My dad also has cancer; he was diagnosed last summer. His form of cancer is much more treatable than my grandmother's, but it's still been a struggle for him. He's been dealing with chemo and radiation treatments, and he's had to eat through a feeding tube. He also keeps ending up in the hospital for dehydration and low-grade fevers. His final treatment was last week, though, so hopefully he will start improving soon. I try to visit when I can-- I spent my birthday in his hospital room bonding with him and my family-- but I'm just not very close by. It's really hard to be so far away and unable to take him to his appointments or help my mom out with the workload. I feel guilty about it.
All of this cancer has had me concerned, of course, so I finally went to the doctor for a check-up. It had probably been about 10 years since my last check-up, so I was really worried something would show up. All of my blood work came back normal, but I did have a couple of moles removed from my back because they looked suspicious. I'm also supposed to have skin checks every year since I have so many odd moles. Hearing that was a bit scary. I'm just so sick of cancer already!
And as if that wasn't enough, I got a really bad case of food poisoning last week while some friends were visiting from out of town. I can't remember the last time I was that sick, and I had to miss two days of work. When I got back, someone from the admin building showed up, and we had a bit of a disagreement about how to teach newcomer ESL students. I won't go into details, but I feel like I need to find a new job next year. I love my students and my campus, but I'm not sure staying in this position long-term is what's best for me. That's been a very depressing thought, especially since I feel like I've accomplished so much this year.
I might also mention that our house's appraisal came back too low for us to refinance, which meant we lost $700 for the appraisal and a lot of time and energy. Our property taxes also increased a lot, so we owe more than we have in escrow at the moment. And there was a storm that knocked down a tree in the backyard, along with a piece of our gutter. Sometimes I wonder why we decided to be homeowners--- it's been very expensive!
It was hard to stay positive with all of these problems piling up, but eventually some good news came my way: I passed the Foreign Service Officer's Test! I'd actually taken it in Waco on my way back from my grandmother's funeral, and I wasn't sure what the outcome would be when I finished. I thought job knowledge could go either way, my bio questions weren't very good at all, and my essay was great but a bit short. The only thing I was confident about was the English expression section. Anyway, it all worked out because I passed.
I'm now working on the personal narrative questions. Or, rather, I'm now working on this blog update because I'm procrastinating. I think I have some great experiences to write about in response to the questions, but getting started is always so difficult for me. There are also two guys in my living room right now banging, hammering, and vacuuming up sawdust as they work on our new floors (no more falling through the cracks!), so I could also blame them for my inability to concentrate.
What else has been happening? I've stopped trying to keep up with The Economist, and I'm not reading any foreign service-related books at the moment (just Harry Potter #5 in Spanish). I was surprised by how little all of my studying actually helped me on the FSOT, so I feel like I should lay off a bit and enjoy life more. I managed to pass without much help from all of those books, so what good would it be to read more and more?
I started classes at the Alliance Française last Saturday. I'm really excited about improving my French, especially since I'm hoping to find a job as a French teacher next year. I need to pass an exam before May if I want to add it to my list of certifications in time to find a job, so I need to cram as much in my head as possible. I already feel fairly confident about my reading abilities, but my listening comprehension and speaking lag far, far behind. My grammar is also pretty shaky.
I'm trying to stay focused on what's in front of me right now: PNQs and learning as much French as possible before next year. There's a current opening for a Spanish/French teacher at a talented and gifted school here--- I'm not sure if it will still be open next year, but I think it's hard to find one person who can teach both of those languages in Texas, so they might not be able to fill it. I think that would be an ideal teaching position for me if I can just pass these exams. We'll see what happens. The future is a mystery at this point; all I can do is try to prepare for whatever path makes itself available to me. I'm hoping the foreign service presents itself as an option; it's looking more real than ever before.
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