Holy Spectrum of Emotions, Batman!

I was discouraged as could be. I’d interviewed for jobs eight times in a one year’s span, and not been offered any of the eight positions. I was frustrated as could be.

I don’t know why I thought of this Japanese proverb/Dwayne Wade commercial, “Fall down seven times, get up eight,” but I did.  I knew that with persistence I would eventually be told that, ‘Mr. Ewald, we would like to offer you the job.’ And then it happened. On the evening of my ninth interview, I got a phone call offering me a job. Holy spectrum of emotions, Batman!

I was proud of myself. I was proud that I never quit looking for jobs. I was proud that I will be signing my first principal contract before I turn 29 years old.

I was happy. This is what I’d wanted since I was an undergraduate at the University of Iowa, to be an elementary principal. I wanted to be east of Des Moines, check. I wanted to be along a major highway, check. I wanted to be in a bigger city (Iowa standards) or right next to one, check. This position fits the criteria that I was looking for.

I was relieved. I don’t have to look for jobs anymore. Looking for jobs is an exciting process and there are lots of highs involved, but there are a lot of lows and there is a lot of waiting. It is an exhausting, grueling process.

I am nervous. Now is when the work actually begins. Ultimately, I am responsible for the almost 300 students that my school is responsible for educating. I will have to lead my entire staff to make sure that student learning is maximized on a daily basis.

I am scared to death for my family’s sake. What have I done to Amy and Ryne? Amy has been absolutely wonderful throughout this whole process, but I have not made her life any easier in the present. Now I am putting her through the job seeking process; fortunately, she has experience in the jobs she will seek. I am committed to doing whatever I can to assist her in finding employment. On top of that, it is because of me that we will have to take Ryne away from our daycare provider, Sharon – someone whom we love and trust entirely, to find some place brand new.

I am sad. I wanted the administrative openings that I interviewed for in Davenport this spring more than anyone will ever now. For whatever reasons that did not work out. Everything happens for a reason. Nonetheless, this is sad. The Quad Cities has been home to me for six years, it has been home to Amy for much longer than that, and it has been Ryne’s only home. I was nervous about Sharon’s reaction when I had to break her the news, I should have been worried about my own reaction – my eyes were definitely watering. It will not be easy to leave all of our family, friends, and memories in the Quad Cities.

I am excited. Along with the two people that I love the most, we are starting a brand new adventure for our family. This will bring a lot of new and exciting possibilities. Plus, we will only be a little over an hour from the Quad Cities. We will be only 10 to 20 (depending on where you are going) minutes from Iowa City.

And I even feel pressure. Pressure that is entirely put on myself by myself. That isn’t a bad thing, though; it holds me accountable. It ensures that I will be successful at/with this. I have no other option. I’m asking too much of my wife and son for this not to work. I know it will work. I took this job after considering my family’s best interest. I would have never taken this job if I did not think that it would benefit my family.

The journey continues…to Riverside, Iowa!

The Grueling Process that is Searching for a Job

I’ve been searching for a new job now, as a principal, for over one year. I have applied for a countless amount of jobs all over the state of Iowa, east of Des Moines. I have been reached out to by District’s such as Sigourney and Gooselake. I have interviewed in Columbus Junction, Davenport, Des Moines, and Mt. Vernon. I have turned down an opportunity in Mt. Pleasant. Searching for a new job is an exciting, exhausting, depressing, and gratifying process; it is like riding a roller coaster with the climbs to the highs and the drops to the lows. I want it to be over. I hate it. I hate not being the successful candidate. I hate not knowing where I (and my family) will be six months from now. I hate not being in control of the process. It is so stressful. I just want to be offered a job, a job that I want to accept.

This process has reinforced a lot characteristics that I think I possess (patience, persistence, and optimism), and even introduced me to a new, valuable characteristic (humility). I want to use this blog entry to talk to Ryne about the three things that I am most familiar with: patience, persistence, and optimism.

