Gone gimpy

So it's been a strange fight in my brain between posting blogs and posting facebook status updates. Facebook usually wins, but today is a blog day.

This week has certainly been an interesting one!

Sunday
On Sunday morning, I was on the back end of a pretty long depressed period. It was so overwhelming that I couldn't even participate in worship at church. This is really saying something because worship is my favorite part of our church gatherings. I spent the rest of the day moping and feeling sorry for myself. Silly Taj. Depression is for emo kids!

Monday
I had a half day subbing at Portage Central high school. I had not yet been in Portage schools (with the exception of Loy Norrix, a vo tech type school) and was expecting the best. My class was an upper level math class(Algebra II/Pre-calculus), which is something I am well versed in. The first treat was having a planning period for first hour. I used this time to work through the problems the Precalc classes would be doing during class so that I could assist them. When the students came in for the next three hours, each class was very respectful and fun to be with. I was able to help them with any questions they had (I had to ask one 2nd hour student for help with one problem) and when they saw that I had done the problems myself, they seemed to appreciate that my purpose in doing so was so that I could help them. I had a great time and would LOVE to get into Portage high schools more!
In addition to that, while I was subbing I received a call from Bank of America with a job offer as a Professional Teller, a position I have been pursuing for a few months now. There was some paperwork to resubmit, but after that was in I received a full-fledged job offer! Hooray! God be praised!

Tuesday
On Tuesday I was a substitute for a teacher whose classes are all comprised of students whose reading levels are far below what they should be. This was at Linden Grove Middle School, which is a Kalamazoo public school. It's certainly interesting to see the difference between Kzoo schools and Mattawan/Portage schools! I was glad to, again, have a first hour planning period to prepare. I've tried showing up extra early at schools to a)make a good impression and b)have extra time to prepare; this doesn't work well when I'm just sitting there for 15 minutes waiting for the administration to show up to provide me with my materials for the day.
Anyway, this day was a huge challenge. I faced a number of VERY disrespectful students and ended up spending an hour writing my note to the teacher at the end of the day. Ridiculous.
Worship practice went well.

Wednesday
I subbed for an art class at Linden Grove Middle School all day. One hour was a particularly large class: 28 students! Holy goodness! But I think I handled the day quite well. I only had to send two or three students out of the classroom. Upon talking to some of the teachers at this school, they will consider me to have done my job if none of the students get injured. The low standard for me makes me much more comfortable, but fortunately I am still determined to do very well and exceed that simple expectation. All of the teachers and administration at this school have been impressed with me thus far, which I find surprising. They've complimented my ability to keep the students under control, though I feel at all times like I have very little control of the classroom. I think that the good results I had on Wednesday may, partially, be a result of my improvement in classroom management. At least I'd like to think that's true! It's definitely a blessing when a student offers to help me in some way. I'm glad that I took the time to make my own worksheets (puzzles, mazes, wordsearches) before starting. Wednesday was the first day that I really made good use of them.
It began snowing hardcore Wednesday night, and Jen and I stayed in and learned the game A Touch of Evil. It's a bit complicated and my friend John asked me to learn it so that I might teach him and some others.

Thursday
Snow day! I was off the hook for subbing on Thursday, so I slept in and relaxed. Around midday I got in touch with Willis and Esther, friends of mine from church who have two small children and who love playing games. I drove, carefully and slowly, to their house to hangout and play. It was a blast, but while I was wrestling on the ground with Shane, their 3 year old, I twisted my knee up all funky. It's similar to what I've felt while playing sports, where my knee would seem to slip to the side and slip right back with a small amount of pain. Unfortunately, it didn't feel like it slipped back this time, and the pain persisted. I couldn't straighten my leg!!
This was a particularly frightening situation for me because my insurance ran out at the end of last month. The pain was nothing compared to the fear of what this silly minor injury might cost me, especially if I needed surgery. Esther very deliberately reminded me that in a situation like this it is good that I live in community with others who are able to help. This thought made my stomach sink. In all my manlitude, I don't like to think that I could need help from others. I would much prefer to be the one offering assistance than the one asking for or receiving it! I called everyone we knew who might be able to provide medical advice or over-the-phone diagnostic services. Nurse Krista, my hero, was able to provide the best advice, and encouraged me in the same way Esther did about the whole community thing. She suggested all the normal things: Rest, Ice, Elevation... and using tape to pull my kneecap to the side. This one was weird and tricky, but we did it somehow :).
I stayed at Willis and Esther's that night (fortunately I thought ahead and brought a toothbrush and other sleepover supplies), and that evening and the next day was full of my friends taking care of me like a third child.

Friday
I hated the idea that I might be an imposition, though they insisted that they were glad to be able to help. It felt embarrassing, really. Esther, with candor, helped me to see that I need to learn to be okay with being helped in this way, or even financially. I guess I have some pride stuff in me, after all.
Anyway, we went to the doctor that afternoon. I checked beforehand to make sure that I wasn't going to accidentally incur an $800 bill or something like that. Fortunately, the doctors visit was just over $100, which is affordable and a reasonable price to pay for the expertise provided. Dr. Goodwin checked my knee out and diagnosed it as a sprained MCL (I was proud of myself for identifying that my Medial Cruciate Ligament was the problem!) and, to my relief, let me know that it would heal on its own without surgery and the best I could do was continue to ice it, stay off it, and work on extending it to regain my range of motion. All cost free therapies! Yes!
Esther and I picked up crutches from Goodwill and I had her take me to the grocery store to get ingredients with which I could make chili to show my appreciation for their help. We hung out for the rest of the day, I made my chili with the addition of Willis' awesome hot sauce, and we played A Touch of Evil until late into the evening. I love the Bouwmans. They are heroes.

Saturday
I had lunch with Kelly and the Kotmen at an awesome restaurant in GR called the Electric Cheetah. It was nice to catch up. (Can you tell I'm getting sleepy and lazy and am keeping descriptions more minimal now?)
In the evening we had a team meeting to do some game planning with my business team, then Eagle Academy which made most people cry due to the excess of emotion, and then the Bush Team Christmas party. It was miserable to sit on the sidelines while all of my friends were playing volleyball! But at least I got to be around my team! I was humbled again by the service that both Jess's in my team provided by getting me plates of food. Super tasty awesome food.

But now I'm getting tired. Good night, moon.