salvage operation

The weather, so far, has been uncooperative.  We did see the sun for about 5 minutes here and there today, and it was nice to finally see a slice of blue sky.  But this evening intermittent showers began, and I felt like throwing in the towel.

I'm not sure whose idea it was, but we ended up going to see Pacific Rim instead.  Yes, it was silly, but it was also fun.  And unsurprisingly, given director Guillermo del Toro, it looked beautiful.  The scene that introduces Mako Mori, with silver rivers of rain sheeting off her black umbrella, was shockingly gorgeous.  An extended flashback scene purposefully evoked Spielberg's red-coated girl in Schindler's List, but more effectively, for me -- the little girl this time was a real character, not a symbol.   There was a lot to look at, but it all made sense, unlike other blockbuster movies (I'm looking at you, Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel) in which I usually can't make head or tails of who's being punched or dragged through a building or whatnot.

Plus, the monsters were really cool, the geeky scientists came through, and the casting was superb.  I understand that many people detest this sort of movie, and even DS1 continues to scoff (even after having seen it), but I was willing to be entertained, and I was.

now, vacation

 

Victory*

I remember feeling almost giddy when school was over this May.  I was so worn out this year, and reading over my (scant) entries here, I was struck by how often I struggled.  I know that for every time I posted, there were at least a half-dozen other events I could have documented.  I've kept everything purposely vague here, just enough for me to remember -- but that was enough.

Funny how I have constantly downplayed the negative, and had to really dig it up again to face it.  I know it's a survival tactic, but it's too akin to a battered woman staying with an abusive boyfriend.  Not to say that I was physically harmed or even threatened (well, maybe that once), but there was a tremendous amount of  psychological pain.  It's hard to feel constantly that you're failing, especially when you're working as hard as you can.  

That, more than anything, was why I made finding a new job my summer job. I spent the first half of June wrestling with the idea of looking for a new job (dozens of conversations and hours ruminating, boiled down to two paragraphs!),  and the second half of June actively doing so.  Applying for a teaching job requires jumping through many hoops, and I applied for a bunch. It may be this way for everyone, but I had to pull together multiple references, both personal and professional, several letters of reference, scans of my certificate and AEPA test results, and more.  Then there were the personal essays, which I perhaps should spend careful consideration on but tend to just knock out, proof read once or twice, and then submit.  I figure it's me.  If they don't like me, they shouldn't hire me.

July 1, a job posted at a school I knew about.  I drive by a few times a week. I applied, was invited for a screening interview, then a formal interview the next day, and I had an offer in my inbox within four hours of that interview.

Today I accepted their offer, and resigned from my old job. Now I can have some real vacation.

(*) The sculpture is not called "Victory" but it certainly represents how I feel right now.  It's on the grounds of Highfield Hall at Beebe Woods in Falmouth, MA.

not a beach day

We went anyway.

At home, it was close to 80 degrees with fluffy clouds on a blue sky.  But it was a mostly cloudy, only occasionally sunny kind of day. 

At the beach, the sky was white, and the wind was whipping.  It was almost too cold.  The boys and I headed right in, DD took some convincing.

The water was much warmer than I expected it to be.  The waves were huge.  I remember going to this same beach as a kid with my mother and her sister, and various siblings and cousins.  The waves were so big that every time my aunt tried to get out of the water, they kept knocking her down.  She was laughing so hard she couldn't get out of the water. 

I'm thinking that I'm older now than my aunt was, then. But I was laughing hard, too, every time a wave caught me off guard, which happened more often than usual today.  They were very big and very fast and very frequent.

As usual, DS1 was the first in and the last out.  DS2's lips were blue when he got out -- I gave up before I reached that point.  

Two trips to the beach in 21 days?  Not a great start, but we've still got some time here.