Even though it has been a long time since I last posted, I do not think I will go too much into updates about my life. I will cover some big things, but mostly, I am just here to write.
In the past few months, I have switched jobs, acquired some new pets, had a birthday and barely have had any time to rest. Life has been a little chaotic and very stressful but thankfully, that stress has been leading to some improvments
Three weeks ago, I worked my last day as an in-home paraeducator with little Christopher. I have worked with this deaf/autistic boy for two years, so it was hard to say goodbye. His mother then asked me if I could still work the occasional weekend, which made the goodbyes easier. No matter the circumstances though, I knew it was time for a change. There is a point when working with children, that you know you have done about all you can do. It is a fine line between "teacher" and "caretaker" and over time, the lessons morph into something more emotional and somehow, lose their potency. I knew that I have crossed that line with Christopher not too long ago. He saw me as family, and as such, I wasn't as "respected" in a way. My lessons fell on deaf ears (pun intended). Christopher's advances slowed down because I was no longer the right person to teach him. Even though this fact can be hard to greet, it made leaving, actually easier. So what am I doing now?
Well, now I am working at the Travis Unified school district as an instructional assistant to a special needs- middle school class.I am enjoying the change quite a bit, actually, mainly because every word I say is understood. Christopher need sign language and constant repetition to understand your message (under no fault of his own of course) and it was exhausting at times. These older children, if I need to repeat myself, then that means that they just were not listening and then there are consequences-- which I have all the ability to dole out when I see fit. Needless to say, I am the "mean, strict" one a lot of the time, but some students are coming around and seeing that I am nice when they are nice and respectful towards me. It is a welcome change in scene-- and the pay raise is pretty cool too.
That is basically it for the jobs, now onto the pets. As many of you know, I recently (well, not recently anymore-- 3 months ago!) found a pit bull who had been abandoned on our street. She was most likely used for breeding puppies and then dumped. She is such a sweet and amazing dog. The only downside is, we just can't keep her, but finding a home for her has been pretty impossible. There have been a few people who actually met with me to see the dog but most of the replies I have received ended with me describing the dog and then never hearing back from the interested party. I do not understand why people just stop responding, especially when they were the ones who reached out in the first place. Anyway, if you know of anyone who would want a sweet, loving pit bull, let me know. She deserves a wonderful home.
The other, new pet that we have is a one-eyed rat named Lola. Kris is in a Physiology class and they were conducting observations on rats (seeing how much air they took in, nothing harmful), and when the observation was done, the instructor said that the rats could be taken if any one wanted them, or else they would be sent off to a lab where real- dangerous experiements would be performed. Well, Kris is a big-ol' softy like me and he called me up and asked if I wanted to save a rat. Of course I said yes and that is how we came upon this, adorable little girl:
Well, that is basically it. My brain hurts and I am tired. I may just take another nap, considering this is my first, real day off in a month. I am tired and gosh darn, I deserve it!
Okay, well, stay happy safe and healthy all!
