Day 2: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Part Deux

OK, so i decided that i'm going to split this blog into two parts: subbing/work and life/stuff. this way, people who don't want to read about subbing can skip down and those who don't care about my life stuff can read the subbing only (although both are funny if i do say so myself).

Work:

today i ended up in the same classroom as yesterday. i was happy about that; even though the kids were "eh" it's nice to have the same gig 2 days in a row. plus, i knew the teacher would leave me good lesson plans, so it makes it easier to go to the job.

the kids were surprised and happy to see me (minus the few who were the PITA's). we got straight to work finishing off what we worked on yesterday, and starting a new lesson. they are working on a unit on slavery and today we read a short play/scene out loud. i wish i had the time to "stage" the whole thing, but alas, as a sub i don't get that luxury. (sad, but true because it would have been an AWESOME scene if i do say so myself).

the afternoon was easy; they came back from lunch and spent 25 minutes doing math, then it was off to the library, then directly to music. back to the classroom to grab their stuff, then the day was done!

of course, it couldn't be that easy....

school ended and i sent the bus kids off. about 2 seconds later one of the kids comes flying towards me saying "M is hurt on the basketball court!" (remember M from yesterday? yeah, he was still a pain today and i reported him to Principal Cutie who, unfortunately, got called into a meeting and didn't get to deal with M). I ran over to see what happened; apparently he got elbowed in the stomach hard and was doubled over crying on the basketball court. Principal Cutie appeared and picked M up and brought him to the nurse. The last of my kids left, so i went to check up on him. (*M, not Principal Cutie, although that was the bonus). He was fine and they put him on the bus. We chatted for a few; i managed to get in that i was a former teacher looking for a job, and he said he's keep me in mind if anything came up that didn't need certification. (I'm not certified in the state of MA to teach for various reasons, mostly monetary).

Overall, a decent day. Tomorrow: no work (!!!) Got a dentist appointment then a cleaning job in the afternoon to make up for the day off of work.

Life stuff:

So a brief synopsis of my life for those of you just joining my little soap opera: moved to MA a year ago, had a few jobs, lost the main one back in December (it wasn't a match. i was happy with the letting go) and had my unemployment run out last week. Since i wasn't at last job enough time, i didn't qualify for the state extention.

however....

i got mail from the Feds saying i can apply for an extention. figured it was worth a shot, so i called. and hour later i found out that MA didn't look at ALL my jobs; my last job in Maine wasn't added to my benefits. so now i can attempt to claim from ME, but don't think it's going to happen. i can reapply in MA to have them re-do my claim and see if that makes a difference, but it turns out they over paid me, so i'll end up owing. i can ask for a waiver (which they generally accept) and can claim a little bit more. not sure what i'm going to do.

also, other life stuff: living in a place that I HATE my primary roommate (*note to self: no more roommates from CL!) and that situation stresses me out daily. so between being jobless and my living life, things are, to say the least, stressful. today all i wanted to do was break down an cry....at times like that i try to remember that my life isn't SO bad, but it's hard to see the silver lining. my college roomie T calls me the Roach: no matter what life throws at me to try and kill me, i somehow manage to survive, like a cockroach. i know, flattering. but it's true.

the only redeeming thing in my world is my boyfriend, Nap (we'll call him this for now, at least until i ask hi if he wants a different name). we've been together for 3 months and he's amazing. truly the only thing that's keeping me sane these days.

as i search for a job, i'm looking out where he lives and want to move there. there is nothing keeping me in boston proper, he's only 45 mins west, and there's a Trader Joes' and Meat House not too far from him, so it's at least redeemable. not moving in with him; too soon for that. but closer is better, so that's the goal.

ok, it's late and i'm exhausted. long stressful day.

tomorrow: another 3 hour dentist appointment. oh joy.