Check Yes or No...

I've probably mentioned it, but this spring has been so full of unanswered questions...will Zac get his first assistant principal job? Will I get a teaching job? What will I be doing? Will he live here or get to move back to Austin? Will we be able to sell our house? When will we find out what we will be doing next year?
Today answered most of those questions, because I GOT A JOB. One I am very happy about! I will be getting to work at the same school, and in the same room I am in now, except I will be a teacher instead of aide. This means I will have a lot more planning, meetings, and paperwork to do, but I will also get paid four times what I get now. An exchange I don't mind making! :)
That being said...we will be living in Midlo for another year. We are okay with this. The pros are that we will not have to sell our house yet, we will have another year of equity in it by the time we do sell it, we have lots of friends here, and I get to work in an environment I already know I LOVE! Zac is still looking for AP jobs, but is also considering simply teaching (and no longer coaching). He has a few things in the works, but of course we are anxious to get his job pinned down too. It would be extra nice if it happened before we left for Spain, but either way, I'm confident he will be somewhere he likes next year! The thought of doubling our salary and having more free time together (without him coaching) is so exciting to both of us. We want to travel more...and we will be able to! Woohoo! In fact, on the way home from Austin, we started talking about the speech that key-note speaker Marcia Gay Harden delivered at Eli's UT graduation (post to come in near future!!). Something she said really resonated with me, and when I started telling Zac, he said that it had stuck with him too, and he kept hearing it over in his head like I was. She referenced The Rolling Stones, saying "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you find, you get what you need." As much as we both want to be in Austin to be near our families, we both feel like this is where we are SUPPOSED to be. God works in mysterious ways, but I know that months ago the thought of NOT moving to Austin was devastating and unacceptable, and now I am completely at peace with it. This feels right.

Zac's Masters of Education diploma came in the mail today and I hid it in my purse and busted it out at our "Jules got a job" celebration dinner. I was way more excited about it than he was (haha, go figure, right?) but he was still happy to have it in his possession.
Okay, before I go to bed (which I should have done an hour ago, but GAH...I'm still giddy and hyper and happy and my-mind-is-racing-a-million-miles-an-hour excited) please let me tell you the short version of how I was hired.
I interviewed Friday and was told I would be called early afternoon with a decision. At 6:30 Friday night, my principal called my cell and told me he would not be able to tell me anything until Monday, because another person wanted to interview, and they felt they owed it to her. Okay...fine with me. I saw him this morning and he smiled and said he hoped to talk to me soon. I was so busy with my day, I kinda forgot about it all, until I was on my lunch break in the classroom. A student office aide brought in an envelope. I grabbed it, assuming it was for Vickie, but as I was handing it to her, I noticed it had my name on it. My heart sank. Zac has been applying for so many jobs, and we keep getting these letters in the mail saying "thanks for your interest, but the position's been filled." I just knew this is what that was. I handed it to Vickie and asked her to open it for me. She swore they'd never deliver bad news in such an impersonal way, but I still did a nervous little dance by her desk, begging her to open it. She finally said "just open it Julia!" I opened it, and as I read it, our classroom door opened (not uncommon, since we sell Tea to teachers, they are always coming in around lunch and buying a cup). I was so jittery and nervous, I had to read it twice to see what it was saying, and I was still confused. It read:

Mrs. Oldham,
Will you please be the new CBI teacher at our school next year" Check one:
YES[] No []
Sign Here_______________

I looked up from the paper, so someone could explain to me what was going on, and our principal was standing in the doorway smiling, and he said "well are you gonna check one, or what?" If you just knew my principal, you'd know this is SOO unlike him. (He reminds me soo much of Zac...very reserved, professional, even tempered, etc) Before I could even say anything, I felt my heart start pounding and my eyes fill up with tears and I just gave him the biggest hug. (Also weird, if you think about this guy being like Zac and not really the hugging type.) But he smiled and told me he'd been wanting me in this position for a very long time, and he felt so relieved that it was official and he was so happy to have me. It was awesome! Vickie stood up and hugged me and we might have teared up a little bit together. I know we will have really hard times next year, but we are in it together, for better for worse. And what better person to go through a crazy year with, than a great friend and amazing teacher!? I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!
And just in case you want to hear it: You Can't Always Get What You Want! (Glee style!)