New Certified Staff Orientation

This morning I woke up six minutes before my 5:30am alarm. It's the first day. That's all I could think. And, so, I didn't hit snooze. Instead, I showered and put on my most dazzling Mrs. Frizzle ensemble. A wildly patterned skirt, hot pink tank, and similarly patterned cardigan. The only relief  was a horizontal black and white striped panel on the back of my sweater. Think prison uniform.
The drive to Omaha was smooth, and PandoraOne had some good tunes for me. I leave it on a Phoenix station 80% of the time. Other top stations for me are Katy Perry and Charles Bradley. Today it was Phoenix. I watched the red hot sun rise above I-80, and I shimmied my shoulders like a good car-aoke singer, keeping the beat with each song.
My day was like a whirlwind. But I started it right. Cheese & crackers on the way to Westside HS. Hauled in one load of collected "stuff" to the office. Unpacked and brought my empty banker box (and two shoulder bags) back to the trunk of my new car for a refill.
From there I drove to the Career & Conference Center (thanks to google maps) for breakfast. I chose the blueberry scone. The best part of the warm welcome was an inspirational TED video. Relationships. Be good at them. Got it.
New computers, thinner than a DVD box. Traveling cases for the light-as-air MacBook ... as big as a cereal box. Go figure. Oh, and we got a hefty lecture on not crossing the personal/professional email streams - complete with a clip from Ghostbusters. Bill Murray is a constant in my life.
The Nebraska State Education Association (union) bought us a BBQ lunch at McKenna's, just down Pacific from my school. And I signed up because my friend's mom told me to, and I'm a good listener. And my cooperating teacher told me to, and I listened.
I met with my mentor and found an old friend from my lunch lady days - he teaches math at Westside. I got to sit with the other new teacher in my department. Also, a long time friend of my sisters' is a newbie too. I'm among enough friends to make me the confident person I always wanted to be.

Best of the Day: the French teacher has amazing art supplies on wire racks with labels... her room is an inspiration for me

Worst of the Day: stopped in Waverly to get gas, because my car was yelling at me (the dash flashes FILL FUEL eternally - so annoying, I totally had 18 more miles to go) and then I missed the ramp for I-80 West so I had to drive on Hwy 6 and all the way through Lincoln (extra 30 minutes of driving on a 45 minute commute = lame)