home with the pets

I am taking the day off today. Yesterday morning, again, at 7:30, I hit F5, to find a job at the school where I usually work. I hesitated, because the teacher can be very particular and usually would request certain subs only (not me!) so I didn't know if I wanted to risk it. But the job lingered so I decided it was fate, and clicked on 'accept.'

As it turned out, they were a great class, well-behaved and except for a couple of unique individuals, did their work and stayed quiet. There was another teacher in the room for much of the day, but she was the same one from last year, so I had to step back and just let her do what she felt was right, even if I wouldn't have done it quite the same way. And a couple of other teachers told me they were going to request me, or already had me on their lists, so that makes four from that school alone, although I don't know if I'm on the list for the administrators, which would mean that if the teachers don't request, or if their requests are busy, I would see the job.

One teacher told me she did request me but got a man instead, who didn't follow her directions to pack the kids up for dismissal early, and the Principal happened in at 2:55 and found mayhem in the classroom. I will sympathize with him, however, dismissal time is the most chaotic time in the day for a sub in the lower grades, in my opinion, unless you know the routine down to the last detail. Even then, it can be harrowing, especially in cold weather, when coats and hats and gloves join the daily papers and backpacks in the mix of things to do.

But last night, I was browsing for jobs, and I noticed that the district has activated a widget that will search for assignments for us! If we have it running in the background, it makes a loud ringing noise when a job is posted! Although I have a lot to get done today, and don't want to lock up the dog again since I am working tomorrow, so I haven't accepted any jobs for today. But I did see three full day assignments go by, as well as one half-day, thanks to the ringing of the alert bell. The problem is, this is a free trial I am using. If I like and want to use the service, I think it will cost me $40 per year. Of course, one half day assignment practically pays for it, but I will have to be signed in in order to get the assignments, so if I'm working, I still won't know about them. Unless I enlist help from Kevin, and he can put the widget up at work and accept jobs for me, within reason.

So another excuse to do nothing but sit on the computer all day.

In other news, Megan is still sick. She was coughing so badly at night that I didn't let her go to practice Sunday morning, then I started giving her benadryl at bedtime and she improved. However, she had a bad time at practice last night and I'm not sure what to do about it. She had a cold, but this has been going on for 2-3 weeks now. The air quality in the pool can cause breathing problems for swimmers, and this can last for the rest of their lives. They call it 'swimmer's asthma.' So I don't know if she is affected by the poor quality of the air, likely caused by poor chemical balance in the water, or if she has a sinus infection and needs treatment, or if it's a combination of both. Before practice started, the pool had to be closed for chemical adjustments, so I'm really suspicious of this. Megan rarely gets sick alone, so others are coughing as wel, indicating either something is circulating, or someone needs to check into the pool quality a little more closely.

Drop AP History and quit swimming! Stay home and play cards instead!

Tonight she has to leave a little early to get her commendation from the school board, but if she doesn't start to improve, she will have to start with the doctor and antibiotics. If that doesn't work, we will be in a tough place, because how do you deal with the sport you love, and that defines you, when it's making you sick? This morning she seemed better, so I hope she can get through it on her own. The problem is when you train so hard and get so run down, it's also hard to shake the little things and they linger. This is one of the things I hate about this sport.