New Hire Meeting with HR!

It's official! I'm now an employee of District 205!

Today I went into the Administrative Building to have my New Hire meeting with HR. Even though they scheduled this appointment with me only yesterday, I was so excited to attend. It's now official. I signed all of the paperwork. I gave them my fingerprints. I took my teacher ID photo (and I must say, it turned out pretty darn cute!). The woman who worked with me was named Vernessa. How ironic! When she introduced herself, I commented on how awesome her name was (being so close to mine, that is). Where should I begin?

My initial interview back in April was at the Administrative Building, which lives on the upper levels of a bank. I wasn't exactly sure how to get back to its location, but during my drive, things began looking familiar. I'm proud to say that come Monday when I need to report to New Teacher Training, I'll know exactly how to get to the District 205 building without even using my temperamental GPS. Woo hoo! During my drive to and from Rockford, I did a lot of sightseeing because in just a few short days, these will become my new stomping grounds. It's odd - I'm about to go from being one of the poorest women in existence to a woman with money! So driving, I said things like Ooh, I'll have to hit that Target, and I can see myself picking up my morning coffee there, and I'm going to take Jay to that movie theater for his birthday. Just thinking about all of the new memories I'm about to make lifts my spirits so tremendously. I'm so excited to discover what the future holds for me!


Here's my first financial goal of my life: I will pay off all of my debt by December 31, 2013 (excluding Sallie Mae, of course, because she practically owns me). Friends and family, I'm relying on you to hold me accountable for reaching this goal by the new year. I can do it! "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can."

Let me just add that every single person I've come across who's employed by District 205 is nothing short of amazing. At this point, I could not have been placed within a better district. I suppose all of my griping about not getting hired with other schools was for nothing, huh? The right job has finally come along!

During my meeting with Vernessa, we discussed my pay (yippie!), benefits, pension, beneficiaries (oh, geez), etc. - you know, all that grown-up stuff! By the end of the meeting, my head was whirling (in a good way). I went and took my drug test on my way home today, but I still need to get a physical and a TB test done within the next two weeks. One of the HR workers told me that as soon as Principal Enright receives the results to both my background check and drug test, I can go to East HS to pick up my ID badge and laptop. Eeeeeek, I'm just so giddy with what's to come.

Next stop: New Teacher Training (Monday-Wednesday)!

I am SO ready for this!