02-01-06 - 6:41 p.m.
No, I didn't fall off the planet. But I have: changed jobs once, changed residences twice but only moved once, and held no less than 5 positions at my current job within 3 months. Exciting, no? Insane - yes. Grab a drink and make yourself comfortable - let's get started.
When last I wrote, I was working for my best friend in their new store & living nearly full-time at her house. I went back to my house just before school started, to be informed of the landlord’s intent to sell it. This progressed to showing the place (including my apartment) on an irregular basis, often without the notice required by law. This eventually stressed me out enough to not only contemplate moving, but actually getting off my butt and doing so. I found a smaller but still nice place with a good landlord, and it's half the commute to work. I only wish the USPS would actually forward the mail as I requested - especially since they confirmed the address change. Instead, I get to visit my old place occasionally to get large amounts of mail, most of which is trash - but not all. If I could only find a way to still do my wash there (new place = laundromat). PS: My former house still hasn’t sold.
As for work, I took a day off from the summer job near its end to go help set up my classroom, only to find out that the student for whom I had originally been hired had moved. Thankfully I wasn’t let go, but no one was quite sure what I would be doing this year. Unfortunately, they still don't know - or are at least unwilling to let me in on the secret. I started in my old room, which lasted roughly until my first paycheck of this school year. Then I started splitting my time between there and a younger differently-disabled set of kids. Twice within that era, I was pulled out to do coverage for a typical first grade class. Almost exactly 3 months after being split into two rooms per day, I was placed back into 1 room ... yet another one. This was supposed to be for a specific limited duration, whereupon I thought I would go back to my now-familiar split situation. But no - 2 1/2 days after trying to give new insights and techniques for a particular student, I was dumped into his personal aide's role ... midday. Since then, the duration was extended once for a few days, for a plausible reason. I currently don't know if I'm ever getting back to my original room this year ... or my adopted younger room either. I asked my direct supervisor directly and received a noncommittal reply. I saw my new head teacher teary-eyed twice today after speaking with various individuals. Yet no one sees fit to tell me where the bloody blue blazes I'm going to be for the next 4+ months. I don't think it's too much to ask, do you? Five positions in 4 different rooms within 3 months serving 2 distinct age groups ... there's only one me, and I'm starting to feel ripped apart by the stress of indecision, over which I have no control. This is not how a responsible qualified professional with certain expertise should be treated.
Enough rant for now. I'm tired of just recounting it all; I can't imagine how tired you are of reading it. On a better note, brief highlights since I last updated: I've seen my niece twice, my friends helped me move (on my birthday no less!), I got to see a good movie at the theater (a twice-yearly occurrence at best), and I rejoined the local lesbian group. Now I just have to get cracking on my 2006 resolutions (if you want to know what those are, you'll have to contact me and ask!). Borrowing the title of a movie I'd like to see eventually, "Good night and good luck".
