Twenty-Sixth Entry

Today was an interesting day in the world of substitute teaching. Never before have I had to teach a class without any lesson plans! It was quite scary. There was no note from the teacher. She did not call before class started to at least give me some direction. I had to wing it.

It was a class of 1st graders. Usually teachers of classes that young actually care about their students enough where they will at least call the morning they are absent and tell the sub whats up and what the class can work on. Of course, there is always the possibility that the teacher was seriously injured or someone in her family was seriously injured, but then they would have retained me for the next day.

But, since they were 1st graders, an age where lying and deception is a bigger sin than murder, they were more than happy to tell me what they should be doing. We wrote stories, drew pictures, played alphabet and number bingo, played heads-up seven-up, read books, learned about the countries that speak Spanish(it was a bilingual class), worked in the math workbooks, etc. So I spent the whole day asking the kids what they should be doing. And they responded...all at once!!

At about 2:05 pm, I was informed that today was the annual Jog-a-Thon. I had missed the window when I would take my kids to run. I was supposed to take them at 10am, but since nobody told me anything about the class, I had no idea. So only the late birds got to go at 2:05 with the Kindergarteners and the Special Ed kids. All they did was run around the Basketball poles and some of the teachers kept count. I couldn't help but think that most of these kids did not know why they were running; they were just running and running and running and then walking and walking and running. They were treated to cold water and oranges after the running was over. I guess that's what they were running for.

After class was over, I came home, exhausted due to only 4 hours of sleep the night before, and I helped my dad move the trailer back into our driveway and push the porsche into the tiny space behind it. It barely fit between the trailer and the gate. Great fun.

I came inside and watched TV. Fred came home and immediately started playing with his new Nextel "waste of money" phone. It is a cool phone, but he did not need another one...he just needed a new service. Nextel is good as a company phone for its radioing capabilities, but not as a personal use phone...too expensive.

I quickly got tired of the constant beeping of his phone as he was radioing back and forth with my cousin, who actually has a business use for his Nextel service, and went upstairs to sleep.

I awoke to the annoying and incessant chirp of that stupid phone of my brothers. He was in his room, but the noise was loud and woke me up.

I taped "The Bachelor" and just finished watching it. I will be watching it weekly. It is very interesting. I especially liked it when the blonde girl at the end of the show started crying because she didn't get a rose. I thought to myself..."Serves you right for being a fake ass bitch". It helped that she was really ugly, or else I might have felt sorry for her. And for that other girl...the curly brown hair girl who couldn't figure out why she wasn't picked..."It's the gap in your teeth...lookin like a Hillbilly or something." I am interested in this show because the drama possibilities are great and I know this show will deliver. As far as going on TV to find a wife/husband, thats kinda "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?"-weird, but at least in "The Bachelor", they are giving the guy a month or something to pick out his potential wife.

Another note, I like the deliberation room. It's a good idea. I think ABC may have a hit (gasp) on their hands.

Tomorrow another day of substituting. Mamma mia! That's a spicy-a meatball!