1) Patience – be prepared to wait. A job will become open that is of interest to you, but you have to wait for it to become posted as available. Once it is available to apply for, and you have applied for it, you have to then wait for it to close. After the posting has closed, you have to wait for the employers to sort through the applicants. If you are lucky enough to get a call for an interview, you have to wait for that opportunity. And then finally, if you were interviewed, after the interview, you wait to see if you are the chosen candidate.

2) Persistence – don’t ever give up. When you don’t get selected for an interview, don’t give up on yourself. After your interview, when you discover that the employer has hired a candidate who goes by a name different than yours, don’t give up on yourself. Consider yourself fortunate enough to have made it as far as you did as a candidate, and then determine what you can do to improve yourself. Ultimately, there are certain things that are out of your control so no need to waste energy dwelling on those things; focus your efforts on what you can control. Get Better, Not Bitter.

3) Optimism – always believe in yourself. Never have I thought that I wasn’t the most qualified person for a job, and never have I thought that I would not be offered a job until the job was actually not offered to me. Staying optimistic is hard. I am usually discouraged for about a day after I find-out that I was an unsuccessful candidate. However, a new job opens and, again, I think that I will be the successful candidate for that job.

I keep waiting for the perfect opportunity. I keep waiting for a District that wants me, as much as I (with my family in the front of my mind) want that District/job/town to call home.

Florida Vacation/Spring Break '12

Oops! I forgot to publish this post...

Recently, we took a vacation to Florida to see Britney and Cadence. Now this was not Ryne’s first vacation, but it was his first vacation since he was nine months old and a lot has changed between months nine and 17. So I apologize if this blog entry is redundant in any way, but this seemed like our first vacation with this “version” of Ryne.

Highlights/Memories:
How Ryne screamed during his first up-close encounter with Atticus (Britney’s dog) and practically jumped up my leg. However, it is safe to say that Atticus was Ryne’s best friend by the next day and for the remainder of our visit. Most of you have seen (if not, check Facebook) the great photo of Ryne pushing Atticus around in the baby stroller.

Ryne not liking the beach, Gulf of Mexico, sand, etc. He didn’t want his feet in/on the sand, and he didn’t want to go into/near the water. This is fine with me because I don’t want much to do with the beach (other than looking at it from afar) either.

Ryne loved swimming in Scott’s hotel pool. He wanted to get into this water whenever he had the chance. I loved, when he would be swimming in the pool, and he would dip his little face into the water.

Ryne hasn’t napped much with Mom and/or Dad since he was just a little baby. Ryne fell asleep on me for a nap not once, but twice. Not only did he fall asleep on me twice, the first time was on the beach and the second time was at a baseball game! Needless to say those two moments were enjoyable.

Ryne going nuts on John’s Pass after dinner on Tuesday. It was liked he morphed into someone else. The amount of energy that he possessed after a day in the sun was quite odd (although funny). He wouldn’t stop moving, err running, through the boardwalk…this then led to him not calming down/going to be until somewhere around 11pm!

Scott and I took Ryne to a spring training baseball game (Phillies/Twins in Clearwater). I will admit that I am over-ambitious when exposing Ryne to these types of things at such a young age. He is much too young to sit through them/appreciate any of it, but I love it. I love the idea of going to a game with my son. Ryne was restless, he was tired, and his incoming teeth hurt. It was a beautiful day, and what better way to enjoy a beautiful day than at a baseball game? I didn’t really get to watch much of the game until Ryne fell asleep in my lap during the sixth inning, and we left after the seventh inning stretch to beat the traffic (that was so bad coming into the game). This was fun, it was work, but it was fun. Unfortunately, Ryne will have no recollection of this day, but I always will.

“Sleeping” with Ryne in the hotel the night before we returned home. Ryne is a bed bully. He tosses, he turns, he hits, he kicks…it is impossible to get much sleep while in the same bed as him (I am reaffirming what Amy already knew ☺). I did enjoy it, though. Because of his constant movement in the bed (that cost me my sleep), I know/remember that he did sleep cuddled up next to me. I would not want this sleeping arrangement to happen on a regular basis, but once in a great while is okay.

