Basically, 2011 has been the year for the Lindners. We had our first child, we moved to Tacoma, Adam was hired as a Fire Fighter with the Kent Fire Department, I finished my Masters Degree (or so I thought... but that's a story for later...), and I was hired as a 3rd grade teacher with the Renton School District. Yesterday Adam pretty much summed it up. He said, "Do you realize that it's a Friday morning, I don't have to go back on shift for 4 days, and I'm helping you set up your classroom, while I watch our son?" What a difference a year makes. We are humbled by the way God's plan works out. How it ALWAYS works out.
I consider myself very fortunate to have landed this position as a 3rd grade teacher. It's not very often a school district hires a first year teacher at a time like this. We still aren't sure what we're going to do with Calvin, but we have a close friend who is willing to watch him during the day for the month of September. We are hoping that will give us some time to find more permanent child care. We haven't found any daycares that take an infant on a part-time basis (we would only need care 6-8 days a month), so we're praying to find something soon.
On the not-so-positive side, we are dealing with a major issue from Northwest University. I graduated from there with my BA in Elementary Education in 2010, and last year enrolled in the MIT Program. I "graduated" in May, but received an e-mail on Thursday from the secretary asking if I had taken the additional five credits needed for my MIT degree through another school because they needed an official transcript in order to award the degree. In no documentation were these five credits ever listed, nor were they ever discussed in my private or group advising sessions with the Dean. It was not until 3 months after graduation that these credits were brought to my attention. After all the work I did to finish my thesis before Calvin was born, I still sit here with no degree. The secretary apologized for assuming I knew about the credits and for not following through. I understand that people mess up, but this was much bigger than a “Woops, my bad.” This is a life altering mistake that has been made, and my salary is now decreased by thousands of dollars because of their oversight. And teachers don't make a lot to begin with! As of right now, there is nothing I can do except take the pay cut and finish my classes at some point. Even though we cannot even begin to describe to you how disappointed, frustrated, and sickened we are by Northwest University, we are praying God will turn this into a positive.
Moving on. The house we are renting has been sold. Well, it's pending sale right now. It looks like they are negotiating prices and so forth, and it will be a few months before this actually affects us. We are praying that the buyers will continue to the rent the house to us until Adam's probationary year is up in March. At that time, we might buy, but we're not sure since my teaching contract is only for 1 year. We thought we'd like to live near the Kent/Renton area for a shorter commute, but who knows if I'll even be working in that area this time next year!
Anywhoo, I think that's all for now. Here are some cuties of Calvin for your viewing pleasure.
