Will Work for a Decent Salary or Not...

**** UPDATE****

I got a call at 5pm tonight asking me to come in for an interview in the morning. Great, great school. Good fit, but not sure what to do....

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So I’m still on the quest for a teaching job. Did I mention that the first day is next Monday? Meet the teacher is, um…tomorrow!! So far I can’t even seem to get a nibble, but I decided that however it works out – it WILL be okay. Positive thinking helps, right?

Cons of Teaching:

1. Long commute (all jobs are far 35 min-hour each way).

2. Less time with S and M (noticed I separated them for those of you who think S&M is funny!).

3. Pure exhaustion from returning to the classroom after two years off.

4. Weekend/nights spent lesson planning/grading etc.

5. Have to wait until May or June to adopt (if baby is available).

Pros of Teaching:

1. Save money since I would have my own health insurance.

2. More money means less debt (no debt actually).

3. More money means Starbucks(I know silly, but I love their coffee but can’t bring myself to buy it when I’m not contributing financially).

4. Feeling like I’m being productive and good at what I do.

5. Putting my too many years of education to use.

6. Oh, and the kiddos….I miss the kiddos. Although I am a bit worried that this came last on my list.

Now if I don’t get a Teaching job:

1. We can spend more time with M’s family in Germany at Christmas. (Almost a month instead of 10 days!)

2. We can take a placement of a baby sooner(like winter/early spring-ish)

3. I can finally start my own company of curriculum materials. I already have a website up and running, but need to organize my content to sell to homeschoollers/other teachers.

4. I can focus on grant writing to fund #2 on this list.

5. I can continue to focus on my health and weight (down 27 pounds already)

6. Play dates mid-week with my daughter. *

7. I can substitute teach at local schools and make some money, set my own schedule, and be able to stay home with S if her health declines or if she just needs more rest.(I let her stay home a day last week to just sleep!)

8. I’ve applied for some adjunct teaching positions for several universities (mostly online) so that income will help with adoption expenses.

9. I would still be able to do contract curriculum work on space/microgravity science.

10. Continue to sell items on ebay/amazon to help with adoption expenses. (already raised our application fee by selling stuff we just didn’t use! And still have so much to sell).

* S really needs to be in preschool. She has blossomed so much since starting preschool and is so happy. I meanridiculously happy at school. Our wonderful preschool does not have a part-time program for 2 year olds. So until I decide what I am doing – she’s going to stay in full-time. If I don’t end up getting an out-of-the-house-job, then we’ll move her to another school and she’ll go three days a week. Did I mention she’s learning Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish at school? It’s an amazing place. Oh, and she is using the potty there now!! (Now if I could get her to potty at home…oh well.)

So as you can see, I’m really in a good spot. If it happens, financially, it makes everything easier, but many things more difficult. If it doesn’t happen, financially, it makes everything harder, but many things much easier.

I’ll leave you with a picture of my gorgeous girl from a recent trip to the store. Have a great Wednesday!