Moved In....

Labor Day weekend was a hard weekend full of work but it was well worth it.  The apartment is set up and ready to go.  I feel like I have a home now and it feels good to be in my own place with items that are familiar.  I absolutely loved living with the Roe's while I was here for the first few weeks but it is nice to be in my own place with my clothes, bed and pillow.  The apartment is super-cute and although that is what my mom says is code for small, it really is cute and just what is needed right now.  It is about 30 minutes from work but the drive there in the morning allows me to think about what has to be done and make decisions and on the way home, it is nice to be able to decompress and get to the point where when I walk in the door I can relax.  For those of you who are coming to visit, you are going to love it!!!!  Now when you see the closet picture, I am slightly embarrassed for you to look at this.  For those of you who know what has been going on in my life the past four years you know that I was at the Joe Adair Center and I had clothes there, in a locker room at a high school, at my mom's and in several closets at a small house.  I never realized how much I had until I put it all together in one spot. WOW!!! I need to purge!!!  For those of you worried about my decorating, trust me Rachel Traynham came out and helped to decorate the apartment.  You would be impressed at how much it is truly me with colors.  I am including pictures here.

Looking in from Door

Den from Kitchen

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom

Kitchen

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Office

Closet

So I had Monday off for Labor Day and made a trip down to San Diego to visit Coronado for a few hours.  I know that Disney has Coronado Springs which is modeled after this area.  This is also the area where I did a phone interview and made it to second round but was not chosen as the final candidate, but was one of the last two.  It is beautiful here and I can't wait to come back when I can spend more time rather than just an afternoon on a busy Labor Day.

Beach at Coronado

Coronado Springs Hotel

On the way home from Coronado, there was a fire on the side of a mountain.  Now, I know that many people tell me that CA is full of rocks and it is brown all over the place but when you look at this you can see there is obvious things that can burn on the side of a mountain as well.  The freeway was closed down for a bit in the evening on the other side as well.  There is black there but other than that, there is no evidence that anything happened.

Fire on I-15 Southbound

This week at work has been interesting and fun.  Tuesday and Wednesday was fine with no big problems.  Megan and Trevor were both gone most of these days and Mike, Rich and I were holding down the fort / school.  There were no major problems and we made it through fine.  One Wednesday we did have some different investigations going on at various times this week causing me to learn a lot about school investigations as a whole.  It is great to have a SRO in the office next door and Rich is across the hall from me.  We met about discipline this week and I feel much better equipped to deal with students in order to help change their behavior and be consistent in the school.

I did have my benefits meeting on Wednesday and let me tell you that it was interesting.  Thank goodness for Lisa out of Laurens District 55 and Karen in Lexington-Richland District 5 who helps employees understand their options and make some important decisions regarding their insurance choices without making them feel incompetent.  The lady that explained benefits to me was not near as helpful and went very quickly so I was completely confused since everything is so different in the health realm here.  During this meeting was the first time that I am questioning my decision to come West. Really.....over benefits!!!!  I spoke with Michael about it and he helped me with the retirement portions and I spoke with Megan and she made suggestions for health and dental care.  I have an appointment on Monday, September 8th to finish my benefits at 3:00 pm.  She told me it would take 15 minutes but I told her that she better reserve an hour for me because I am going to have questions.  We will see how that goes!!!

Friday was the big day!!!!!  The school waited since 1965 to have their own stadium and this Friday was the first football game they have had at their school.  It was a huge event that Becky spent loads of time planning for.  She and Mike pulled off a phenomenal event that was incredibly well attended and AWESOME!!!!  The District Office cabinet all came to share in the event and it was nice to see everyone there and talk with them outside of a board or conference room.  It was so much fun to be there and be part of the event that was literally history in the making.  I am pleased to have been able to be a part of this school and contribute in any way that I can.  While there was some hiccups along the way, we now can see where we need to make changes in order to have another great event in the upcoming week.

Getting Ready for some Football

Warming Up

Packed Stadium

The Husky Mascot

JW North Stadium

Fireworks at Halftime

On Saturday, I had a great day.  I got to see some friends in the area that I have not seen in awhile.  The cable and Internet got hooked up so I have access to be able to do work from home now also.  On Sunday, I hung out with Jessica, Mogwli, an Riley in the morning and went shopping with Megan and Willow in the afternoon.  Overall it has been a good weekend.  It has been very hot here and somewhat humid and everyone continues to tell me this is unusual and it will pass so therefore I have not been hiking.  I am looking forward to going hiking soon!!!!!