Wednesday, October 3, 2007

My car blew up and I got a teaching job!!

My little blue Toyota Corolla that I have been driving for the last 14 years finally croaked. Barry and I were headed to Reno on Saturday and the car was driving fine for the first 3 hours. We decided to take my car because it isn't a gas hog, like his truck is. We started to hear a funny sound on the highway near Sutherlin, just north of Roseberg. I thought the tire was going to blow, but instead we heard a loud BOOM and smoke came pouring out of the hood. We pulled over and another car pulled over too. She went to her trunk of the car and pulled out a fire extinguisher. We didn't even know that the engine was on fire. I was going to open the hood and Barry came right over and moved me out of the way. He peeked under the hood and opened it carefully and indeed there was a big fire melting away at the engine. The lady who stopped to help us said that she saw flames underneath our car when she was driving behind or around us. Her dad is a fireman and insists that she carry a fire extinguisher in her car. So, she sprayed the whole can on our engine and the fire went out. Then, another guy stopped by and he had a fire extinguisher also. I guess when I get another car, I will keep one in the trunk. It sure came in handy. So now my car is at the towing company in Sutherlin. It's beyond fixing and I just sent them the title to my car and said good bye to my faithful friend for all these years. The towing company will turn the car over to the junk yard for other people to pick at the spare parts. I still can't believe that I don't have a car anymore.

Now for the fun part. We called Barry's brother Tony to come and rescue us. He just got a 1997 Mitsubishi Montero and he drove from Newport to get us. Barry and I were too embarrassed to call either of our parents. We thought we could make a road trip all by ourselves. We had to wait four hours at the local Dairy Queen for Tony to get us. Then, we all drove to Reno and got there at about 1:30 in the morning. Sunday we drove around town and found the locations of the three schools that I was going to interview at. We also looked at downtown Reno and walked around the casinos. Once you have seen one casino, you have seen them all. Reno looks and feels like a smaller version of Las Vegas. Monday I had two interviews and they went well. Tuesday I had one interview and then we started to drive back to Oregon that afternoon. I got a phone call from the school where I interviewed at second. The principal offered me the full time kindergarten job. She wants me to start on Monday, October 8th!! Barry and I are going to be giving a couple days notice at work and start packing the apartment. We are going to get a moving truck this weekend and drive to Reno on Sunday. We don't even have a place to live yet, but while we were there, we did look at several apartments. Hopefully, we will find something nice really fast. So now, I have a new job, a new apartment, a new car, and a new baby to look forward too. Hey, "Life Comes at You Fast" saying is appropriate here. I'm exhausted just thinking about everything that I have to do in just a few days. It will all be worth it because I am so much happier being a teacher. Home is where my husband and my things are. As long as I have Barry and a teaching job in Reno, it will be home. I will sure miss the green Oregon Coast and my monthly trips to visit Mom and Dad, Tiffany, Rhiannon, Ryder, and Racer. Everyone can come and visit after we get settled in. Maybe next summer when my baby is born, we can have a family reunion at Lake Tahoe. It's an idea. I'll write more soon.

14 comments:

pkabow said...

I've looking at your blog every few hours hoping you would post something and you did! CONGRATULATIONS on your new job!! I want to know more about it. Where is the school located, was the principal nice, do you get your own classroom, is it a full day kindergarten or half day, do you get insurance right away, does it cover preexisting conditions ie. pregnancy, etc.

Michelle Lee said...

I sent you an e-mail explaining some of it. The only thing I don't know about is the insurance. I will call and find out about it today. The school is located near downtown Reno, in the area of Sparks. It has a high percentage of Hispanics. The pricipal is nice and funny too. It is a full day kindergarten in my own large classroom.

Al@nn@ B@n@n@ said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!! from Alanna. Mom says congrats to and will write you more later!

Al@nn@ B@n@n@ said...

CONGRATULATIONS from Alanna!!!!!!!!!! Mom will write you soon.

Michelle Lee said...

Thanks!!! I appreciate all the congrats from my family.

ebow said...

Justin, one of Vince's groomsmen, lives in Sparks as well as Ethan one of my good friends from Clark High. They love it there. Congratulations Shelly! We are happy that things are working out for you. We would love to come to visit for a reunion. Maybe we can all camp out at a KOA or someting.

Michelle Lee said...

I can't send out any e-mails for some reason, mom. I tried to send everyone an update e-mail and it got returned to me. I found out that I will get health ins. right away, no waiting period. I asked about pre-existing conditions and they said once you are hired you get ins. and to not worry about any pre-existing conditions. The human resources office was very helpful. I go in on Monday for paperwork and fingerprinting.

Aubrey & David Gibbons said...

Yea! I'm so happy for you guys! How exciting that all must be! I can't wait until we get pregnant. We want to wait until we've been married a year and have our own place before we try. We're in the process of making a blog. There's not a lot on it now but we should be adding a lot of pictures soon. Hope you guys have a smooth move and good luck on your fist day!

Unknown said...

hi your car blew wow!!!! i am so happy for you i miss you so much i thin kit cool your baby is going to be bron in reno have a great day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i will miss you

Unknown said...

till berry i said hi dose that mean you might teach your baby

Unknown said...

email me your address and phone # ok have a great day till me how u like every thing ok bye see ya later

pkabow said...

I check your blog daily hoping you have your computer set up and are updating this. I want to see photos of your new house, the school where you teach, the school room, your new car if you got one yet, of you, Barry and Tony, etc. Hurry!

Unknown said...

hi when will you be abl3e to get on ok i can not wait to hear from you

Jessica said...

Hi aunt Michelle.

Congrats on your new job! It sounds like lots of fun.
The picture of the stop sigh made me laugh. I might be a teacher when I grow up, but I really want to be a illusionist/escape artist, like Criss Angel.