More Articles and Project Proposal

More articles on Derrick New:

Pioneer Press Obituary
Star Tribune coverage
Boys Track Coverage (Burgess, a student of mine, competed at state)
Teen Charged as an Adult

Tonight, I work on my graduate project amidst tornado warnings... I took an incomplete in my Project Proposal class, and all the work is due on the 15th. I haven't done as much work as I should have, however. I'm swamped. That was that one thing on my to-do list earlier that I hadn't written down. I'm going to have a few late nights...

I also have been having trouble with my license, but should I have expected otherwise? I thought all it would take was finding the fingerprint card (done) and writing a check (done) and getting a money order (done). I thought I would be able to go into the office and drop it off to Maxine and things would be done (not really). She checked me off, but I wasn't able to clear the university's requirements because my final Praxis scores hadn't arrived in their offices. Huh. And I made absolutely certain I checked that box when registering for that last awful Praxis--I made sure because I was nervous they hadn't gotten my content scores. (And I got a lovely certificate from both the content and pedagogy versions of the Praxis from scoring in the top 15% or something like that.) Blar. So now I get to go back to campus tomorrow; unfortunately, I work 9-5:30 tomorrow and the following day. Hopefully I'll have an understanding manager who will let me take an extra long lunch to deliver the scores; the SPS offices are only open from 8:30-4:30, which isn't exactly helpful for student teachers or people who have summer jobs.

And today I went to the Lakeville District Office. I stupidly had thought I was going to sign a contract, but of course, I don't have my license yet, so I can't sign the contract! Tomorrow Ryan has an appointment at Wells Fargo to get information on a home mortgage. We're still in the debating phase of renting versus buying. Unfortunately, without a contract, I wouldn't be able to qualify for any kind of home loan, though I was able to get a letter from the Lakeville District Office stating what my salary would be. (Woo hoo!)

Actually, this was a high point in my day which has been a little wonky... Yep, torando sirens (packing up the cats into the carrier) and guess-what-you-still-aren't-cleared-from-us (they just keep hanging on, don't they?) and you-can't-have-a-contract-today-you-silly-goose. But I did get to hear about my options for health insurance and dental insurance and pick out who was my beneficiary for life insurance and annuities (huh?) and PAYCHECKS and how do I want to be paid... Fun stuff!