I probably say this every year, but this time, I really mean it, the last four weeks have been the WORST I can remember. For whatever reason work has been exhausting, I haven’t been sleeping at all, and by at all, I mean up at 3:00 and staying up, SO annoying, coaching soccer is wearing me out, I am not doing it next year. Between Fall Trip, coaching and a few trips by choice I am just going crazy. I’m currently sitting on the runway in some airport in Africa, I couldn’t even tell you what country, because my easy flight from Vienna to Amsterdam to Nairobi has, of course, turned out a little different than planned. I wonder if there will ever be a time when I get on a plane and everything goes as planned, including getting my luggage at the other end of the trip. Probably never.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Work is crazy; it was just announced this week that our principal is moving to the High School and there is no current plan in place for the Middle School. This will make for an interesting and challenging rest of the school year. I am going back and forth trying to decide if I should stay in Vienna for another school year, or be looking for another job. If the last few weeks and now this big change is any indication of how the next couple of years are going to be, for my own sanity I might want to consider a new position and a new city. Like I said, I haven’t been sleeping very well at all, I’m sure a big portion of it is stress and anxiety related. Living abroad is really, really, really hard. There are a lot of great benefits, financially and travel opportunities are amazing, but day to day life is just plain hard. And exhausting. When you think about looking for a new job at home, it doesn’t necessarily require a work visa, moving across the country, learning a language, etc. I think what I’ll do is apply for a few specific jobs if they open up and will be doing their hiring before December 15, which is when I need to tell my school what I am doing. I was thinking Singapore, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, possible Kuala Lumpur, we’ll see what happens. I think I just want to stay in Vienna though. Things really are going well, except work, it’s just too much right now, something has got to change.
I am now at the hotel in Nairobi. I ended up getting here around midnight or so, had to wait in the car at the gate while they swept the car for bombs. My mom and Nicole stayed up and waited for me to get there, we stayed up for a while and talked, I was SO happy to see them! We got up this morning and after I went to the gym had a super delicious breakfast and then I went to my conference and my mom and Nicole went to the hospital that Kristin is working at and also did some shopping. I’m really glad I decided to attend this conference, it’s the first time I’ve done any professional development that is actually geared towards counselors, so I feel like I’m learning and will learn a lot during the whole thing.
While I will learn a lot from this conference, I am ready for the vacation to start… and to see my sister!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
I LOVE Fall.
You would not believe the weather we have been having! It has been absolutely beautiful. Work and soccer have kept me really busy and I'm actually going a bit crazy. Fall trip was fun, the sixth graders crack me up. We hiked, went to salt mines, ice caves, markets, painted nails, you know, all the usual things. And, of course, I did ruin this one kids entire life. Easy to do when they are 11 years old. Whatever. She got over it, she was painting my nails for me about 15 minutes after I ruined her life. We also played in a couple of weekend soccer tournaments, which were time consuming, but fun. We had our day trip to Budapest on Saturday, I think I said "turn around and face the front of the bus" about six zillion times.
The cow festival in Westendorf was way more fun than I thought it would be. We rented a car and drove out there on a Friday right after work, it was about a 4 or 5 hour drive and the woman driving did a great job, but hadn't driven a stick in a while and nearly ran the car into the wall in the parking garage, but it improved from there. I only screamed one time. Anyways, we got in late on Friday and went to the only open place to grab dinner, the kitchen was closed, but they agreed to make us pizza. We ate our pizza while we watched the crazy Austrians dance to American classics played by some random band. Oh, and we were at a gelato place/bar. Normal combination, right? The next morning I went on a gorgeous run, I can see why they say "the hills are alive with the sound of music..." Seriously, the hills looked alive, and I really don't even know exactly what that means, except that they looked alive. The dressed up cows started coming through town around 10:30, it was just like a big parade and people lining the streets waiting for the cows. Of course there was sturm, beer, sausages, noodles, and all the other Austrian foods for everyone to enjoy. By the end of the day there were many people that were having a hard time standing. After we watched the cows for a while we hopped in the car and drove to Kitzbuehl, which was such a cute town! Most of the shops were closed and I would love to go back, pretty much a ritzy ski town. We wandered around a bit and then sat outside and enjoyed some pumpkin soup for lunch. We stopped at this cute pumpkin stand on the way back, I bought a couple of different pumpkins and made home made pumpkin soup with them, delicious! We also had an amazing dinner in town that night, some random nice guy let us join him because the place had no tables, seemed like a nice enough guy, German I think. Went on another great run the next morning, this time I headed up the hills and saw some amazing views. By the time we got back from Vienna I was pretty tired from being gone all weekend.
