CONSTANT CHANGE

Seminary
School in the Chickasha District started on Thursday. (Don't ask me why.) That means Seminary started Thursday, too. Two new students graced my class, so we are back to six again. This year, I have only one senior.

I was a little more anxious than usual for my first day. My CES director asked all of his teachers to (basically) throw out the first lesson and instead focus on the scriptures and the Savior. Set the tone for the rest of the year. So I was winging it - as much as winging it could be for thinking and studying and praying about it for weeks could be!

I had the worst day on Wednesday. Headaches and struggles and arguments and misconceptions. I eventually realized, the Adversary was working hard to prevent Seminary from starting off right. So with a lot of humbling and talking and praying, I tried to get things straight. Seminary isn't for me; it's for the kids. I owe them my best!

So, Analiese and I left for Seminary the next morning, stopping only to pick up another student. This year, I have to transport her there and to school. No one else can take her (legitimately, I checked). She doesn't mind being a little earlier than the others, so we're square. It just really means I need to be on my game time-wise, getting her to school (the high school is only four blocks away from our house). She's in band and I can't get her there late!

It happened. It went okay. I felt somewhat comforted by the way things went. I did have a student (newbie) who kept saying "I don't know" when I asked some of the deeper, searching questions. I just said that hopefully, by the end of the year, there would be a lot less "I don't knows" and some deeper testimony instead!

VIPKid Repercussions
The downside to Seminary starting was having less time to teach for VIPKid. Usually, I would open up classes as early as 6 a.m. Now, I only do an 8:30 (they don't go later, because it is night in Bejing) a.m., with a possible 8:00 a.m. priority booking (regulars only) and a few evening openings. This further encourages me to be on time with Seminary and transportation!

This is hard, because is means some of the regulars I gained in the summer won't be able to use me now. It's especially bad with the cute littles I have. I already have had one parent remark that it is unfortunate that I can't teach at that time. So sad! But, I believe strongly in Seminary, so that is the sacrifice I am willing to make!

The company had an app update this week, which always makes me nervous. For every good new feature, something seems to get messed up. There were some fun updates this time: when I give a "high five" to the kids, it puts a sticker that reads "high five" on the screen. Also, in the chat section, I can put some Dino stickers for good reading, pronunciation, etc. The most interesting one was the teacher filter. This softens out some of the wrinkles and under-eye bags/circles. The only downfall I've noticed is that, when using some of these new tricks, my video feed will freeze and I'll have to go out and come back in. Crazy!

My whole laptop froze on me one day this week. I couldn't get it back up in time for a class and got docked as a Teacher No-Show. No bueno! For the future, we've downloaded the VIPKid app on Jonathan's laptop and another one, so we have two backups. Just in case!

Braum's
This was the first place we had dinner at in Oklahoma when we moved here six years ago. Okay, it was the one in Altus, but it's a chain. They have really good ice cream (they own their own dairy) and also serve burgers, chicken, etc. One of my graduates has worked there the past year, but she quit because she's leaving for college this week. Analiese wanted out of Taco Bell, badly, and heard from the other gal about how good it was to work there. Last week, she applied online. Thursday of this week, Ken took her over to talk to a manager (at non-busy times) to see if she could expedite the process.

She stayed in there for quite a while and returned...with a new job! So she gave her notice at TB (we believe in the courtesy of a two-week notice) and she starts at Braum's on Tuesday of next week. She also starts her classes at USAO on Friday. That girl's going to be busy! This, in turn, means I will be as well!