The New Normal

My husband and I have settled into a new sort of life.  We are both working – he at his part time job at the library and me at my two jobs substitute teaching and care giving.  We both like what we are doing but, having been cut off at the knees, are making far less money than we were before we lost our jobs. 

Our contract with the realtor will expire in the beginning of July.  People are still looking at our house (three this week) but no takers.  The real estate market has nosedived even since we put our house on the market in September of last year.  We are tired of vacating the house and having people traipse through only to get negative or disinterested comments.   What the market will hold next year is anyone’s guess.   We are not sure what we are going to do about the house, but we do need to move at some point in the near future.  I would like to sell the house to someone we know without a realtor, but don’t know of anyone at this time. 

We are still in a holding pattern for the time being but subsisting.  As I talk with people I am meeting through my work, I am finding that many (young and older) are working at least two jobs to pay their bills.  Recent college graduates are finding the competition very stiff in the workforce with as many as 1,400 applications for one job.  Frankly, I don’t see any improvement in the economy thus far.   Get down in the trenches with real people trying to make a living and see what is really happening right now in this country.

Anyone who thought the world was going to end on May 21 didn’t’ get an easy out and the beat goes on.

Among the Trenches

Since I have started substitute teaching I have met a number of different people.   One woman who is divorced is working three jobs sometimes logging 80 hours a week.  Once a week she does an overnighter in a home for the mentally ill.  Despite the long hours she is working, she has an upbeat demeanor.  I have met people who have been subbing for years, some finally landing a permanent position as a teacher’s aide or paraprofessional.   Each school has its own environment, e.g dress code and rules.   Most everyone has been helpful and friendly.  My sister-in-law has worked in this district for over 20 years so I have an instant familiarity with people who know her.  It makes me feel not so strange.  I am finding my way through, asking questions and getting to know the secretaries.

My care giving job is a little more isolating.  I visit people with whom I am on a one to one basis.  One evening my neighbor’s mother who lives in a facility I have been assigned to was having an art exhibit.  I saw her family there on my way out one evening.  All in all, I have been getting out and meeting all sorts of people everywhere I go.

Between the two jobs, some days I am out the door at 8:00 a.m. and finish the day at 8:00 p.m.   It’s a completely different life.

Update

How is everyone out there in blogger land?  I have entered a new phase in the workforce.  Between substitute teaching and care giving I have returned to part time employment.  This is quite a departure from sitting behind a desk all day.

The house is still for sale but our realistic expectations are that it will probably not sell until next year.  We may have to take it off the market for awhile.  In the meantime, we are on a tight budget in a holding pattern.  My friends check in with me periodically for which I am grateful and life goes on.