That title gives you a slight glimpse into my life for the next month and a half. I’ve been home for 3 weeks, and I’ve enjoyed every second of the beautiful Fairhope autumn and family time. When I got back, the first item on the agenda was to finalize my substitute teaching license. Several dozen phone calls, a couple of hours on hold, and two cross-county expeditions later, I was in business.
That’s Miss McBee, thank you very much.
Next, I experienced the ultimate homecoming as I visited every public school in Fairhope to put my name on the sub lists. Poked my head in the white picket fence surrounding the kindergarten building; bonded with my sister’s principal at the elementary school; received a hearty welcome from my stepmom’s home away from home, the middle school. The reminiscing culminated when my high school principal stated, in a crowded room, “My favorite Anna McBee memory is when she dated that jerk who gave her a third degree burn on her face…not one of her finest moments.” Insert excessive blushing here. I’m an adult. I can qualify my actions. I’m capable of saying all sorts of articulate things. Why I chose to mutter no such phrases at this moment I will never know. Instead, “Well…we weren’t technically dating,” were the only words I found. Not one of her finest moments, indeed.
Flash forward a week later, and I had 3 days of teaching under my belt. My first day of subbing was for my stepmom, Kim, who has extremely bright and interested students. Needless to say, I got a bit spoiled. Next, I found myself as the stand-in for the art teacher. The art room was a special place, where I found myself putting words together in entirely unprecedented orders. Sentences like, “Dude, let him out of that cabinet,” and, “No, you can’t stand on the table and strangle him with that pool noodle,” somehow found themselves into daily conversation. I didn’t exactly learn anything about art, but I learned more than a few things about patience.
I also learned how to confront 13 year olds. Apparently they are rather creative creatures. While overseeing lunch detention, I told a student that I didn’t care why he hadn’t realized that he needed his textbook to complete a chapter review and that no, he could not go roam the halls to get it. When he blankly stared at me and then proceeded to laugh, I told him that he might have better luck with the principal’s understanding and that he was welcome to give her a visit. He says, “Look lady, the principal is my grandma.” I quickly retort, “All the better reason to not want to go see her right now.” Lunch detention ended, and I pulled him aside and gave more encouraging words than he deserved. (Afterall, lunch detention is where you go to complete unfinished homework, and he neglected to bring his homework.) When the day ended, I told Kim about him.
The principal is NOT his grandma.
In the midst of such academic wonder, momma cat had kittens!! If you haven’t met momma, she is the wild cat my dad has been domesticating for a few months. (She mysteriously began frequenting our back porch…when my dad left cat food on it.) Once a wirey, skittish cat of the night, she currently resides in our garage with her kittens, and boy are they CUTE. Meow Meow.
Right after that, I went to Auburn for a fantastic long weekend. I ran into dear friends in the staircases of the student center, watched gleefully as sweet friends participated in Miss Homecoming campaigns, said hello to my new apartment, and got a glimpse of the assistantship responsible for my return.
January…I. Can’t. Wait.
And if I need another reason to be ecstatic: Harry Potter is in 8 days.
Until then, teaching, football, and holiday cooking, here I am.
You are the best writer ever! Seriously!