A new job, graduation, etc...

Well, it has been a VERY long time since posting here. I had started writing more 'writing' on my Scroggles site (www.scroggles.com) so if you wanna read some of my writings, they are there, under shetellsall. If not, I thought I'd give an update here on the more practical side of things.

Right now, I am relaxing in the knowledge that I have fulfilled all of my requirements for my Teaching License here in Colorado. All I have to do now is finish up the week with my 6th grade class, and then show up a couple of times til the end of the year to do some teaching on music and poetry. Fun stuff!!

Also, I have been offered a position as 7th grade teacher in a middle school out on the prairies of Colorado!! It is a neat old, big building positioned next to teh high school which is a bit bigger and newer. Fort Lupton Middle is nestled in a small town that maybe used to be thriving but now is home to people who live there and work in Boulder or Denver, and some auto industry places and others who live hand to mouth, just barely getting by. There is ONE diner, several Mexican restaurants and a Chinese place which has a nebulous look. It could be open or closed. It's not exactly obvious from the outside.

There is something I really like about a community that continues to live there and be loyal to the town, even though the industry is fading. There is something that attracts me to a community like that, even more than slick and fancy suburban communities. Here, there is real poverty. Here, there is high immigrant population. There is a church on every corner. There is a continuity at stake here.

So, two years of working my patootie off has paid off! Thank you to those of you who have supported me and encouraged me on in this pursuit toward my teaching degree. Thank you for understanding when I was too drained and stressed out to hang out. When the last thing I wanted to do was actually 'talk' after a day of demands and needy kids and performing for a grade and an endorsement for a job. When I could barely rub two nickels together and had to beg and borrow and push my rent back (thanks, Trace and Becca!) a few days. And thanks to God, who has put me on this path, given me these friends and family and seems to never leave me. That I could not do without.