The first snowflakes of the year started falling this morning. It was a great sight, but it didn't make my morning workout any easier. We are still on rollerskis, of course, but it's exciting to know that I'll be skiing in less than a month. I'm starting to feel much more confident, and I might actually kick some ass this season! It's been such a long summer of training and relearning to be an athlete that I haven't let myself think about racing much yet. I know that I still have so much ground to cover that I'm nervous about getting my hopes up. On the other hand, my coach is pumped about the progress I'm making, and I know that I'm doing what I need to do. I guess my fist good test will be on Halloween, when we are doing a rollerski race against all the colleges in Maine. It will be a good way to see where I'm at.
I've been substitute teaching a lot lately. It's a pretty good gig, and the people I work with seem to think I'm good at it. Yesterday was funny. I was an aide for a kindergarten class, my first time with kids younger than 3rd grade, and they were very affectionate. I got 20+ hugs, and everyone wanted to play with me at recess (yes, my self esteem is linked to the opinions of 5 year olds). It took about five minutes for all the kids on the playground to start chasing me hither and thither and screaming wildly. Eventually I let them catch me, and picked a new person to get chased (clearly a great honor); then another; then another. I honestly think those kids would have played "chase" for the entire afternoon if the bell hadn't rang.
After lunch a kid crapped his pants to the MAX! (more on this later). The main teacher had to go do damage control, so I was left in charge for the afternoon. We played shape bingo and I read stories, and it was lots of fun. I even got to give out some awards. I really didn't have to do any serious teaching all day, which I liked about kindergarten. Anyway, this little pooper had shit his pants so explosively that it had escaped from his pull-ups and inundated his shoes! I didn't have to bear witness to the horror, but I can only imagine the scene. I figure it was reminiscent of that part in "I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell" when Tucker Max craps all over the lobby of some hotel. Anyway, the kid's grandpa didn't bring him spare clothes, so they apparently stuck the kid in some old scrubs and had to carry him out to the car because his shoes were unwearable. I was later told that this was the fifth kid in class to crap their pants this week! If I'm ever subbing and some kid poops in his pants, I'm just sending him outside. I refuse to deal with such a complete goat-fuck. Anyway, they pay $70/day, so at least it's easy money and I'm not going broke anymore. Maybe next post I'll tell you about the severe needs kid that tried to make out with me on Thursday... Yep, not a boring day yet.
Love and Adventures,
Toast
