Pre-Week: Well, there really was no pre-week on this one because, as those few loyal followers out there may have noticed, it has been several weeks since I put The Mandible out there for public consumption. What followed was a "(blank)-it-all" week or so of anger and frustration during which I wanted to do little more than be angry. So, for those few of you who turn to this page for enjoyment, I apologize for the delay. Sadly, none of this anger stemmed from beard-related issues...if only!
If you followed The Beard Blog last year (so, three of you) then you'll recall I had a few weeks during the Spring when I let the beard go all kinds of backwoods mountain man and then followed with a beard called "National Beard Certification." That was all as I was completing a year-plus long project for National Board Certification for Teaching. It is a ridiculously long, time-intensive, life-encompassing process that allows you to do little else, especially if you are as obsessive about such achievement-oriented things as I am. I will not bore you with the details of the life-consumption of this process; suffice it to say, even with all that in mind, you know you are facing a somewhat-losing prospect, as about 40% of first-time candidates achieve certification. (And, very few people in the teaching profession even attempt it, so those committed enough to attempt it would surely be crushed by disappointment if they put in all the work and did not achieve it.)
As you may have guessed, I did not manage to make it. So, the day after conferences, I find my self in the troubling position of dealing with unbound anger, mostly at myself, and still the expectation that I teach Second Graders with happiness and patience. Somehow I managed that much--it wasn't their fault, after all.
So, long story short, I took some time away from this Blog, and all extraneous things, and sifted through the rage, only to return, because what better diversion than continuing to cultivate a flowing mane of facial hair? Stay tuned in week's to come...there will be changes!
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