Is It Really March?!

Not much to report here, but I think it's time for an update since it's almost officially Spring and my latest post is titled "Christmas." :)

I'll start with Stuart, who has been pretty busy with school, of course. No change there! He's almost halfway through his fourth (and LAST... time flies) semester at Brandcenter. Only a couple of all-nighters so far this go-'round, which is surprisingly less than the last three semesters as far as I can remember. That's soon to change, though, as the job search becomes a bigger project by the day. Earlier this month, he met with McKinney, an agency in Chapel Hill, NC. He went down on a Thursday afternoon for their "pub night" to meet with the creative recruiter. He felt that the meeting (sort of like a "pre-interview) went really well and that the agency would be a good fit for him, and vice versa. Very positive vibes!!! And he even made it home in time for The Office, haha! :)

After scheduling the meeting at McKinney, Stuart was surprised by being selected for an meeting on Friday morning with AKQA, an agency in San Fransisco. He had turned in his portfolio for review a few weeks prior, and had no idea it would mean he'd end up with two "interviews" in less than 24 hours! :) The recruiter from AKQA chose only a handful of students to interview, only 6 of them art directors, so it was pretty exciting that Stuart was one of the selected! This meeting went pretty well too, but he felt that the agency is not the best fit for him.

The AKQA recruiter mainly wanted to get a feel for the work that is coming from this year's Brandcenter students before the recruiter session this April. The McKinney rep, on the other hand, seems very intent on hiring at least one team (copywriter/art director) of graduates this year. He set up the meetings as a way to feel out which students are really interested in a potential job (not everyone at BC has their sights set on NC...)and promised first priority when it comes to the interviews at the recruiter session in April. So, the job search saga has begun! Much of Stuart's "spare" time is now dedicated to improving and expanding his portfolio and website. Here we go.....

P.S. - Did I mention that my friend, Jessica, lives in Chapel Hill?! You certainly would not see me disappointed if McKinney were to work out!!! (Jess, I'm doing all I can...)



As for me, the only real news I have is not happy news. :( Boo. As some of you know, I'm having voice troubles. Very, very scary! My first year of teaching, I experienced a weaker voice than I'd ever had in my life. I was worried then, but it turned out to be vocal fatigue and I gradually improved, feeling back to 100% by the end of the year. About 6 weeks ago, my problems returned for the first time in almost two years.

A little back story - I'm kicked out of my room frequently for testing (every 9 weeks, to be exact) and this results in me teaching in whatever random space is vacant. I have taught in hallways, outside (during recess, no less!), an atrium with no temperature control, the art room, the gifted room (which is more like a closet...), and even in the gym during end-of-year state testing, where the PE teacher and I combined. This year, things have worked out slightly better. The art room has been available most of the time, but I spent two weeks on the stage. Our stage is in the cafeteria, so as you probably guessed, I taught over the noise of lunch for two hours a day. Before this becomes a rant about my room "situation," I'll just stop here and sum up that experience with this: my voice has never recovered. I avoided it for a while, hoping that each week would show improvement, but for every step forward, I take two steps back. So, I scheduled an ENT appointment this Thursday. I'm nervous, but also very glad to be going. If there is a real problem - the sooner I know, the better! I will update as soon as I know something!



On another note, thank you to everyone for the cards and calls on my birthday! It was such a busy day that it didn't feel special until I heard from all of you! :) Stuart and I celebrated with a nice dinner and bottle of wine on Saturday and he gave me my gift on Sunday. He bought me a Ukelele! I'm so excited and have really enjoyed learning how to play it so far. It's super easy to pick up, which makes it all the more fun!

Hutch had a birthday this month, too. He turned 3 on Valentine's Day! We celebrated with a trip to the dog park. He's easy to please.... :)


Happy almost Spring!