Working on yet another late-term miracle...

...in the midst of the rapidly changing environment that is my life.

I'm done with the restaurant at Bass Pro. A few months after I went out to the Olathe location, they gave me an opportunity over which I would have been ecstatic a few years ago in promoting me to the General Manager position in that restaurant. I've had a pretty good idea for awhile now that the restaurant biz isn't for me, particularly in light of all of the events that took place in my personal life this year. Taking that job solidified that idea with a proverbial sledgehammer. Never in my life did I work harder -- or more fruitlessly -- than I did for those few months. I believe that all of us are nothing more the sum of our experiences, and I have benefited greatly from what I have taken away from each of my various stops in that business. In some cases, I learned how to do things; in others, I learned how NOT to do things. Without going into all of the sordid details, let's just say that this latest experience can be chalked up to the latter. More than anything, it was...weird...that little restaurant out in Olathe in particular. God bless 'em, every one. It was an incredible experience, particularly the opening in Independence. I am a stronger person and a better manager of people than I was before I stepped onto the plane to my training in Indiana two years ago, and I leave there with many more friends than I had before.

So, here I sit this afternoon, taking advantage of this short study break to pick up the blog again. Circumstances have given me the opportunity to perhaps move along into the next career path, an idea that seemed ridiculous just a few short weeks ago. Not every single school district is hiring subs, but some are, and the subs that I know say that they're getting calls every day. If I pass both of the tests I have scheduled for the Monday after Christmas and my background check through the state isn't delayed, I could theoretically start right after the first of the year. If not that early, then certainly by the end of January at the latest. It's exciting...scary-exciting, as I haven't been away from a position in restaurant management for more than a few weeks for the last nine years. It hasn't set in yet, either, as I haven't yet been away for longer than a vacation.

What is a "late-term miracle?" My program at WGU consists of two six-month rolling terms per year, and the only hard deadline for completion that exists (at least at this point) is the end of the term. My current term ends New Year's Eve. The late-term miracle -- getting everything done at the last minute -- has proven to be a dubious talent of mine. I have two tests, THC4 (Ethics) and MUC4 (Calculus and Statistics) scheduled for Monday, and I have two short assignments that I really need to get in this week as well. I have more that needs to be "pushed out" than ever before, but I do have the time to take my best shot at it. It'll be disappointing if I can't get this done by the New Year, but not the end of the world, as I'll just wrap up whatever I don't get done in the first part of January. It's a beautiful educational model, and the only way I ever would have been able to get a degree and still work the way I have been.

Well, back to it. Thanks for reading. Let's see if I actually keep (this time) the promise to not neglect the blog that I just made myself...

Allen