What this young man found was that over those sixty days, he made more REAL connections with people.  Instead of texting a friend, he’d go visit.  Instead of Facebooking, he’d have people over for dinner for real face time.

I’ve been in a similar position lately.  With sketchy access to the Internet now that I’m not sitting in front of a computer all day, I check my email far less frequently and I’m online in general a lot less.  Sunday, I sat down and wrote three letters — something almost unheard of in this day of cheap phone calls and texting and email.

I really kind of like it.  I like being unplugged from technology and plugged into people.  I have more energy for face time.  I get more accomplished at home.  I spend time reading or knitting instead of starting at a screen.

What about you?  Could you survive without your tech communication?  How would your life be different?

“Lady of leisure?”  Hardly.  Not only have I subbed almost every day since I left my other position, but the work is a lot harder.  Before, I knew exactly what I was going to do on any given day; my days and weeks had been mostly identical for the last three years.  Now, I’m never sure what I’m going to walk into.  So far, I’ve filled in for business, social studies, health, and English.  I’ve had freshmen through seniors, and next week I’ll have sixth graders.  Some students are very cooperative, funny, and nice.  Others are disruptive and defiant.  (I’ve written one referral so far.)

The variety is nice, and I get along with all teachers and staff whom I’ve encountered so far.  Still, I’m tired by the end of a day and exhausted at the end of a week.  And my pay is lower.

But would I go back?  Nope.

I don’t love subbing, but I really hated my other job.  And there’s certainly no monotony in what I’m doing now!  (Except for the days when I watch the same movie five times in a row.)  Plus, this work will hopefully lead me to a full-time teaching position that I will enjoy.  I don’t know where or when that will be, but I keep remembering that God asked me to trust him.

As a side note, I’ve had less access to the Internet lately.  I generally don’t have computer access when  I’m subbing.  We do finally have Internet at home, but the tablet computer I have has a learning curve that I’ve not quite mastered yet.  I’ve got a couple of blog posts in my head, but getting them out to you has proven more difficult than in the past.  Thanks for understanding!

Me: Jordan, please sit down.

Jordan: (amazed) How’d you know my name!?

Me: I’m the Magical Sub.

Jordan: Yeah, you’ve got mad skillz.

And so, now that I’m subbing, I’m watching movies.  Wednesday, it was the same 40 minutes of The Pursuit of Happyness, five times.  Thursday, a TV show called Princess.  Last week, it was The Pirates of Silicon Valley.

I don’t know a lot about the classes I’ve been subbing for, and I can’t expect the teacher to trust me with complicated lesson plans.

Still, I’m a little tired of watching movies.

image courtesy GregoryMaguire.com

I generally like stories told from a unique point of view.  The first book I read like that was The True Story of the Three Little Pigs  by Jon Scieszka.  I also enjoyed the movie Hoodwinked, which does a similar thing.  So, since Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire was along those same lines, and because I’d heard rave reviews about the musical based on the book, I figured I’d love this novel.

Maguire begins the tale before the Wicked Witch of the West, whom he names Elphaba, is even born.  We see her flawed parents, the strange religious trends of the time, and the ways that Elphaba’s father, Frex, a minister, tries to fight against paganism and what seems like an Oz version of the occult.  When Elphaba is born, she is inexplicably green and has very sharp teeth.  The story follows Elphaba for a few years during her toddlerhood, then jumps ahead to her college years where she meets Galinda, who eventually becomes Glinda, known to you and me as the Good Witch of the North.

The story here is filled with political intrigue and sorcery (which seems partly academic subject and partly dark magic).  Elphaba both struggles to fit in and becomes her own strong-minded person.  Another jump, and we are a few more years into the future when Elphaba is a political activist (terrorist?) fighting against the evil regime of the Wizard.

As the book progresses, you see Elphaba not merely as a Wicked Witch, but a torn, lost soul, often rejected because of her strange skin color, just trying to do the right thing and make a difference in her world of Oz.  I’ll admit that Maguire is imaginative.  But I found the story confusing and hard to follow, as well as a little creepy with some sexually graphic material and some serious weirdness on the religious side of things.

Maybe the musical is lighter, but I don’t recommend the book.

Score: 5/10

Our dogs have terrible cabin fever.  I hate to walk them in the rain (they splash me so my legs get soaked, plus they come home stinky) and the weather has been less than ideal lately.  But it’s not as dark when I get home from work now, so perhaps I’ll be able to take them out a few evenings more often pretty soon.

Chef has been away a lot lately, competing in and judging ice carving competitions.  But competition season will be over around the end of February, so he’ll be home more on weekends.

I’ve realized in the past week that my niece may not be living with us for too much longer.  She and her husband will probably stay with us a for a while until they find a place of their own.  And I knew that she likely wouldn’t be with us much past June anyway, but the reality of it knocked me on the head yesterday.

I have just two and a half more days of work this week.  Everyone has been super nice to me since I put in my notice.  (If they had been this nice to me all along, I might not have been in such a hurry to get out of here.)  I’ve been training a couple of gals to do some of my tasks, but the boss man passively isn’t taking any action to hire someone to help out… and I think that might be a problem.  But it won’t be my problem.  Thursday is my last day.

My life feels like it is in flux.  This is part of the adventure, right?

It was nice.

Snow fell softly, silencing the town

My snowpants swish-swished

As my shovel scrrrrrraped the sidewalk

And three days later, it was gone,

Melted by spring-like storms.