Let's see, what else. I signed up for two more races. The St. Polten Half Ironman on May 20, 2012 and the Zurich Ironman on July 15, 2012. I don't really know what I was thinking. I think I am getting a tad bit obsessive about the whole thing. It almost feels like now that I have done that, any other running event seems like nothing. Steve sent me videos of the swim start and me crossing the finish line and I just watch them again and again. It just doesn't seem real that I was able to do that. I am trying to tell myself that my goal is to finish the Zurich one, but in the back of my mind I want to beat my time. I really think I can take a full hour off the bike ride, those hills killed me. I have been running a ton lately. It takes the same amount of time to run home from work as it does to take public, so I run three or four times a week and am still running in the morning. Tomorrow I am meeting Anika at the gym and she is going to help me figure out a weight training routine. I want to work on that and swim technique before I officially start training in December. I am going to sign up for these basic swim technique classes, but the ones now are all full. The next sessions start in January, so I'll do it then. I guess registration is November 7.
Speaking of dates... We have to tell the school our "intent" by November 4th. That seems so early! But, at the same time, we don't have to tell them for sure until December 15. I can't decide what I want to do, part of me thinks I should stay a few more years and pay off all my debt, and part of me gets really excited about the idea of looking for a new job. What makes it hard for me is that if a school I am interested in posts a position and I decide to not apply, that means I won't have another opportunity at that school for probably 3 - 5 years. Ugh! I just subscribed to TIE online, so now I can obsess and watch for job openings. It was probably a really bad idea to do that. Soon I'll be updating my resume and sending off letters of interest. It would have to be a pretty amazing job, city and financial package for me to leave this job. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I am heading to Nairobi for a conference in a few weeks. My mom and sister will be there too, as will my cousin. I can't wait! We are going to go on a safari and also stay at a beach resort for a few days. And, once again, we are missing Halloween at school. YEAH! That is probably my least favorite holiday. I love it when the kids are small and cute, but think so many woman use it as an opportunity to dress really slutty. So annoying.I do have to come up with some sort of costume though, this Friday is Activities Night and it is a Halloween theme... maybe if I bake enough baked goods for the bake sale they won't notice that I'm not dressed up...
Oh, so when I'm not working or coaching I am trying too spend every waking moment outside in the sun! Sundays have been great this Fall; I have been riding my bike to the Prater to meet Anika, running for an hour and a half or so and then coffee over at Thomas's house. Then, I usually try to meet Steph for some sort of "active lifestyle" activity that also involves Pumpkin Soup. This Sunday, afer I got home from an amazing two or three hour bikeride, we went out by my school, ate pumpkin soup and salad with Amy and then Steph and I hiked around throught the vineyards and forested area. So fun! Oh, and for some reason the night before a few of us went out to 1516 (after a LONG day trip to Budapest) until 3:30 in the morning, I haven't done that in YEARS. But, it was pretty fun!
Ok, off to bed.
