Another Chapter

“Crazy I know, places I go

Make me feel so tired

I can see how people look down

I'm on the outside”*

Remember when I mentioned on Facebook I had an interview for the Building Sub job? And then I didn’t get it? Many of you wrote comments that something better would come along. At the time, the assistant principal said there would be ETS positions opening up and she hoped I’d still be around in the fall.

At the time I wondered if that was a hint. I knew the Social Studies teacher was pregnant. For the next month, I checked the job postings.

And I was “still around in the fall” (lucky me), so when the job posted, I submitted my application and sent my resume and cover letter separately to the assistant principal. One day, when I came in to sub P.E. (looking my best in yoga pants and sneakers), the assistant principal said I’d be called for an interview.

The Thursday before Columbus Day, I had an interview. It was for an Extended Term Sub Social Studies Position for the teacher going out on maternity leave. In the room were three parents, two teachers, and a principal for an ETS, which I didn’t expect. I thought I did well. In addition, when asked if I’d brought a portfolio with me, I handed mine over. I noticed the applicant before me didn’t have one, but I don’t know if the man after me did. I didn’t really know my competition or if the administration had someone in mind beforehand and the interview was just a formality.

When I finished, the principal said they’d decide quickly and there’d be some overlap between the ETS and the teacher.

I waited.

No call Friday, but I wasn’t expecting an answer that soon.

Then it was Columbus Day weekend.

Tuesday, no call.

By Wednesday, I was

D

O

W

N.

That evening, I came home from my daughter’s ballet and found I’d missed a call from the assistant principal at the school. Nothing to get my hopes up about. When I’d had the Building Sub phone interview, the assistant principal was kind enough to call and tell me I didn’t get the job.

Then I opened my computer. The assistant principal sent me an e-mail advising me to call. Now I couldn’t help but hope. I tried the number, but I got a general message because it must’ve been the main number.

An hour later, the phone rang.

I got the job.

Could I start the next day?

“Sure!”

After hanging up, I had to cancel four daily sub jobs I’d already taken.

The day before I got the job, I had published a post about bloggers who disappear. I don’t plan to do that. But I’m going to be busier. I’ll have lessons to plan, work to grade, discipline issues to recover from, parents to contact, report cards to send, conferences to attend.

The house still has to be cleaned. Laundry still needs to be done. Children still need help with their homework. Meals still need to be prepared.

And I had promised myself to write 1k per day on Naked Eye for the month of October. I’m at around 18k words. I don’t want to abandon this project. But I can’t do it all and I have to maintain a level of cleanliness. And sanity.

So I’m embarking on a whole new journey, albeit temporary. The teacher said she plans to return around the end of February, beginning of March.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t been writing about subbing lately. I didn’t feel the passion and humor about posts as I did during the last school year. But mostly it was because I’d actually started interviewing, and didn’t want some administrator to stumble upon the blog and think I was putting down any school or teacher or student. While I think the posts have always been about me, and what I got out of any situation, I might not get to explain that to someone who decided not to interview me or hire me because of the blog.

Now I’m at one place every weekday, with students and teachers I knew previously, and some of the parents whom I also know outside this particular school.

I’m still a substitute teacher, albeit one with a long-term assignment. There are already posts I’ve written in my head, but I can’t share. (It’s kinda killin’ me.) But I won’t mention the new job much, except how it’s probably going to impact my domestic and writing lives.

My hope is that if I keep writing about writing, I hope it will push me to actually write.

I’ll probably post less and visit you less often than I’d like. But if you comment here, I’ll still be sure to visit.

And I’m still hosting a Blog Haunting from 10/28-11/1. We’ll haunt blogs, find friends and critique buddies. There will be a couple of giveaways too!

For the next few months, I’ll be frazzled.

But I’ll still be here.

“It's that little souvenir of a colourful year

Which makes me smile inside

So I cynically, cynically say, the world is that way

Surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise

Here's where the story ends”

*- Gavurin, David; Wheeler, Harriet. Song “Here’s Where the Story Ends” The Sundays.