Chesney Hawkes is my hero

Hey everyone!!

Chesney Hawkes is my hero. Let's dedicate this blog to him. For serious.

I'm blogging twice in one month...prize for me?! Notice, blogging really only happens on weekdays when I'm not at work. (Today I am going on an interview and have taken the day off...I am secretly determined to not work another full week for the rest of the year. Let's see how this goes.)

Where have we left off.

After getting back from The Lake District, we quickly scampered off to Wales to hike Snowdon (the highest "mountain" in Wales. This time, we were smarter and fancier. I rented us a beautiful house in the country, and we had a grand old time. Lots of hiking. Lots of castles. Lots of reasons to love the UK. For the second weekend in a row, we were lucky enough to be spared rainy weather. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that no one I have EVER met has hiked TWO WEEKENDS IN A ROW in the UK with not even a drop of rain. I will say, it was freeeeezing and wiiiiiindy, but rainless. We didn't stay up at the top because it was brutally cold, but the hike was gorgeous. In fact, I may be returning sooner rather than later. My friend Lorna is organizing a charity hike of the three peaks. (It's a 24 hour hiking extravaganza that goes up all three of the highest peaks in the UK--Scafell in England, Snowdon in Wales, and Ben Nevis in Scotland.) I'm not sure if I'm going to do it yet because I've already taken so much time off of work for various things (to be mentioned shortly) that I just don't know if I can do it again. In any case, the weather has been stellar, and I'm riding high on loving England at the moment.

Work has been work, but I resigned a couple weeks ago (not leaving, of course, until the end of the school year in July), and have been applying for loads of jobs in all sectors. Outside of teaching, no one has shortlisted me. It is more than a bit depressing. I am not a one trick pony. I have lots of transferable skills. And let's not forget I'm awesome. Can I write that in a cover letter? "Hire me because you need someone awesome to join your team." I came dangerously close to writing that in a cover letter to The Scouts. I did not get shortlisted. Perhaps I should take a hint. In any case, I'm going on an interview today at a school for children with various disabilities, to work as a transition to high school teacher. I have substitute taught at the school in the past, and I quite like the environment. It would be completely opposite to what I'm doing right now, but I need that. The reality is, I'm going to have to get a job for September, and then keep looking for things outside of the teaching sector until someone gives me a chance. I have a friend a bit older than I who works in recruitment and is going to pass my CV on to the education sector of her work. Perhaps nepotism is the way forward.

So, back to why I have missed so much time off work. I went on an interview at a school that I wasn't interested in. They didn't want me anyway. Another blow to the ego. Then, this past weekend my hockey team went away on tour to Delft, Holland. I think it was the highlight of my year. Despite all of the amazing things I've done and places I've seen, I think this was the highlight. It was four days of sun, hockey, and dancing...a winning combination. We played hockey all day, and then danced all night. We camped out with all the other teams (there must have been 400 of us in total) and generally had a ridiculous time. Called my mom on the last day...and let her speak to half of an Irish boys team. They thought she was hilarious. I think the feeling was mutual. I can't wait to go back, and it's still another year away.

So, all in all, life has been pretty uneventful these past couple of weeks. But I'm feeling very thankful for that. No news is good news, right? I'm going to keep plugging away at the tedious job applications, and hopefully something will work out for me.

Love you all, and please please please come visit me soon! (I actually have a couple of Birthright friends here right now, and it's so nice to have familiar faces around!)

Love, Hammer