survey says, part one

What’s going on, you ask? Go here for the break down and to see where all these questions came from. And feel free to ask one in the comments, if you need to. Part two tomorrow.

What’s with the job? Why did you leave teaching? Do you miss it? Are you sad you don’t have summers off anymore?

Actually, I didn’t quit teaching. I just quit teaching at the school I had been at for the past ten years. I resigned from my middle school teaching job in November 2015 and started working at a virtual school, a charter school in Indiana. I work from home, teach kids in an online classroom where they can hear me and see my presentations, lessons, slides, etc., but they can’t actually see me. So I can wear pajamas or workout clothes and not bathe and NO ONE KNOWS. It’s glorious. I have a wide variety of students: homeschool kids whose parents want help with curriculum, kids that travel for sports, acting, or music, kids with social issues, kids with medical issues, kids who have been expelled from traditional schools, kids who are advanced and want to finish school early, etc. I’m really enjoying it. I get to do the best parts of teaching: design fun lessons, interact with students, share knowledge, and help kids learn, without the wearing parts: classroom management, hallway duty, tons of after-school meetings, having to wear pants. I talk about some of my struggles with making the leap from brick-and-mortar school to virtual school in these posts (here and here).

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In a dream-big kinda way, I would love to be writing full time and done with teaching. Traveling with my family and writing, those are my life goals. Seriously. But like I shared above, right now in this moment, I’m exactly where I want to be and have a sense of contentment I haven’t experienced in a long time. In five years? No longer traditionally employed and just writing. #dream (Side note: I think God LOVES for us to dream big and share those dreams with him. But I also know whatever happens, I’ll be where I’m supposed to be. I truly believe that.)

Are you considering homeschool options?

Um, NO. Maybe when my kids get older and want to for high school, we can definitely talk. But I’m a public school teacher, Chris and I grew up going to public schools, and I know they can educate my children better than I can at this point. We learn a lot at home (hello, teacher mom!), but I don’t want it to be my job with them. I see so many flaws in the public education system, but I also see so much good. And on a more personal sense, I just don’t have the patience to educate my own children. There is a reason I worked outside the home and Chris stayed home with them. I’m a good mom, but I’m a better mom when I’m not around my kids all the time. (I think they’d agree with that sentence.) Whew, I got anxious just answering that question.

(Okay, moment of truth. As I’m sitting here writing this I just heard my first grader drop THE F BOMB while playing with her sister. She didn’t say it right, context-wise, but she definitely said it. That is a word we don’t say at home. I asked her where she heard it and she said at school. So ignore everything I just wrote. WE’RE HOMESCHOOLING RIGHT NOW.)

How are you so open about everything? What joy do you find in that?

*dramatic pause while I think*

*still thinking*

I don’t know. Let’s try this: I’m pretty sure I was born without the part of your brain that says, ooh, don’t tell people that, they might judge you. The part of your brain that says, this could be embarrassing. I don’t have those parts. It takes a whole lot to embarrass me, and I don’t really care what you think of me. Maybe those two things combined make me open and willing to share? Not to say I share everything that comes through my fat head, but I feel like sharing things connects us to others and I love connecting. Being a reader all my life taught me how powerful the written word can be in the right context and maybe I’m just trying to figure out how that fits into my life. I’ve always been a storyteller, so right now I’m–in the most basic sense–just here telling you some stories.

Or perhaps I’m just really full of myself. It could go either way, I guess.

How much sleep do you require?

Depending on the day, I get between 6-7 hours of sleep a night. Sometimes I stay up really late and write or read. I love nothing better than staying up all night in a very quiet house. (Introvert alert.) But sometimes I go to bed really early too. Like 8:30. Seriously.

When I was younger, my dad used to say he didn’t have the ability to sleep in and I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard. How can someone NOT sleep in? I’d think as I slept until noon.

But now I can’t sleep in. Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 AM wide awake and just grabbed my book and read. I get up (pretty) easily at 6:30 to read my Bible every morning. I have weird sleep patterns and no routine which is weird for someone who loves a routine. I get a lot done in the wee morning hours because I can’t stay in bed very long. It drives me crazy. If I went to bed at one am, I’ll still wake up between 6:00-6:30. I don’t nap much so I just go to bed early some nights to make up for the lack of sleep the previous night. In a perfect world, I’d go to bed around midnight and wake up at 7:00 each morning.

(I feel this is the moment my mom would step in and tell everyone about what a bad sleeper I was as a baby. I just didn’t need a lot of sleep and caused lots of havoc because of it. She said my payback would be babies that didn’t sleep, but I have crazy good sleepers. So there, MOM.)

I married a sleep-in princess who needs lots of beauty sleep so I guess it works in Chris Graham’s favor that I get up early and like mornings so he gets to stay in bed. On the weekends, he doesn’t get up until 8:30 or 9:00. He can sleep through anything and go back to sleep multiple times. Bless his heart.

What brings you the greatest happiness or joy?

Hearing my kids laugh, hands down. Nothing is better than Ellie or Harper getting the giggles or finding something funny and just laughing.

Oh, and chocolate.

What are you passionate about?

Jesus. Chocolate. My daughters. Books. Running. Traveling. Writing. Cooking. Friendship. My marriage. Laughing. Humor. Learning. Not hiding.

Still part of the 72-hour club?

Lord, no. No one has time for that right now. Sorry, Chris Graham. (What is the 72-hour club? Here for the sexy details.)

How much would it hurt to get my wedding ring tattooed on?

It would hurt, but be bearable. And really short, so it wouldn’t be bad at all. Seriously, I’m a baby. It wouldn’t hurt that bad.

Who does your hair?

JESSICA! One of my First Thursday girls who I’ve known since sixth grade. I remember sitting in her sister’s room as she curled my bangs and gave me a “makeover” when we were twelve. Jessica has loved (trying) to make people beautiful since she was young and I’ve followed her around wherever she goes. There were some unfortunate hair choices we both take responsibility for during her cosmetology days, but I think we’ve recovered nicely. If you’re local to Indy and need her digits, email me!