Door B

Wednesday: The phone call came this afternoon. I'm still trembling. The principal (who has no great love for me, as I've surely demonstrated in all these writings) conveyed to HR this morning that she IS willing to release me from my contract with Chatham County. Now, the HR lady continued, the principal's recommendation moves up the chain for rubber-stamping. I got the impression that these other signatures are more of a formality. She said she'd call me back tomorrow to verify that the deal is sealed, or at least give me a progress update. She's been so nice. I think I'll write a letter of appreciation to her and/or to her boss. This has been a difficult passage of high anxiety for me, and her calming and positive manner has been significant.

Now, about breaking away from Chatham County. . . For me, any ending of a chapter brings a tsunami of wild thoughts, such as "Am I doing the right thing? Have I exaggerated the distress I've been in? What if the next place is worse?" and so on. But reviewing back over my writings from the last seven months, I can see that my anguish has been a constant theme. No, leaving Groves is not a whim! My mind has been crying out for relief for many months. Now, if this severance process continues smoothly, I'll begin afresh at Richmond Hill High in early August. The professor who was my mentor at Armstrong when I was getting my certification is now a teacher at RHHS. She told me last year through email that it's an awesome place to work. Another plus to Richmond Hill High School is that the school day begins a half an hour later. I was getting so sick of that 5:20 alarm. Now I can re-set it for 5:50.

I'm glad I worked out at the gym this morning. I'm obviously pumped up right now about this career change, but, thankfully, this morning's work-out may have had the time-release effect of keeping me from bouncing off the walls.