The GACE

I received my unofficial scores for the GACE exam by email on Monday. At first I couldn't figure out the email because of the format, but when I saw "Status: Passed" I freaked out! I was so excited. It didn't tell me what my score was or anything, I had to wait for the official score which I received in the mail today. They don't even give you a percentage there either. It just gives you a scaled score out of 4, with a 4 being "Most or all of the questions answered correctly". I got a 4 on all the multiple choice questions for the "Earth Science", "Life Science", "Physical Science" and "Characteristics of Science" sections. There were also two essay questions, one on "Physical Science" and one on "Characteristics of Science". I got a 4 on the "Physical Science" one and a 3 on the "Characteristics of Science" one. So yes, I passed with flying colors! And I was so worried ...

A little survey

My friend sent this to me and I responded with my answers. I thought it would be fun to post them here and invite you all to post your answers on your own blogs!!

1.What time is it
5:19 P.M.
2.What's your name
Tabitha
3.What are you most afraid of
Falling
4.What is the most recent movie that you have seen
The Christmas List, but if you mean in the theater, it was the Mr. Bean’s Holiday
5. Place of birth
Rochester, NY
6.Favorite food
Pizza or fajitas, it’s a toss-up
6. What's your natural hair color
Brown
7. Ever been a Neat Freak
Yeah, I like things to be tidy
8.Ever been skinny dipping
I plan to sometime in my life
9.Love someone so much it made you cry
Ah … yes … and I still do.
10.Been in a car accident
Fender bender
11.Croutons or bacon bits
Croutons
12.Favorite day of the week
Don’t have one right now
13.Favorite restaurant
Anywhere I can get pizza or fajitas
14.Favorite Flower
I’m not picky, depends on who is giving them to me I guess
15.Favorite sport to watch
Any sport my friends are playing, especially if Joe’s playing
16.Favorite drink
Water, water and more water
17.Favorite ice cream
Chocolate, I think, or vanilla with chocolate and caramel in it
18.Warner Brothers/Disney
Disney I guess
19.Ever been on a ship
I don’t think so … I’ve been on lots of boats though!
20.What color is your bedroom carpet
Greenish
21.How many times did you fail your driver's test
None
23.What do you do when you are bored
Play games, surf the net
24.Bedtime
Midnight-ish
25.Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest
Yeah, I’m not sending this as an email! But I’d love for people to respond on their own blogs!
26. Who will least likely respond
Good question
27.Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses
All of them!
28.Favorite TV shows
I watch TV randomly. I think most of what’s on TV nowadays is trash
29.Last person you went to dinner with
Tamra and Daniel!
30. Park or Zoo
Park, definitely!
31.What are your favorite colors
I really like all colors put together, but currently my very favorite color is pink
32.How many tattoos do you have
None
33.How many pets do you have
One, a cat: Kisya
34.Which came first, the chicken or the egg
The chicken, and then I ate it
35. What do you want to do before you die?
Raise a family
36. Have you ever been to Hawaii
No
37 .Have you been to countries outside the U.S.
Yes, Canada, England and Ukraine
38.How many people are you sending this e-mail
None
39.Time this survey ended
5:36 P.M. (I got distracted)

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving came and went so quickly this year! I made a turkey with all the trimmings and it was so fabulous. Tamra, Angela and I stayed here and Angela's family came over as well. We had so much food, it was amazing!! And nearly everything that I made turned out well. I was a slightly less than completely satisfied with the stuffing, but ... you can't be 100% 100% of the time.

Us with our Thanksgiving feast

I've been so lazy this whole vacation. It's been nice to have a real vacation. Despite the fact that I have been not been employed full-time for 4 months now, this vacation is the first time I've been able to relax without feeling guilty because I have been working a lot lately. It's nice to feel like I deserve a break.

This next week is going to be very interesting! I get my test results back on Monday, and I'm working Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then I have my sub workshop on Friday! I'm excited to start substitute teaching! I believe that's what will really open doors for me with respect to getting a teaching job.

We've been decorating our house for Christmas! My roommates and I think we're really hilarious at midnight and we say all sorts of really random things. I took a video last night and I laugh my head off every time I watch it. I've embedded it above for your entertainment. Our house is starting to look really cool with all these decorations. I'm so excited for Christmas this year!

