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Three weeks I have been out of school.


WEEK 1:
Routine forgotten
Workout ignored most days
Spend all my spare time looking for openings
Questioning where I will be employed in the fall
Someone will hire me, right?
Ignoring the upcoming doctor’s appointment
I am sure it is nothing.
Sending out more and more applications
(At least 349….or so it seemed)
Why aren’t they calling me?
Telling my students I wouldn’t be back
Disappointment abounds
No matter what, I want to stay in touch.

A new haircut
New clothes
A new me
But not.

WEEK 2:
The funk begins
Get up
Well after 8.
Turn on the computer
Play on facebook, watch TV shows
Apply for jobs
Repeat
The gym beckons, I ignore.

“Hello. Are you interested in interviewing with us?”
Renewed confidence with each call

Raleigh
My first interview
Immediately following my diagnostic mammogram
In which there is a SUSPICIOUS LUMP
And I am scheduled for a biopsy.
“How did your students do on the EOG?”

Cary
Make today a great day!

Greensboro
Cancelled – too far away

Wake Forest
A surprise interview with the HR person

Durham
An inner city school!

One of them will want me
Right?

WEEK 3:
The funk continues
Get up
Research stereotactic biopsies
What if it’s cancer?
Check facebook and email
Apply for jobs. 
 
A loss of energy brings a false start
To the Insanity Workout
At least three times this week
Fighting to get back on track
I need to get back into a routine
Knowing it is the root cause of the funk.
 
Driving to another interview
Practicing my answers in the car
Before saying them aloud for others to hear

“Your lump seems to have disappeared.”
Woo Hoo! Now to focus on getting a job.
Two days later the offer came
(As did more requests for interviews.)
“I would be happy to work for Franklin Academy.”

WEEK 4:
Begins tomorrow.
The funk is already disappearing
Ready to put the last three weeks behind me
The alarm is set
My workout begins at 5am
Before heading into the welcoming arms of my classroom.        

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