If I decided after getting my teaching certificate that teaching is something that I really am interested in doing then Texas Tech has a masters program that is partnered with the Peace Corps. I would take classes at Tech for a year and then do my time in the Peace Corps and come out with my masters in education and international teaching experience. This would allow me to get a job in the United States or give me the edge I'd need to work in another country if I wanted to. If I don't think that teaching is really the route that I want to take then I will still be able to use my experience with kids and my teaching certificate to explore other avenues through a volunteer program and hopefully that will help me to make a decision about what I want to do with the rest of my life, what kind of masters degree I want, etc. I still don't have my life all figured out but I am feeling better about it.
I've also recently made the decision to be a vegetarian for a while. This is something that I'm doing just for fun -- a personal challenge. It's not permanent and I really have no reasons for doing it other than just to see if I can. I still love the taste of meat and don't mind eating cute, furry creatures. It's going well so far. I started last Sunday so today makes day 6. I do still eat fish so I guess I'm not a full vegetarian but it's not something that I'm willing to give up -- there are just too many health benefits that come from eating fish. I'm also back to eating healthy again; I kind of took a break from it the first part of the semester. Eating healthy and being a vegetarian while not really being in control of where I eat can be a bit difficult. If the women I'm staying with take to me to a restaurant sometimes my options are bean and cheese nachos (vegetarian but not really healthy) or a grilled chicken sandwich (healthier, but not vegetarian) or unhealthy, meaty things. I also gave up pizza for lent which is really helping with the healthy thing as well. Three of my favorite foods are pizza, chicken wings and burgers, none of which I can eat now! It's a lot easier to avoid these foods when I feel like I can't or am not allowed to eat them rather than I just shouldn't eat them. I love french fries too and I can still eat those, but eating french fries with out a burger or chicken sandwich just feels wrong.
When I first started writing this blog several months ago it was with the purpose of chronicling my experiences as a leadership consultant so I could look back on it later in life and also to help others understand what my life is like while I'm on the road. However, I talk about my job all the time with people I encounter so it makes me not want to talk about it in my personal life (with friends or in my blog). This poses quite the dilemma. I kind of want to talk about the chapter full of Barbie dolls that I'm visiting this week and what it's like, but then I don't. I think it does speak volumes about my job to know that what I do makes me not want to talk about what I do, if that makes sense. I love this job but it wears me out a bit sometimes I just don't want to think about it or talk about it at all. I do want to say that here in Pennsylvania they take St. Patrick's Day very seriously. It's still a few days away but there was a parade complete with bagpipes and baton twirlers serving as my alarm clock this morning and well after the parade was over there are people walking down the street in head to toe green. It's fantastic.
Just now I went back and reread the first blog that I posted on here to see what I had to say and how my perspective has changed. I started out with in introduction to the blog to let people know what my intentions were. I said that this was going to be a blog not just about my life as a leadership consultant but that it would also address issues like my ongoing battle with my weight and also my plans for the future. I forgot that I said that but I definitely hit the nail on the head predicting the things that I would end up writing the most about. I guess I know myself pretty well.
