well, i managed to start making phone calls yesterday. the stellar sub (erm, the people who manage all the subs at a single school) of the first school said she may have something for me later in the week and she'd give me a call. the stellar sub from the second school acted like i was nuts for calling her. the stellar sub for the third school said, "let me call you right back after i check on something." when she called back, she asked me to come in.

uh, ok? i guess making those calls can be a good thing? the best thing is that i got paid for a full day despite missing at least one, possibly two, periods. the stellar said as long as the subs make it in before noon, they pay for a full day. works for me!

but middle schoolers are pretty dang exhausting! it was another fairly easy day. easier in in terms of curriculum. but the kids were restless - which makes sense - and they couldn't seem to keep the noise level down, so i decided to try to give them incentive. if they worked quietly for 5-10 minutes, they got to ask me one question about cali or about me. it didn't work 100%, and it worked better with some classes than it did for others, but it did help some. i reserved the right to refuse to answer any question i deemed too personal, but it ended up that i didn't have to worry too much. the first class asked about earthquakes and my family, the second class asked about my heritage, the third class asked about cali weather and learned about the fires that cali is prone to in summer, the fourth class, well, they piddled around a lot and didn't get to ask anything much. they all wanted to know about my kids. it was an interesting time, for me at least. not sure if they found it all that fascinating - i suspect any break from class work was a good thing no matter how boring.

as with the previous school, i had teachers to help, although in this case it was a team of teachers that provided support. apparently the kids were all a bit more antsy than usual because the team had had several subs over the last two weeks. i had to pull out one kids in the first group, one in the third, and two in the last - and another teacher wrote up a third from that last group. not only did the last period have the usual problems associated with being the last period, but during passing the fire alarm went off. by the time they came in, they were all pretty much already out of hand. when it came time to wait for buses to be called, i first had one of the team teachers come in and he let them have it, then another sub came in sat with me while we waited for all the kids to go to their buses.

it was a long day. and then i got a little lost coming home. i corrected it pretty quickly, but when i came home i went through the list of schools and wrote out directions to the middle and high schools that i felt were the best for me to sub at. if i'm not called in tomorrow, i'll call the schools, starting with the high schools, and let them know i'd like to be on their lists. i'm supposed to be on the high school lists anyway, but one of the teachers told me stopping by or calling will let them know i'm available. i also need to call about getting fingerprinted and getting my son seen by a doctor to refill one of his meds.

and i want to write. being sick this weekend meant no writing. i was too dang tired to write today. if i get tomorrow off, i'm gonna write. i need to write.

the downside, of course, is losing a day of pay. but even with the one day, if i manage to work the rest of the pay period, that will be between $500-$750 for 10 days, depending on how many days i actually work and how many days end up being full days rather than half days. that's most of our rent, so i can live with it.

besides, i think the cold could use one more day of rest. this sucker is being a hanger on and i desperately want to get rid of it if only so i stop sounding like i gargled with salt water and rocks.