"I talked with your grandmother, Mrs. Hartung. What a lovely lady!"

Last evening, after celebrating Eli's birthday four days late (they were busy and kinda sick all week), we played a rousing game of "What Do You Meme?" and then took to the task of helping Eli finalize his teaching applications. After passing his final Praxis test a couple weeks ago, he now has just four more weeks of student teaching, and he'll be a fully certified teacher of grades K-8. Woo hoo!

Everyone needs a team. Everyone.

Team Eli (aka Amanda, Shulamith, and Terrianne) is right here to help with the next step, finding a teaching job for fall. Amanda provides constant emotional support; she's also bomb at making posters and charts and all things visual. I helped Eli revise and edit his resume to near perfection and will do the same with the cover letter, and Shulamith has been assisting with online applications to several school districts in the area. As of today, they are officially submitted.

This got me thinking back to when I graduated from college and found my first teaching job. I know this is going to sound like the proverbial "I walked five miles in three feet of snow to get to school" story, but I can't help myself. Truth is, I never walked to school in the snow; I barely ever walked to school at all. When it snowed in Portland, they were wise enough to cancel school, and when it didn't snow, my mom drove me in a warm, comfortable car.

However, I still have a sob story to tell. The absence of technology made all word processing tedious and communication challenging, including the process to apply for jobs. First, with no cell phones or voice mail or even archaic answering machines, in order to receive a phone call, you had to actually be home. I realize how difficult this is to believe, but you'll have to take my word for it. I've never lied to you. If you weren't home when that potential employer called, well, you could only hope he'd call back, but honestly, you'd never really know. Imagine the missed opportunities!

Everyone needs a team, and I had one too. And captain of "Team Terrianne" was a lady named Mrs. Nina Hartung (aka Grandma). My grandma was a critical team member because of her delightful personality, but also because she rarely left her apartment. Which meant she always answered her phone. What a valuable resource! We all took full advantage of this situation by making her our own personal voice mail, though back then we called her our "secretary." On all job applications, we listed our own home phone number, and right next to that, we listed her number. I can still remember it because I wrote it on so many applications: "Messages: 503-223-1757."

And let me tell you what. She charmed every single person who called her. It went something like this:

Principal: Hello, may I speak to Terrianne Webster, please.

Grandma: Oh, I'm sorry, but she isn't here right now. I'm her grandmother, Mrs. Hartung. May I please take a message.

Principal: Yes, this is Martin Neyman, principal of Armand Larive Junior High School in Hermiston, Oregon, and I wanted to talk to her about her teaching application.

Grandma: Oh hello, Mr. Neyman, what a pleasure to speak with you! I've driven though Hermiston many times. Such a nice little city!

Principal: Thank you so much for saying that. Could you have Ms. Webster call me at 503-XXX-XXXX as soon as possible.

Grandma: I certainly will. She is a wonderful teacher. I know she will be so excited to talk to you. You have a lovely day.

Principal: You too, Mrs. Hartung, and thank you.

Well, by the time I spoke with the guy, he was already so charmed by my grandma that the interview and the job were pretty much mine to lose. "I talked with your grandmother, Mrs. Hartung. What a lovely lady!" Go Grandma! She did this for me multiple times, resulting is several jobs, and I think Tom probably did as well. I often wonder what other people did, those who didn't have a grandma at home to take messages.

With today's technology, Eli doesn't need a secretary, but he still needs a team. I'm proud to be part of it.