I'm a first-time aunt!

My sister Heidi and brother-in-law Rick just had their first baby, which makes me a first-time aunt! His name is Richard James Bagnall, or R.J. for short. He was born on May 22nd, 2009 in Lafayette, Indiana at 8:30am after 23 hrs of labor, 9lbs 15.8 oz.

Standardized Tests Suck

I just got notified via e-mail that I did not pass the West-E general science and biology exams. I am pretty depressed about it, as this was my second attempt on the general science exam and these tests are $130 a pop. I believe I was ONE QUESTION away from passing. The bottom line is that I do not take standardized tests well and a lot of questions were about obscure concepts. Plus I haven't taken Physics yet, which was about 15% of the exam. I took the tests now so that I could get hired as a science teacher for this fall. Well, that's not going to happen now. I won't take the tests again until I'm finished with my classes, which will be later on this fall. It appears that it's going to take at least a year to get the science endorsement. So, needless to say, I'm pretty disappointed. I was talking with a school principal last week who told me that this is the worst time in 30 years to get a teaching job. Lovely news, huh?

I have a phone interview with the Anchorage School District next week. I'm pretty nervous about the idea of moving to Alaska! But I'm also pretty nervous about the idea of subbing this fall in classrooms of 30+ students.

I'm finished with subbing for the school year and am not working this summer. Just taking my physics class. I'm going to have to be even more creative to make my small savings support me through this summer!

On a different note, I recently went to Nebraska to attend my friend Shauna's wedding. Shauna was my best friend in Macedonia Peace Corps and she married her Macedonian boyfriend. It is like a fairytale. I will post the story and photos soon.