Tinkerings

I got myself all geared up for the big change to a new job.  Several teachers gave me a send off at school.  A few others gave me one on their back porch.  I said goodbye to my classroom kids.  Well, granted, I said goodbye as they were running out the door to get back to another class, so I’m not sure how many really heard me.

And then the snag came.

It seems it harder to replace me than I imagined (said tongue-in-cheek).  One teacher accepted the job, then changed his mind.  Another said he was wavering between two job offers, but he would call back before he made a decision.  I think he got that order backwards.  He took the other job.

So, it is Tuesday morning.  My first day on my new job.  And I’m heading back to my old job.  At least two more days in the classroom this week.

I’m not complaining.  Who knows.  Maybe I’ll get more cake before the week is over.

Yesterday, the ladies on my computer team bought my lunch and brought a great Papa Smurf cake to the lunch room for my “going away” gathering.  It was a wonderful gesture on their part.  The Zaxby’s was wonderful and the cake was awesomely decadent!

Technically, I am leaving at the end of the day today.  Realistically, they haven’t hired a replacement for me yet, so I will keep working here a few days over the next couple of weeks while the job is filled.  I’m saying goodbye to students today.  They will be surprised to see me again in a few days.

A few years back, my right-hand person on my team began calling me Papa Smurf.  She said it was because I am the problem solver on the team.  I think it also had something to do with being old and overweight, but she’s not admitting to that.

I think in a way, Papa Smurf is who I have always been.  I have always been the problem solver for others (as if I don’t have any of my own).  I will stop working on my own projects to help someone else complete theirs.  It isn’t that my project doesn’t get done.  It does.  It just gets done when I would usually be asleep.

Now I get to be Papa Smurf to all of the secondary schools in our district.

I think I need a shirt with a Papa Smurf logo.