Well, after I had about hit rock bottom on this whole subbing thing, as they do, things picked up a little. Of course, I have bought Brian a new box of contacts, registered Megan for another SAT and taken Wilbur to the vet; and several other major things I can't remember which now have cost me a fair amount of money that I don't really have.
But anyway, yesterday after the meet (which they won, by a large margin, and the new pool is beautiful) I came home to find that the sub phone had called. As I was starting to get food ready for dinner, it called again so I came in to check on the computer (I'd rather see it in writing) and found a morning job, actually for the teacher to go to the funeral of the boy in Brian's grade who died on Sunday. So I took that, and then checked my email, and found notification from another teacher, although I hadn't seen that job posted.
Well, I later learned that the other teacher was out yesterday as well (she had jury duty,) and I was initially baffled as to why I never saw her job go up, when I remembered that I had blocked myself out from 3pm on for the swim meet! Had she called me, I could have removed that, but I didn't, so I didn't get the job. And the same person who got it yesterday got it again today! But my day was OK, because I had the morning for the other teacher, their classrooms are right next to one another, and they teach as a team so I always have the same lesson plans no matter which one I'm in for. We had an assembly for most of the morning, and as I was on my way out, the secretary hunted me down and asked me to work at a different school in the afternoon.
I usually say no to these requests, but today I felt like I really should take it. So I said ok, but I have to go home first and make sure that I locked my front door (long story that involves kids who have keys and never use them). They said that I could get to the other school at 12:30, that was fine. It was noon when I left the first school. I rushed home, slightly panicked, and was horrified to find that my fears were not unfounded, that the door was, in fact, not just unlocked, but unSHUT as well. I entered with great trepidation and noted that the house, in its natural state, already looked ransacked, so it was hard to tell if any damage had been done by intruders.
Molly was, as usual, playing dead and unresponsive. Wilbur was, as usual, standing up in his pen. The one I worried about the most, Wren, was on the counter, having some chow. So I let the dogs out, inhaled some lunch, and ran back out for a fairly pleasant afternoon at the school where I had the horrible para experience two years ago, when I was almost hired and then unceremoniously dismissed when they had to give the job to someone else, who was already in the para union.
After I left this second school, I ran up to get the contacts I had ordered for Brian, and stopped into the grocery store. On my way home, I received a breathless call from Brian, aghast at being accused of being responsible for the demise of the beloved Rusty, who was nowhere to be found. Trying to stay calm, I pulled into the driveway and parked in front of his favorite hedge. (Rusty rarely goes out but when he escapes he usually climbs into a hedge and screams his head off until I finally manage to drag him out.)
So cautiously I tried his name: "Rusty? Rusty?" I thought I heard a rustling so I tried again. Then it started - the panicked yowls coming from the hedge. Whew. (right on cue, Rusty has just appeared behind my shoulder.) He was not so happy about his situation but he seems pretty glad to be out of it now! So it ended better than it could have, this house opened up to the world for four hours. Good thing I came home.
Anyway, after this, I saw that the sub phone had again called, so I checked in and saw a job posted for the teacher on jury duty, so I quickly snatched it up. I sent her an email just to make sure she hadn't intended to get the same sub back, and she wrote back, so I ended up talking to her on the phone. She is on a case now so it will be day to day but the problem is that I have two half days booked for next week, and I would like to drop them but don't want to cause trouble. So tomorrow I'll call the secretary and see what she says, and if nothing else, I can call personnel and see what they think I should do. Good thing I took that afternoon job today! I think court is closed on Fridays in our county, so the job will start Monday and could run the whole four days of next week. So I won't have to worry about this stalking of the system for a little while, at least!
And in other news, tonight Kevin and I attended a little seminar on how to pay for college. It was interesting, we did learn a few things we didn't know about the process and about where to keep your money (ie not in accounts with the kids' names on them.) They also told us about a few colleges that are not very free with their financial aid, one of which unfortunately is one of Megan's picks. But it will be OK. There are plenty of others and I am sure it will work out. I also signed her up for the January SATs so we will have a better idea what her starting point is before she takes them in May. If she does well enough, she might not have to take them again anyway - then she can just take another subject test and the ACTs and be done with it all! (until the GREs) One of the points that the speaker highlighted was how schools have to utilize their money as it best suits them, and his case example: Hofstra football. I know there are many sad men in America today!
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