The cow festival in Westendorf was way more fun than I thought it would be. We rented a car and drove out there on a Friday right after work, it was about a 4 or 5 hour drive and the woman driving did a great job, but hadn't driven a stick in a while and nearly ran the car into the wall in the parking garage, but it improved from there. I only screamed one time. Anyways, we got in late on Friday and went to the only open place to grab dinner, the kitchen was closed, but they agreed to make us pizza. We ate our pizza while we watched the crazy Austrians dance to American classics played by some random band. Oh, and we were at a gelato place/bar. Normal combination, right? The next morning I went on a gorgeous run, I can see why they say "the hills are alive with the sound of music..." Seriously, the hills looked alive, and I really don't even know exactly what that means, except that they looked alive. The dressed up cows started coming through town around 10:30, it was just like a big parade and people lining the streets waiting for the cows. Of course there was sturm, beer, sausages, noodles, and all the other Austrian foods for everyone to enjoy. By the end of the day there were many people that were having a hard time standing. After we watched the cows for a while we hopped in the car and drove to Kitzbuehl, which was such a cute town! Most of the shops were closed and I would love to go back, pretty much a ritzy ski town. We wandered around a bit and then sat outside and enjoyed some pumpkin soup for lunch. We stopped at this cute pumpkin stand on the way back, I bought a couple of different pumpkins and made home made pumpkin soup with them, delicious! We also had an amazing dinner in town that night, some random nice guy let us join him because the place had no tables, seemed like a nice enough guy, German I think. Went on another great run the next morning, this time I headed up the hills and saw some amazing views. By the time we got back from Vienna I was pretty tired from being gone all weekend.
Let's see, what else. I signed up for two more races. The St. Polten Half Ironman on May 20, 2012 and the Zurich Ironman on July 15, 2012. I don't really know what I was thinking. I think I am getting a tad bit obsessive about the whole thing. It almost feels like now that I have done that, any other running event seems like nothing. Steve sent me videos of the swim start and me crossing the finish line and I just watch them again and again. It just doesn't seem real that I was able to do that. I am trying to tell myself that my goal is to finish the Zurich one, but in the back of my mind I want to beat my time. I really think I can take a full hour off the bike ride, those hills killed me. I have been running a ton lately. It takes the same amount of time to run home from work as it does to take public, so I run three or four times a week and am still running in the morning. Tomorrow I am meeting Anika at the gym and she is going to help me figure out a weight training routine. I want to work on that and swim technique before I officially start training in December. I am going to sign up for these basic swim technique classes, but the ones now are all full. The next sessions start in January, so I'll do it then. I guess registration is November 7.
Speaking of dates... We have to tell the school our "intent" by November 4th. That seems so early! But, at the same time, we don't have to tell them for sure until December 15. I can't decide what I want to do, part of me thinks I should stay a few more years and pay off all my debt, and part of me gets really excited about the idea of looking for a new job. What makes it hard for me is that if a school I am interested in posts a position and I decide to not apply, that means I won't have another opportunity at that school for probably 3 - 5 years. Ugh! I just subscribed to TIE online, so now I can obsess and watch for job openings. It was probably a really bad idea to do that. Soon I'll be updating my resume and sending off letters of interest. It would have to be a pretty amazing job, city and financial package for me to leave this job. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I am heading to Nairobi for a conference in a few weeks. My mom and sister will be there too, as will my cousin. I can't wait! We are going to go on a safari and also stay at a beach resort for a few days. And, once again, we are missing Halloween at school. YEAH! That is probably my least favorite holiday. I love it when the kids are small and cute, but think so many woman use it as an opportunity to dress really slutty. So annoying.I do have to come up with some sort of costume though, this Friday is Activities Night and it is a Halloween theme... maybe if I bake enough baked goods for the bake sale they won't notice that I'm not dressed up...
Oh, so when I'm not working or coaching I am trying too spend every waking moment outside in the sun! Sundays have been great this Fall; I have been riding my bike to the Prater to meet Anika, running for an hour and a half or so and then coffee over at Thomas's house. Then, I usually try to meet Steph for some sort of "active lifestyle" activity that also involves Pumpkin Soup. This Sunday, afer I got home from an amazing two or three hour bikeride, we went out by my school, ate pumpkin soup and salad with Amy and then Steph and I hiked around throught the vineyards and forested area. So fun! Oh, and for some reason the night before a few of us went out to 1516 (after a LONG day trip to Budapest) until 3:30 in the morning, I haven't done that in YEARS. But, it was pretty fun!
Ok, off to bed.
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