The Life of an Unemployed Girl

I'm unemployed, it's gross.

Long story short, I'm off for the summer with tentative plans to return to my job in the beginning of August. If I knew for certain that I will have a job in August, I'd probably relax a little. However, I do not know that. And so the job search begins...

This is my second week off work and so far this week has been better than last week. I've been applying to anything I find, half of which I'm not qualified to do. The job search stinks. Being home all day stinks. Not having friends to hang out with or things to do stinks. And last but certainly not least, not having any cell-phone minutes left until NEXT Wednesday stinks!

So today I decided to go to the pool. It was a first for the summer. I got ready, book in one hand, water in the other. Got to the pool, layed peacefully for 30 minutes, and the rain fell! It was real light at first and I thought about staying. After looking at the surrounding clouds I decided to come inside. I changed my clothes, made it to the computer (obviously) and now the rain is really coming down outside! I guess that was a good choice.

So off I go to search for more jobs. Oh, how I was NOT made to sit still!

Before and After Pictures

We bought some clippers and I cut Eric's hair for the first time!

The Last Day

It's over. The school year is over. While yesterday turned out to be one of the longest days of the year, we were still able to capture some smiles on camera!

The Beginning of the End

This is our last week of regular school-year programming. My last day of after-school programming is Friday. Counting today's program, we have 4 days.

We do a summer "camp" from 8-4 during the month of June, but only a handful of my kids will be attending. I know that I'll have fun (I'm actually looking forward to it a lot), but the thought of this school year ending hit me harder than anticipated. Probably because I anticipated nothing.

Yesterday I came home emotional, which surprisingly hasn't happened all that often this year. I love these kids. I love being greeted with a hug every day, being involved in almost every aspect of their lives, and having a relationship with the whole family. Some of them will move this summer, families will change, kids will grow up and some will attend middle school. This Friday may very well be the last time I see some of them. Wow. Not only have I become part of their lives, but they have become part of mine. I will miss them.

Something New

I've become accustomed to working with inner-city "at-risk" kids. After 8 months of being in the neighborhood, I have seen a lot. Yesterday, however, I saw something new.

I have two sisters in my program, age 9 and age 6. Yesterday, they showed up with their brother, 18 months. They had walked probably close to 1/2 a mile with this boy. When I asked the 9 year old what was going on, she said nobody was home so she had to take her baby brother. This girl has had to stay home before due to babysitting her baby brother, but I guess I've never actually seen it before.

Part way through the program she asked where she could go to change him. She had a clean diaper in her hand, but nothing else. As I watched her, I asked if she had brought wipes (or anything else, for that matter). No.

I couldn't believe the responsibility put on this dear 9 year old girl. She told me later that her mom comes home from work at 9:30, which means this girl will feeding her siblings dinner tonight. Or not feeding them. On other nights the mom works until 11pm. I asked my student who normally watches the baby brother? A cousin, or maybe granny.

We were making mother's day crafts yesterday, so I was seated at a table helping the kids which led to some good conversation. At one point this 9 year old girl said she wanted to attend a specific high school, "because they teach you how to take care of babies there." Wow.

At the end of the day I am more determined than when I began. I will strive to provide an exceptional education for these students so that they might have options as adults.

Family

This is a picture of me with my brother (Jeff) and sister-in-law (Andrea). We had a baby shower for Andrea this past weekend. She's due July 1 and she's looking SO cute!

So mom kept me awake well into the night finishing up some things for the shower. Then we got up early to travel to Grandma's. I think we both ended up with about 3 1/2 hours of sleep, but it was definitely worth it! It was great to see the family and hug on Andrea. I even got to feel a foot of the baby :)

I'm super excited to go back in July and hold that little one! Yay!