What are YOU doing this summer?

I really wasn't feelin' the grass in our end-of-the-year display. As soon as I cut it, I realized it was NOT the way I usually cut the paper for grass, but I didn't want to waste the paper I already cut. (I HATE to waste paper!!) But, I couldn't take it anymore, so I cut it the "right" way, and put the "wrong" papers away until I can figure out what to do/make with it.

Here's the 'before'....

And, the 'after!' Looks much better, doesn't it?
Here's a close-up. I like how the fringe looks. Eventually, it will start to curl down and look fringier. (Is that even a word?)

I haven't posted about this yet, because I was afraid it would turn into a bitchy, complaining post (SO unusual, right!?) but now I've come to grips with it. I will be teaching summer school this summer. Some of you know that this year we switched to a year-round schedule at the Hell-Hole. That meant a VERY short 5 week summer vacation last summer, and this summer will be no different. Well, accept that summer school is also 5 weeks long. So, do the math, folks. 5 weeks of summer - 5 weeks of summer school=0 vacation for ChiTown Girl!!!

Ok, I said I wasn't going to gripe. I keep trying to focus on the money part of this. With all the budget cuts this year for CPS, you may recall that the after school program that I used to run was cut this year, which meant no after school money. On top of that, the bar has become so successful, that we now have a full staff, so that means I no longer spend my weekends there. Now, trust me, this is definitely a GOOD thing and I'm thrilled about that, but for me personally, that's another job I no longer have. I went from having 3 jobs to just 1, so financially, it's been a rough school year. Believe me, I know I'm better off than so many people who don't even have 1 job. However, those other two jobs are what paid the very high tuition at Stud's private school. With the elimination of my two extra jobs, I've had to dip into my savings all year to pay it. The main reason I agreed to do summer school is because I should be able to make enough to cover Stud's tuition for next year. (Let me just clarify, so CSJ doesn't seem like such a J - I pay the full tuition every month, then he pays me his half in drips and drabs throughout the month. It essentially feels like I'm paying the tuition by myself, since I don't have the luxury of paying it to the school bit by bit, but at the end of the day, CSJ does help. The problem is, once I pull the money out of savings to pay the full tuition every month, I don't replace it because I don't get it back in one lump sum, and it just ends up going toward other expenses.)

Because our salary is spread out over a full year, we always get paid while we're off in the summer. (It's money we already earned, they just take a certain amount out of every check during the school year, then pay us out of that for the summer. That means our checks are the same amount every pay period.) We are paid our regular rate of pay for summer school, so it'll seem like I'm getting double pay all summer, if that makes sense. I plan to stockpile my summer checks, and hopefully, combined with my tax refund, I'll be able to pay Stud's tuition in full at the beginning of the year, which will earn me a discount. It's not big, but it will be enough to pay for most of his books (which are usually around $300+).

There's one more little piece to this puzzle. Normally, summer school is only Mon-Thur. So, when I agreed to do it, I figured, "Ok, I won't get a summer vacation, but at least I'll have a bunch of 3-day weekends." Well, yeah....not so much.... I later found out that for the program I'll be doing, there are mandatory meetings every Friday at one of the CPS training facilities. Argh! But, I've been trying to focus on the positive. That's 5 more days of pay, which is essentially another week's pay, right? Focus on the bottom line, you big whiny baby!

I suppose I should just be grateful to have this summer position (which I am, seriously). Flattered, even, because New Principal came to me personally and asked me to do this program, which is new to the Hell-Hole. Normally, any teachers interested in teaching over the summer must fill out an application, and then there ends up being about 10 people vying for the limited number of positions available (usually just 3). So, the fact that I she hand-picked me for this says something, right?