So I keep wanting to post a blog, but whenever I sit to blog, I can't think of anything to write about. I have that feeling now, so I'm just going to babble on for a while.
In October I moved to a new apartment in Waterloo. Now I am 7 minutes from my job at the Playhouse instead of 50. The drive makes a big difference - both on my mental happiness and my gas bill.
I went to the Elementary Christmas concert at Tripoli last week. That was cute and it was nice to see my former students. I do not miss teaching. I could tell that the teacher they have now teaching elementary music knows her stuff -- and actually wants to teach elementary -- so that is really good for the students. But yeah. I don't miss teaching.
Dan and I have been engaged for about four an a half months now. (Have I even blogged about that? No? I might have to go back and put something in...) No set wedding plans because neither of us have extra money right now. Dan is still looking for an actuary job and has met with several "dear applicant" letters. I know he is really frustrated. He passed his third actuary exam in August and now he is beginning to study for the next test.
His job search is kind of a catch 22. He's passed 3 exams (FM2, P1, MFE), but he doesn't have an actual degree in a quantitative field -- so it's been difficult to convince employers that he has the know-how that they are looking for. Also, an internship is also a way to get a full-time job -- but the problem there is you have to be a student. (The whole: you can't get a job until you get an internship, but you can't get an internship if you're not a student.)
The actuary department at University of Iowa had told Dan that if he passed the exams it wouldn't matter if he had a math degree or not. After frantically applying for jobs this summer Dan has found that this was not exactly the case. Long story short, (which involves the stupid faculty at UofI. I would like to give them a piece of my mind!) Dan is now working on enrolling at the University of Northern Iowa in a mathematics graduate program, with an emphasis in actuarial science. He believes that he will be able to finish this masters program in 3 semesters (by taking classes over the summer.) And with this degree he will have a more versatile resume and skill-base.
This program is also promising because of the way the faculty have been lending their services to Dan. The head of the math department was very surprised that Dan does not have a job yet with 3 tests under his belt, but acknowledged without Dan's prompting, that the lack of an internship could be a bit of a road block. (Something UofI was blatantly denying or ignoring.)
I'm trying to decide if I want to take up a second job again -- just to have money to start putting away for our wedding. I would love to ask the people I want to be in my wedding party, but since I don't have a date, I don't feel that that's fair to them. How could they say yes or no if they don't know they have a conflict? But yeah, a second job... Not something I want, but I could do it. Red Lobster is actually just around the corner and there's a Perkins in town. I could work weekends.
So I guess I did have a lot to blog about. The Hobbit comes out on the 14th. I'm trying to decide if I want to go to the midnight premiere or not. On Friday, Dan and I are going to Des Moines to see the play War Horse at the Civic Center. I am really excited for this, because the horse puppets are supposed to be AMAZING. Today, I am going to continue to work on unpacking my new apartment, cleaning and maybe decorating for Christmas. It snowed a little last night and it is supposed to snow tomorrow.
I am excited about that. I want snow. :-)