A bad hair year

I had to laugh when my mother emailed me and asked me for some pictures of myself to put on the family Christmas card this year. I went through and found a few pictures which I then sent, only to have her respond shortly after that with a request for more pictures specifically with my hair down! Well, this year has been a terrible hear for my hair. It really started in the Spring of 2006 when my hair got so long that I went and had it cut. I've never had such a TERRIBLE haricut in my life. Every haircut since then has been an effort to repair that horrible haircut of a year and a half ago. Finally I decided that the only way to have good hair again was to let it grow out and then have it cut just for a little style. And I'm going to save up and go back to the guy that cut my hair in June (who did a fabulous job by the way). I haven't had it cut since then, I've just been letting it grow out, and only recently have I felt like I could wear my hair down again! So, sadly, 90% of my pictures from this year are with my hair pulled back in a pony-tail! And finding a picture I actually liked amongst the remaining 10% was, alas, not successful. So, yesterday afternoon, I let my hair down and my I had my roommate take some pictures of me outside. One of the pictures you will see at the top of my blog. I am just so pleased that my hair is finally growing out again!!

Today was my last day with my roommate's Pre-K class. I can't even begin to describe the fun I have had these last 2 weeks with these kids!! It hardly felt like a job at all! I was like, what? I get paid to be here and to have fun with kids all day?? It was so rewarding and I learned so many things. I have a 5-day weekend and then I will go in next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but I will be with other kids. We took a picture today of me with all the kids (my hair is pulled back, of course).

Oh goodness!

(Me with my beautiful roommates on Halloween--That's me the cat-Meow!!)

It's been a long time since I blogged! I knew it had been, but I was trying to get the energy to write something really good. Well, I'm sick again. I think working at the preschool has exposed me to all sorts of new bugs. Hopefully I'll build up a gigantic immunity and I won't get sick at all this winter!!! (Wishful thinking!)

I can't believe it's only 8:30 pm. This whole daylight savings time really throws me off. Since the change, it gets to be 6pm and I think it's bedtime because it's dark outside. I remember similarly on my mission going home at 4pm in the winter time for dinner and it would be getting dark then. Imagine how much I wanted to go back out and work in the cold and dark! Nevertheless, I did. I've taken little naps every afternoon this week too, because I just get exhausting running after kids all day. At the beginning, my feet hurt because I was used to being lethargic all day. Now I'm used to standing up and so they don't hurt any more. I also burn more calories standing up, hooray ;-) Something else that's nice is that I get 2 healthy meals a day: breakfast and lunch, and I don't have to buy it myself. That's a definite benefit of working at a daycare/preschool. Granted, the school lunches aren't anything to write home about, but if it gets me through the day and I'm not spending extra money to go out for lunch, I'm a-ok!! I don't know if this is true in all states, but in Georgia the pre-K is funded by the state. Well, funded by the lottery, anyway. So, it's free for all kids. I could really see it being beneficial as long as you can get and keep good teachers. My roommate's class (where I spend most of my time there), is very smart, and very lucky to have such a good teacher. Most of them are 4 years old and they are recognizing and writing the letters. About half of the 20 kids can write their names legibly at this point of the school year. I know that I went into Kindergarten being able to read, but I know that wasn't the case with most of the kids I went to school with. In my Kindergarten class there were only 2 kids who could read, myself and another boy. He actually read better than I, which I remember made me mad. I was academically competetive, even back then.

I did take my big test on Saturday the 3rd. I got very ill the day before. I was throwing up and everything--it was awful. But I received a priesthood blessing and while I went to that test the next day with a headache and a tender stomach, I never felt nauseous and I was able to succesfully complete the test. The scores will be reported at the end of November. I believe I passed, but I'm not going to say for sure because you just never know, do you? I remember feeling very nervous about my answers to the 2 short essay questions. Well, if it's the Lord's will, then I passed, didn't I? Two days later, on Monday, I received a call from Gwinnett county saying that I had been approved to be on the substitute list and that I could attend a sub workshop on the 30th of November. Timewise it's far away, but I have a guaranteed job until Thanksgiving, and then I should be able to substitute teach in the public schools starting in December. I went to a job fair last Saturday and was able to leave my resume with 4 or 5 different middle schools. When I spoke with their representatives, their advice was pretty much always the same: "Get into long-term substituting". I know that substitute teaching will open doors for me. While it's difficult financially, I have faith in the Lord and I'm continuing to pay my tithing. I'm not the type of person that enjoys a really drawn-out means to an end, but the Lord recently has been teaching me this sort of patience. Spending at least 4 months in an effort to become a teacher (most of it just waiting for the next step) is not on my list of the most efficient paths ever. But, I know that the experiences I am having now are helping me to prepare and that they are necessary. In the Lord's own time shall all blessings be realized ...