Wow! The last two months have flown right on by! At the end of August I thought long and hard about posting about the entire month which happened to be a crazy one..and then something happened. I met a certain Mr. Ranger...Ford Ranger to be specific....and it hit me!
No...really...it hit me! Head on, on my very expensive borrowed (testing to buy) bicycle. The summation of August in the blog world was immediately put on hold.
August:
What was exciting at the time doesn't seem all that exciting now looking back so I'll try to sum it up quickly. I got myself a second job. Seems simple enough, but for 6 months I had been searching, applying, begging, for either a stable full time job or a second job to supplement the one I have and love (in addition to searching, applying, begging, for a teaching job). I'm personable, multi-talented, flexible and resourceful and nobody wanted me. The pool of applicants was so amazingly huge that I never had a chance. That little profession I went to school 6 years for proved to be an invisible virus I couldn't get away from. Anyone seeing that I was an out of work teacher immediately ruled me out for fear that I would leave at the first sight of a teaching job. So, finally, someone is excited to hear from me and I have an interview for a job that I applied for out of sheer desperation. About 3 minutes into my interview the conversation changed from the job description to my schedule and pay and details and some internal laughing that I had been hired on the spot and I think she was holding back from asking me to train and work at that moment.
The job....was a joke. "Laundry and Breakfast Attendant" Go in to the inn, start laundry, set up shitty continental breakfast, continue laundry, check breakfast, fold laundry, clean up breakfast, fold laundry, write down hours, go to other job...rinse and repeat. Within three days I was improving methods to meet health code, cleaning up the system and organizing the breakfast to make it more appealing to the guests. I also completed the sudoku and crossword puzzle in the newspaper for each of these days.
In the meantime, I got a raise at my other job on the same day I got hired for the second. What a great day! Things were looking up!
And then..August 27, 2011. The USA Pro Cycling Race was in town. The afternoon before, I got to see my first bicycle race at high speed up close and personal as these amazing athletes rolled into town to finish the stage in downtown Steamboat Springs. What an amazing event! The next morning those riders were to begin the next stage right next door to where I work to head out of town almost as quickly as they had arrived. As I strolled out to work I thought to myself that the road might be closed to the shop so that the bikers could exit safely so I opted to ride the bike instead of the car. Less than two miles, the road wasn't closed, but I was still there on time and it was a gorgeous day! Rolling in the last few yards of the parking lot and making my last turn a truck came around the corner in my lane. I slowed almost to a stop thinking he had to see me but he gassed through the corner and hit me head on.
I can still see my front tire hitting his bumper. I don't remember anything else after. I open my eyes and hear an ambulance coming from the nearby fire station and start to cry. A man I do not know is holding my hand and people are reminding me not to move. I beg someone to go to my work and get my boss..he isn't there. The ambulance appears and I open my eyes, blind without my glasses and in the early morning sun, I blink through the tears to see a familiar face smiling at me. A friendly fireman that I know well is the first on the scene. Thank god! A collar, backboard, gurney and a ride take me to the hospital where I find a police officer that I know well completing my report and my ER doctor is a mutual friend as well.
Somehow injury checks go well and there is no major bleeding. Somehow x-rays go well and nothing is broken. Somehow my wounds get cleaned and I get cleared to go home that afternoon. Somehow..still questioned by some people.
1 month, 1 week later..I am back on the horse. Biking a little, hiking hard and working alot. I am in physical therapy 1-2 times a week to work on my knees and back and they are finding many interesting things to fix on me.
September:
So I went back to work 4 short days after the accident. (Remember the desperate for a job thing? Yeah, I'm broke) Great bosses allowed me to take it easy and work to train people or find jobs I could do sitting down. Everyone helped out with the heavy lifting and understood when I needed a break. I also started the new job that week so I had a few 12 hour days withing a week of the accident. Being at work helped me to forget, at least for a little while, about everything going on in my life.
Once I started to get back on track, my world was rocked again! I got a call from a good friend who is in administration for the school district about a new opening for a maternity leave - my exact qualifications required. I was in absolute disbelief! I interviewed, knew the teacher already, understood the program, and got the job! Once again, moving up! Since then I have been visiting and communicating with the teacher to help her, myself, and the students to transition through this change. They are adopting a baby and basically when the mother goes into labor - she leaves and I start. I'm terribly anxious but also excited and confident. All will fall into place and get comfortable eventually.
Okay, now that I've updated myself on the last two months, I can move on and allow myself to write for fun again! Coming soon: so much beauty in my life lately!!
