Feels good to be WANTED

Tree lined drive.

Today I went to Lower Lake High School. It is near Clear Lake, south of Upper Lake High School. I had to leave home today at 7am, drive 3 hours and teach at 10:30. I was finished by 11:30 and thought I had to drive to another school, but they cancelled and I just turned around and drove back. The drive back took 5 hours because I often stopped and took pictures! This drive took me through Napa Valley wine country. It is the beginning of winter so the leaves are changing color and many of the grapes have been picked, but a few are still on the vine. I loved the colors that I passed and took many pictures. This school is very special to me and I had to rearrange my schedule to be able to go to this school. The counselor at this school wrote the test coordinator a year ago requesting that I come to their school rather than anyone else. I have been to that school three times over the past two years and I have evolved to "just another" to "the one". I am proud of the way I do my job and it is nice to be recognized as the preferred presenter.   There are a few schools in the area that want me, by name, rather than just anyone that is available. I really care about what I do and I have a passion to help others. I drove for 6 hours round trip (other than the time

Vineyards in the mountains.

I stopped to take pictures). So, six hours of driving and one hour of working in a classroom. Yesterday I was driving with my daughter and she asked me how I could enjoy my job since I drove so much. I told her I like to drive and it gives me the opportunity to be my own boss and take pictures and listen to audio books. The REAL truth is I don't really like my job. I would love to have a job where I had consistent hours and worked with people. I would love to work with the same people all the time and have close friendships with the people that work with me. But, what I should have told her was you need to accept the job you have and make the best of it. You can't complain about things, instead you need to find a reason to enjoy what you do and embrace the good things. No job is perfect and they all have problems. Find the thing you enjoy about your job and dwell on it. Don't complain. If you can't find anything good about your job then find a new one. 

Grapes ready to pick!