Today was my last day of substitute teaching.  After two longs years in this field, I hope to finally say goodbye to the job.  In 40 days, I will leave for the Peace Corps.  Then comes 27 months of service.  When I return, I hope to make a career in the government.  So, this is the end of a long, strange shift in my jobs.  Substitute teaching allowed me to live the way I wanted to live.  I made enough money to get by.  I never took my job home with me.  I could choose what days I wanted to work.  It was the perfect life for a writer.  Now, I am on Christmas vacation with 40 days left in the United States.

Since I worked on the blog instead of writing yesterday, today I need to focus again.  A large part of me just wants to lay down, take a nap, watch a movie, and talk to Sofia.  I can’t do that.  Yet.  That can be tomorrow’s plan.  This evening has to be about writing.  I will get started now.  Here is another poem from 2004 for all of my readers:

When You Look at Me