week one

Yesterday I went for a ride with my dad in the Miata with the top down.  He pulled me away from doing taxes (both federal and state of Illinois) with the lure of the open road and sunshine.  We've been having some gorgeous spring weather, and with the clear day we could see the mountain ranges on both sides while driving north to Marysville on all the back roads. We came south along the Snoqualmie River and went over Redmond Ridge right by my new school, so I was able to take the picture you see above.  That's really only a very small piece of the school--it stretches farther to the right and makes an L shape, and it's two levels in some places.

The rest of my first week went very well.  My time was mainly spent shadowing the girl I'm replacing, absorbing her knowledge and taking many pages of notes on a yellow tablet.  We went through a binder full of information she'd compiled.  One cool thing I found out I get to do is to record a special voice message on the school phone system when there is a snow day.  There probably won't be one of those til next winter though.  I had a tour of the school, which is divided into Lower (K-6), Middle (7-8), and Upper (9-12) sections, which each have their own Head and assistant.  There is a gym, two libraries, a commons area which includes the cafeteria and theater.  The spring play is Pride and Prejudice, so I am excited to see that.  A couple ladies stopped by the front desk to discuss their plans for sewing costumes.  Another mother came by and said she's working on a cookbook of recipes from school families, so I offered to help edit/proofread it, which she took me up on.  I think I have met nearly every staff member and teacher and a lot of the parents and students, but remembering them all is another matter.  Tomorrow is my first day flying solo at the front desk!


I went babysitting Saturday evening and had to take a photo of the view from this family's deck overlooking Lake Washington across to Seattle:

The Bear Creek School

Yesterday I started a new full time job (with benefits!) at a school out in Redmond called The Bear Creek School.  It is an independent (new term for "private" I guess), Christian, K-12 school with over 600 students.  My position is Office Assistant, and I am taking over for a girl who is starting full-time student teaching next week.  This week she is training me, introducing me to many people, and just generally encouraging me.  So far everyone I've met has been extremely friendly and welcoming--students, parents, teachers, and staff.  The pre-K teacher even brought me a latte yesterday!


Some of the things I've learned I will be doing: greeting people at the front desk, keeping track of events and the scheduling calendar, taking money and other odds & ends from students/parents, ordering supplies for the offices & teachers, and helping whoever with whatever.  A lot of it sounds quite similar to what I did in Chicago at Holy Family Lutheran School, which is why this job appealed to me!  It is wonderful to be back in a school.


The story of how I found this job is a good one; however I will have to save it for another day.  One thing I have to get used to is waking up in order to leave the house at 7:25am and get to school by 7:45am!  Definitely a different lifestyle than what I've been enjoying these last few months while working at church.  That reminds me, I will continue to produce the monthly newsletter at church, and I am quite happy to still be involved there as well as still have a hand in something writing/editing/creative.  I will also continue to babysit as that is something else I love to do!


ps, I will try to remember to take a photo at school tomorrow to post here later.

bienvenue!

I am taking a page from my lovely sister and keeping a blog that I will update more frequently than my travelogue.  I will still keep that one (go here to visit) over at travelpod, but have decided that since I am no longer in perpetual "travel mode" that I would like to have a regular blog as well.  Traveling will always be a part of my life, but there are other parts of my life I would like to share as well...my new job (more on that later), books I'm reading, places I'm going, etc.


In case you're wondering about calling the blog La Tarte Tatin...well, "C'est la Vie" was already taken! :)  La Tarte Tatin is a French dessert--an upside apple cake (think pineapple upside down cake, but with apples, and round).  I like "La Tarte Tatin" for a variety of reasons...it's in French, it's one of my favorite recipes I learned while in Cannes, it's a dessert.  I mean, what's not to like?  Also apples are Washington's largest crop and one of my favorite fruits.  Sometime I will make a La Tarte Tatin and take a picture for this blog, but probably not til after I help Holly with all of her recipes for her design project.  The story behind the dessert La Tarte Tatin is an intriguing one, and you can read more about it here.  It's not exactly a looker of a dessert, but that's one of its appealing qualities to me.


~Heather