I-20

After about 45 minutes in NM, I entered Arizona where there are more police in the first 30 minutes in the state then I have seen in the previous 7 states I have driven through.  Arizona has such beautiful mountain / rock landscapes.  I think I could spend some time here as well.   Along the way, it was noticed that Tombstone was close by so a detour was made for a couple of hours to see where the Ok Corral shootout took place.  On the way to Tombstone, there was a cactus and of course I had to stop for Benetta and have a picture taken because we did not get that done on the way to Vegas (Sorry B!!)  I do think this one is a bit bigger than some of the others along the highway from the Grand Canyon to Vegas but since the ATC girls never got out and measured them, I am not completely sure. 

 

Cactus for B

 Now, let me say that this is an interesting town for the simple fact that Tombstone is really a working town with a high school (the home of the fighting Yellow Jackets).  In addition, this is not an amusement type area.  People who live there and really do dress up due to their love of Western History run all the stores in the vicinity in the small town.  There was one guys who said he came and visited when he was 18 from Ohio and loved it so much that he retired there and has been there for 35 years working in the town of Tombstone and doing various things as his retirement. I would probably think that was very odd if I were not driving across the country to move to CA because I love the area as well.  Hmmmm…..  I stayed long enough to see the Ok Corral shootout, which was done with two cowboys rather than four because the other actors had some other event with their family.  Yep, not Disney at all.  LOL!!!  I did buy some vinegar while in the area and some veggie rub because the town is supported by the funds that are brought in.  So I feel like I have contributed to the small businesses in AZ now.   After a few hours in Tombstone, it was time to get on the road again so off I go to CA.

Tombstone

Arriving in CA was a bit difficult at times.  There is a LONG stretch of highway through Arizona into California that makes it a long ride.  There is nothing to see in front of you but rocks that you NEVER seem to get to.  They just continuously tease you because they look like they are getting closer and closer to you but they are never there. 

I-10 going into CA!!

I finally made it to CA and to the hotel the evening of Sunday night.  It was a long journey across the states but I am happy to be here.  This was my view during the evening.

Let me say thank you to some key individuals who made this trip go quickly and checked in on me during this drive.  Jamie, Tara and Clarkie – thanks for the laughs across the US.  I truly appreciate the humor and images to keep me awake.  Thanks Kristen and Rachel for the phone calls.  Thank you Michael and Jessica for checking on me and making sure I was safe during the travels as well as letting me be part of your family over the next few weeks.