The vacation was exhausting. We could never get Ryne to nap on his normal nap schedule. We could never get Ryne to go to bed at his normal bed time. He would sleep instantaneously whenever he became so exhausted that he could not remain awake any longer. Nonetheless, it was fun; a lot of fun. Like I said previously, Ryne won’t remember any of these vacations, but Amy and I always will.

Happy Valentine's Day, Amy

Valentine's Day will always be special to me because I will always associate the holiday with you giving me the Expectant Father book two years ago. I must admit that on that day I was hesitant in regards to what our future held, but two years later...my life has never been better!

Amy, we have now known each other for almost 10 years (January 2003 was when we first had class together). As most people know, I fell in love with you when I first saw you. My love for you continues to grow each and every day. I don't ever want our marriage and/or relationship to become stale so I should make a point to tell you things like this each and every day, not just when Hallmark tells me to.

Thank you for cooking dinner every night - and often times making the meal extra cheesy and extra spicy, just how you know I like it

Thank you for allowing me to sneak out of the house early in the morning to squeeze in a work-out

Thank you for being in the field of education. You were meant to be an educator/teacher because a) you are unbelievable with children, and b) it is how/why we met

Thank you for taking an interest in sports (both in person and on TV)...you still have room to grow ;-) but you've come a long ways and I realize and appreciate that

Thank you for making me want to be a better Dad. Seeing you be such a good Mom all of the time pushes me to try and be an equally good Dad

You are the most genuinely nice person that I know, Amy.

You are my best friend. I love you.

Books, on books, on books

I wanted to compile this list so that Ryne can refer back to it (later, when he is older, and maybe his children of his own to read to) and remember what his favorite books were during the first two years of his life.

All of the Duck and Goose books

Little Blue Truck (the farm one, not the city one)

Mr. Brown Can Moo

Goodnight Moon

Baby Bear, Baby Bear and Brown Bear, Brown Bear

The Mixed Up Chameleon

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Chica Chica Boom Boom

I love reading. I love to read for my own entertainment. I love to read to gain knowledge. I love ending my day by reading a book. I value reading. As an educator, I know how important reading is. I love that Ryne has taken a liking to books. One of my absolute favorite things is when Ryne brings me one of his favorite books, plops himself down onto my lap, and lets me read him one of his favorite stories.

Ryne and his Dad

Whoa! Haven't written anything since early November...two reasons for that: 1) I don't go on long runs anymore (typically when my mind wonders to think up things to write about) - it is too cold so I use the cold months to let my body recover/rest in preparation of training for another half-marathon (in Chicago!) once it gets warmer. 2) Last year, when I blogged much more regularly, I was not nearly as busy at work. This year I have much more responsibility and many more tasks to occupy my time, which results in my mind not being able to drift and think about much else outside of work. Anyways, I've had this topic in mind for quite sometime so here we go.

Ryne is starting to expand his vocabulary. As his father, I am proud of EVERYTHING that he does/is able to do, but let me share some of his spoken "words" that have me feeling especially proud: "Batman," "ball," "football," "basketball," "baseball," "Bulls," and "touchdown." He is my son. And because he is my son, here are some of my favorite things that we have in common:

1) We share the same middle and last names - Bailey Ewald - it is crazy how you really start to appreciate your last name so much more once you pass it along to someone else

2) We both tend to be "early to rise"

3) We share a liking for sports, iPods/iPhones/iPads, books, and Batman, and MOST IMPORTANTLY...

4) We both LOVE his Mom/my Wife ;-)

It is too early to tell who he is going to take after, looks wise. His appearance is constantly changing ever so slightly. At birth I thought he looked like Kyle, sometimes people say he looks like Me, sometimes people say he looks like Amy, sometimes people say he looks like a combination of his parents. Regardless, he is devilishly handsome!