Thank you for your prayers! The meeting went just about as expected - the principal ended up attending, and it was so nice to have his support. Pretty much nothing was resolved with the one (uncooperative) teacher. However, the other teacher, who is pretty shy, has opened up and finally spoke her mind today. She definitely wants to do a good job, and she and I are going to teach cooperatively - I'll teaching Reading/Writing to my class and hers, and she'll teach Science/Social Studies to both of our classes (she has taught S/SS block to sixth graders, and she is certified in Biology as well). We'll teach our own classes Math - this will work out well because we have three pretty even blocks of teaching time in our day. I think it will be best for us and our kids - we'll have fewer preps and our kids will being taught by teachers who specialize in the subjects we're teaching. The principal not only agreed to this, but was impressed at our willingness to adapt to this situation (which would be so much better if all three of us were doing it - we'd have a teacher for each subject). I'm excited to get started and see where it leads.

Open House was tonight and I met about two-thirds of my class. I have some truly precious kids and I am ready to get the year underway. However, right now I'm exhausted after working an 11-hour day, which started with shaky nerves and a confrontational meeting.

But before I go, here's a praise God moment for you - I have told some of you about the lady who also interviewed for the job that I got. She's an awesome Christian woman, her daughter and son-in-law attend Dallas Theological Seminary, and she was always one of the most pleasant people to be around at this school (she worked as an aide there for five years). It was bittersweet when I got the job, because it meant that she didn't. To make a long story short, she was told she could have the Kindergarten job that opened up a few weeks ago, but only if they got enough kids. They were six short as of Friday when she interviewed (and she came by my room to ask me to pray for God to bring at least six more kids in K to our school, mere days before school started). They were still one short this afternoon, just two hours shy of our Open House. And, because God is good and gracious, they are now over the numbers needed and she 100% has a job! I am so relieved to know she will be at my school permanently, and I'll have a prayer partner and a friend.