The Torture of Bureaucracy

 I have a Tennessee teaching certificate and I have been trying to get a teaching job in Tennessee for two years.  I have had many offers but when I inform them that I still live in South Carolina and will have to move to Tennessee they withdraw the offer.  Come on people!! If I was not wanting to move to Tennessee I would not have spent the $200 dollars to get my Tennessee teaching certificate.  I even resigned from my teaching position two years ago so I would be free to accept a position and move there.

In the meantime my South Carolina Teaching Certificate has expired.  Last August I called the State Department of Education and they informed me that all I needed to do is send in an application with the application fee and send in my fingerprints which had to be done at an agency of their choosing.  I had to be fingerprinted for my current job but they would not accept them.  With that all done an safely sent to the Teacher Licensing Office I begin my wait.  Keep in mind that these people are very slow.  I applied for my license the first time in November 2005 received it in the mail in February 2006.  December comes, no license.  I call and they say we will contact you by mail.  No letter. March comes.  I call again; same response, no letter.  June comes around and I repeat the process, no letter.  Two weeks ago I get a phone call from them.  I have until the end of December to take one Praxis II test.  The test is only given on November 13.  It is a new test that is required for licensing, this is the first time anyone has taken it, and there is no study guide for it.  So what do I do?  I register for the test and I am now creating my own study guide.  I think when I finish this test and pass it I may try to publish my study guide.

First Day at Zumba

The county I work for has decided that we are all overweight and that we are all out of shape.  Their solution.....a mandate that we must go to the gym three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time.  And since we are adults, and can't be trusted to tell the truth....we have a form we have to get signed each time we go.  OK, I'll go along with that because they are going to "pay" us $20 a month to go.

So my first choice of torture was Zumba.  If you have never heard of this it is an exercise class that is very fast Latin dancing, and I do mean fast.  And most of the people in the class were the same age of my daughter who is almost 21.  I lasted the entire class and I was exhausted and sore when it was done, but I was also proud of myself.  The hardest part now is to continue