Job Disappointments

Yesterday, I slept in until 10:00, and when I got up and looked at my phone, it said that I had a voice mail from 8:30. I found this confusing, since my phone always wakes me up when it rings or makes the "new voice mail" noise, and it had done neither of those. In fact, it didn't even register a missed call. The voice mail was the Kindergarten Association wanting me to come in and teach! Needless to say, it was too late, so I missed out on that opportunity. Seeing as I am only getting called in once a week at most, missing that day of work was deeply disappointing. I did a lot of productive things yesterday, but I just had this hanging gloom that I couldn't dispel, reminding me that I should have been in kindergarten. Yuck.

In addition, a teacher at the kindergarten I visited yesterday told me about a website where they post all the available teaching jobs, so I thought I'd look at it. I am still committed to taking time to relieve and get to know schools before applying for anything permanent, but I thought it would make me feel better to know how many opportunities are waiting for me to take them. Well, that plan backfired. Do you know how many early childhood education jobs are currently posted for Whanganui? None. Zero. When I combine that knowledge with the surplus of relievers that I keep hearing about, I find myself feeling a bit down-hearted about the permanent job opportunities coming my way. Double yuck.

As usual, I comforted myself by cuddling with Holly, and this time I got a picture of her. Check it out.

Is that not the most loveable face? She scoots in between my legs, nuzzles her face into my tummy, then rolls on her back and looks up at me (or in this case, the camera, since she finds it fascinating) with those big, gorgeous eyes. Melts my heart. We are so lucky to have her.

When J got home from work, we talked about it, and his complete confidence in my ability to find a job was very comforting as well. He is sure that something will come up in the near future, and that relieving jobs will become more frequent in the meantime. Given that I am usually the more positive one in the relationship, it was particularly nice for him to be so confident and optimistic. And I have been told that they usually need more relievers in January and February, so I'm holding out hope that that's true. Anyway, J and Holly both made me feel better, and it will all be okay.

I took Holly out to the beach again today, which was lovely. It is still a new concept to me that we actually live in a place where you can just head to the beach for the afternoon if you want. How cool is that? Maybe I'll become a permanent beach resident instead of a preschool teacher. :)