so tired that i cried

today was the first day of school. which in my office translates to chaos. now the school sites are noisy, crowded, and confused. the district office has less bodies in it at one time but it is still noisy and confused.

exhaustion set in about two thirty pm - which is very, very bad. on a regular day, my exhaustion level peaks at about 3:45 pm. (i go home ten minutes later) and that's okay.

but, today all i could think about was going home and taking off my high heels and suit jacket. drinking a strawberry margarita sounded like a real good idea too.

but, wait, what could i be talking about?

okaaaay
my day looked like this:

- parents coming all day wanting an interdistrict transfer. which means they wanted their child/ren to attend one of our school sites. TODAY

-parents not taking the explanation that there was a waiting list and our classes are impacted (that's school-talk for "full and there's no way in hell your kid is getting in") in a graceful manner.

at least, i didn't get cursed out today

-finding out that there is no sub for the RSP (resource specialist) that quit over the summer. so her whole class of special education students have no teacher.

but it gets better. not only do those children have no teacher but two other school sites have been transfering their overflow rsp students to that site. now i have no idea how many sped kids are at that site with NO TEACHER!

- the new SDC (special day class) teacher from the phillipines has a screw-up with her visa. so she had to go back.

until october.

-the S/L (speech and language) teacher that quit over the summer likewise has no replacement. so, you guessed it, 40 or so children have no speech teacher.

-several emergency calls to me to find "lost" children. as in they didn't show up at school today. where are they?

did find two in bakersfield.

-phoned kentucky to pry sped records from them. it's 91 degrees there, by the way.

-received a fax request for sped records from a local city which shall remain nameless. this is not unusual. except that i already faxed the same records yesterday and the day before to the SAME person.

-answered innumerable phone calls with questions like: what's mckinnon's phone number? do i live in your district? when is the bus coming? can i pay for transportation? what time does school get out? i'm waiting to hear about the paper i put in. (this usually refers to the aforementioned interdistrict request). santa rita isn't picking up their phone! (because they're busy, duh). juanita's at lunch? (said in a tone of incredulity) what's mckinnon's phone number? do i live in your district?.....

-then there were the voicemails. i'm waiting to hear about the paper. call me! (usually they are on a cell phone and driving so i can only hear every other number. so there is a second voicemail. ) i JUST called; why didn't you return my call? and, of course, they either don't leave their name or their child's.

-my desk was covered in files (which translates to children) who i'm trying to track down: in our schools, monterey county schools, preschools, headstart, infant programs and out-of-state. all of which i'm to find asap. preferably yesterday.

- an IEP (individualized education program) that was faxed to me twice and is still missing.

-toss in a few purchase orders to type, files to file, letters to mail, records to copy and hey, my day was finally over.

but, it wasn't as bad as the poor little guy who was found asleep on the back seat of the school bus by a very surprised driver.