Payday!

9/26/12

Hey everyone...great news...I'm now a full-time teacher!!!  Today I signed my first full-time contract.  It's been 5 years in the making, but it finally happened!  Some of you are probably wondering, "How can you be a part time teacher?"  Well, as I'm now a 4 year veteran, let me explain!  In most school districts, if you teach 5 classes each day, you're considered "full time."  My first year teaching, I was a sub and did a couple of long-term subbing jobs.  The following years I worked as a .33, .40, .61, and up until today, I was a .84 this year.  Basically, think of those numbers as cents of a dollar.  Once you get "a dollar" you're full time with 5 classes.  Prior to that, I only taugh 1 class, or 2 classes, or 3 classes each day, which made me a "part timer."  Though I'm only teaching 4 classes this year, they're counting my "5th" class as time spent coordinating my beloved AVID program between the two schools I work in during the school day.  If this info went in one ear and out the other...no worries...I have to explain this to my parents all the time!!!

This may sound complicated and not a big deal, but for my family, this is a huge deal!  With each class a teacher teaches, or each fraction of the "dollar", we get paid more...significantly more.  Granted, I didn't become a teacher to become rich; I did start teaching to make a living and provide for my family.  I'm super excited today because now this will make it much easier to provide for my lovely wife, and our baby!!!  In addition to the salary, I can now get benefits from the district, so I won't have to pay for my own health insurance out of pocket like I've done the past 4 years I've taught.  Imagine a part time job with a full insurance payment to pay out of my pocket!  This is a huge help to us...now that money can be thrown in the bank for our little one!

By no means am I bragging about all of this...hell, pro athletes make my annual salary in a single game!  But this is great because this provides us with a better cushion to plan for our future and provide for ourselves and our little one in 6 short months!

As for us, this is a big weekend...this is Laura's first weekend home (without me) as a mom!  Of course she isn't handling the baby this weekend, I won't be around due to my sacred hunting season.  Thankfully, her mom will be heading to the cities Friday afternoon to keep her company and hang out while I'm away (yes, she's a big girl, but her mom had some time off work so they're getting some bonding time!).  I love hunting, and she definitely married a guy with a hunting problem.  Imagine you being only able to do your favorite hobby for 4 weekends each year, and you need to drive 5 hours to do that hobby for a short period of time!  I'll be taking the mutt, Lexi, with me to walk in the woods, so she'll enjoy the solitude and chaos-free house without me!

On that note, I'll wrap this one up.  Thanks so much for reading about my big day!  I hope you enjoyed reading my Daddy Diary.  As usual, your thoughts/best wishes/prayers are greatly appreciated!  Take care!