Monthly Archives: December 2009

I know, I know, I know. I am a horrible blogger. But in my defense, I have been fairly busy and every time I think I’ll write a post I come up with something better and usually more important to do.

So why is my life oh so busy that I can’t even write in my blog when I sit at work in front of a computer all day? Well, the main reason is, I’m moving to Nashville. Soon. Like, before the end of January, probably sometime mid-January. The exact date isn’t known yet as we (Chris and I) are looking for a house, hopefully to buy but possibly to rent, and I am looking for a job. A job that pays well, that doesn’t suck too much, and that preferably requires my degree. Sad thing is, this type of job is apparently hard (maybe impossible) to find. I’ve actually only applied to a few places because there is just nothing out there. I was under the impression that having my B.A. would give me more opportunities even if it’s a worthless Liberal Arts degree, but everything I’ve found either requires only a high school diploma/GED, a Bachelor’s in a very specific oftentimes technical field, or a Master’s. Nothing here for this little linguistics major.

Since I’m sort of at a standstill when it comes to finding a real job, and I’m not sure if I want to go back to school, I’m actually considering going into teaching. Nashville has two programs where you can get accelerated licensure and then work for your Master’s while teaching, at a greatly discounted rate. This is very appealing to me, except both programs service Metro Nashville Public Schools and I have some reservations about that. Mainly, teaching at one of these schools would be extremely tough, and extremely frustrating. I like the idea of helping out those who really need it, but working my ass off to try to help kids who don’t want the help, in an environment where I may not feel entirely safe, doesn’t sound altogether pleasant. Then again, I’ve mostly heard that this is a big problem with the high school kids. Maybe elementary students would be better. (Which is somewhat ironic, because I thought that I’d much rather teach high schoolers than little kids, but I guess it really depends on where and what kind of students I’d be teaching.) I’m still very interested in these programs, despite my doubts, but applications are due in a few weeks so I’ve really got a lot of thinking to do.

My other option would be getting my ESL certification at the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute. It wouldn’t guarantee me a job, and I wouldn’t be getting my Master’s, but it sounds a lot nicer than teaching kids who may just cuss me out and threaten me. It also only takes a couple of months to get and is a bit cheaper, and I think the environment would be a lot more enjoyable. Even if I decide against the ESL certification, I’m still planning on taking foreign language classes there, definitely Spanish because I’ve decided it would be very practical for me to learn it (and probably fairly easy), and maybe Japanese since I’d rather not throw away all that I’ve learned so far. Classes are a bit pricey but they offer volunteering opportunities in lieu of paying for classes, so I may try to take advantage of that.

Aside from searching for jobs, looking into schools and teaching programs, and starting to pack up my stuff for the move, I’ve also been working on my crocheting. I’m trying to come up with an amigurumi animal that works up quickly and can be sold for relatively cheap, that will sell really well. Other people have accomplished this, so I figure, I can, too (though it’s easier said than done, apparently). I’ve wanted to do a line of maneki neko (lucky cats) for a while, and I did come up with a pattern for them. Here are the ones I’ve completed so far:

Here are some close-ups of the white one and the green one. The white one is the first one I made and has rounded ears, and the green one has flatter, more triangular ears.

They’re definitely cute, but they are incredibly time-intensive and I hate to sell them for less than what is equal to the amount of effort I put into them. The problem is, people tend to not want to pay a whole lot for crafts, especially something that is essentially a stuffed animal. Sooo, I need to think of something else I can do. I’m kind of burned out from the kitties, though, so I’m going to take a break and work on some things like hats for Christmas presents.

Well, this has certainly been a long post. I’ll try to post more often so I don’t end up writing a novella next time.