April 17-23 : Starting Something New

This was Andrew's first week at his new position at Fidelity. He totally rocked the last job he had, and after an impressive interview, how could they not beg for him to work with them at this next level?! :) I am very proud of him. He works so hard, stays to do overtime, asks for advice on how to be more effective, and sincerely seeks out ways to improve himself and those around him. This next job will be tough, but I know he will do wonders with it.  The next 8 weeks are all training, and then he will jump into the thick of things. How exciting!

Speaking of Andrew starting something new, did I tell you that he started school again? He applied to WGU (it's a purely online university) and got in. 2 of his brothers did their Master's degrees through the WGU program, and he has another brother who is also currently working through his Bachelor's through them. So far, Andrew has like it. He never liked having to go to class on campus, so the online courses allow him to go at his own pace and choose his hours.  It's great.  And it's definitely time consuming. I have had to come to terms that I don't get to just hang out with my husband during the week. He comes home from work, we eat dinner together and talk, and then he has to seclude himself in our office for 2-3 hours while I grade papers or watch Netflix and finally fall asleep (and unfortunately I often fall asleep before he is done studying). It's not an ideal social situation for me, but I admire his hard work and dedication in earning higher education.  This weekend he took the final for his first class and PASSED! Yay! :) One class down... 30-something-ish to go ;)

For me, my students and I are still in the midst of state testing (Ug, don't let me start on how much I despise end-of-year testing). So while that is not fun, we have started our Holocaust unit and our reading of The Devil's Arithmetic. This unit is always a highlight to my students' 8th grade year, so I am happy I could fit it in. We have started our penny competition and the scores are as follows:
*Mrs. Macey's classes- 29,000 pennies
*Mrs. Butterfield's classes- 21,000 pennies
*Mrs. Tohara's classes-10,000 pennies
Yes, that is right, my classes are in the lead. I am so impressed with how generous many students and parents are with this penny activity. 

And finally, I kinda started the 21 Day Fix program this week. I have determined that marriage has made me happy....and fat. I don't want to hate how I feel in my clothes, so I've decided to take action. This week was not an official start, but I did a few of the workout videos (and I was supremely sore afterwards as a result), and I tried to keep track of what I was eating so that I didn't have meaningless munchies. I will keep you updated on how the rest goes. Andrew and I have actually made our weight loss into a competition. If I win, I get a shopping spree to buy new clothes. If he wins, he gets this...............................................>(and I'm not kidding about this being what he wants) a blow-up T-Rex costume. 

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