Unemployed

It's only temporary....but I am unemployed for the summer. Blissfully and totally without a care in the world. Well....except for my sisters visiting in a week and my friend Jackie will be here a week after my sisters leave. And that brings us to July and the dreaded 15th. No stress there. After July comes and goes in a flurry of tears we get August with more visitors....Jim's folks...who are always wonderful house guests and the Eastins might stop by for a while. I love having company from Idaho visit me here. I NEVER in a million years thought my sisters could come here for a visit. They both work and have such busy lives. Of course after I told them I was shipping their favorite nephew off to Texas for 2 years....well...they do know how to prioritize. It's just another great attribute they picked up from our Mom. My sisters are a lot like her. Not that they would admit to even half of their wonderful qualities. That too they learned from her.
But back to being unemployed. My last day of work was very bitter sweet. I got to work for my friend, Priscilla, the lunch lady. Not the hair net wearing hot hash slinging type of lunch lady, mind you. No, she is the sit behind the computer and enter the magic lunch number type of lunch lady. She does a lot more than that though. She is also the "go to girl" for 3 of the 5 teachers. She does all of their copying and craft preparation and stapling and filing....and man this is a busy lady. I liked filling in for Priscilla....but I didn't get to interact with with the kids as much. Some days that was a good thing...but some days I really hated to sit and watch as Shelby went by. I know that her para is a good lady and she has done some great things for Shelby. But that little stinker Shelby, well...she plays Cindy like a drum. I love how smart Shelby is. She ultimately gets what she wants when Cindy is around....except for a dirty face. Cindy sure does keep her clean. And that ultimately helps Shelby fit in...in an odd sort of way. As I was sitting at Priscilla's desk Friday afternoon the gruff music teacher came in. We have had an odd relationship this year. I have gone the entire year thinking that I must have done something to offend her. (The world does revolve around me so why not...right.) She walked right up to me and she told me that she admired the way I work with Shelby and that it would be a shame if the school didn't hire me full time. huh....You could have knocked me over with a feather. I felt like ole what's-her-name receiving her first Academy Award..."You like me!! You really like me!!" No lie...it was great to hear. I have felt so much joy and on the flip side SO much frustration with my job this year. Sharing the job with Cindy has been hard. We are just too different in our teaching styles to be working with the same kid. Shelby can be taught....you just have to raise the bar a little. That being said Mrs. Music Teacher told me that if I needed a letter of recommendation that I should give her a call because this was my calling in life. huh....So didn't see that coming. It did give me a lot to think about though. Later that day Ms. Mary (one of the teachers) and I were stuffing envelopes together and she asked me if I was going to be working full time next year. I explained that I hadn't received a job offer but if one came up....I might consider it. She said that she had spoken to the man in charge...(God? The principal? Gerry Ness?) and told them that they needed to find a place for me. huh....Who knew....I guess I haven't vented to them on the days I just wanted to pull my hair out. They probably didn't see me shooting daggers (with my eyes, of course) at Shelby for being naughty. And they definitely sit by me at lunch....(I still have issues with the lunch time crowd). So for now I am unemployed....toying with the idea of being a working Mom. Can I make a difference in a child's life (other than my own)? Should I accept the challenge of trying to teach....when there is still so much I need to learn? I guess I'll have to play it like I did when I was first considering being a sub. I put it in the Lord's hands. It turned out to be one of the best experiences I've ever had. I guess He really does know what's best....huh...