On the rocks

I suppose most of you who read my blog know that Brock got his teaching certificate last spring. It was a three semester program, even with his Master's under his belt. (Crazy, huh?). Unfortunately, history teaching jobs are extremely hard to come by around these parts. In the six closest districts, only three real history jobs were posted for the 2008-09 school year. One of them was a history/P.E. combo (as, if!), one was an A.P. position (no first years were considered), and one was a plain old 8th grade U.S. history job. Unfortunately, there were thirty-odd applicants for that job, and while he made the short list, he was not offered the contract, even with the absolutely raving evaluations his cooperating teachers gave him. Go figure.

This isn't really uncommon among teachers. The only areas with shortages are elementary, math and science--all other subjects are flooded. I had to deal with a crappy part-time job teaching the druggies who were about to drop out of high school for a year before I landed my current contract. When I was searching, I applied with all the districts from Nebo to Box Elder. I considered myself lucky to land a contract at all--and it was just an extremely happy coincidence that it was in Brigham. In fact, I was considering Boise at one point.

So fast forward to now, what does Brock do with his days? He has been doing some subbing (my students told me they wished he was their teacher instead of me after he subbed for me one day--the little snots!) But most days, he is doing something really cool. His long-time friend, Cody, is a stone mason. Brock has worked with Cody in that past, so he hired him to work on his current project. The great thing about this project is the history behind it all. Cody has been commissioned by a historic preservation society to restore an old kiln in Ogden Canyon.

This is what it looked like when they started.

Cody and Brock hard at work.

This is the chimney, viewing from the top of the kiln. They are still filling in around the chimney. This is what it looks like from the front now. It is far more impressive in person, of course.

The best thing about the kiln work is what it has done to Brock's manly shoulders. He has always had strong shoulders, but now--YOWZA! What a MAN! He comes home dead-tired every night from the hard work, but what an accomplishment! I'm so proud of my hubba-hubba honey!