My Daddy is the best Daddy

I have the best Daddy in the whole world. I know that everybody thinks that, but I really do. I've always thought that my Dad did a great thing, in that if you ask any of the three of us (my sisters and I) who is our Dad's favorite, we would all say "I am!" I really do think I'm his favorite though, because I'm his baby! I've been a bit of a disappointment to him lately, because of my job situation. My dad has an amazing faith, and he truly, truly believes that God works everything out in His own time and in His own way. I believe it too, but my faith has been a little shaky lately. This whole job thing has been rough on me and my head and my heart are often on two different wavelengths. I believe in my head that God will work everything out in His way and His own time, but every time I get one of those incredibly impersonal, computer generated emails from Human Resources that says "You were not selected for an interview" it hurts. I'm trying really hard to NOT take this personally, but it's hard, since it is ME that they can't even be bothered to interview. I know that none of these principals knows anything about me (and can't even apparently be bothered to take 20 seconds to respond to an email, but we'll save that for another post! J) but still. . . I haven't handled this rejection really well, and have been a little bitter.

So today, I go back to work, beginning my 17^th year teaching Geography. (No, I'm not using the Master's degree that I worked my rear end off for 2 ½ years. No, I'm not using the media specialist certification that's been added to my teaching certificate for over a year. – Thanks for asking! L) It was not a bad day, at all. We actually ended up with nearly an entire day to work in our rooms, which doesn't always happen. Josh came and moved furniture for me, I already have a bulletin board up, my desks arranged and stuff put away. But STILL, I'm not doing what I really want to do. I know I should just be grateful I have a job, I know, I know, I know. But today when I get home from school, I checked the mail, which I usually don't do. In my mailbox is an envelope from my daddy. It doesn't have his name on it, but I know his return address and I recognize his chicken scratch handwriting. The envelope got a little wet because it was raining but not too bad. I open it up and inside is a book, a new book. You need to understand that my dad NEVER buys new books. He is the junk/book store KING. He never pays full price for a book. He'll pay a dollar, maybe two for a hardback book, but that's it. I've spent many more hours in the "Rereader" the Goodwill's bookstore than I have Barnes and Nobles or Books a Million. So when I get a new book from my daddy, that's quite a thing.

The book is called "1,003 Great Things About Teachers." It's is just full of funny, funny things. I was reading while I was drinking and almost spit water across the room. There is a section called "Words that Teachers AREN'T embarrassed to say." My favorites are tentacle and Virginia. It is really funny. There was no card, no letter, nothing, jus the book in the envelope. But I know what he means. He could have sent a card, he's gotten very mushy about cards lately, but he knew that sending me a BOOK would be the best way. I really am lucky. Could anybody have a better dad??