Time to Start Boundin'!

Thanks to Look at my happy rainbow!: Boundin' for giving me a mental kick in the ass.  I have been feeling sorry for myself over the past few days because I can't kick this illness.  Yesterday the doc told me he still doesn't know what the problem is, but we're going to try a couple of things before doing an MRI.

Anywho, Rainbow's post included a link to Pixar's short "Boundin'."

a.  I'm not sure this could be any darn cuter.
b.  I need to shake it off and just keep swimming.
c.  My attitude is what needs an adjustment more than anything else.

The Return

Though getting out of bed was tough today (sub zero temps outside did not help), I did make it to school.  I was proud of myself for only being a couple of minutes late (I know, I know...but I figure reversing 12 days of nocturnal living requires a little leeway).  I felt pretty good until I went up the stairs.  Then I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  I made it through today, but will not be at school tomorrow.

On the teaching front, today we started Lit Circles in American Lit.  One of the kids who was in reading recovery last year finished The Old Man and the Sea over break, and he was so proud of himself.  I think a lot of the kids completed reading their books over break, which both surprised me and didn't.  I wasn't sure how much the draw of not having reading homework this week would actually affect their reading over the break.  Of course, there are a few who didn't read and won't....today was a little disorganized in terms of the kids getting their feet under themselves and work through their roles.  I'm interested to see if the kids will hold each other accountable.

On the speech front, I wound up showing the girls Anna Deveare Smith and Alice Walker.  They both liked what I found, so the next step is getting a script and forming a poetry program.

Oy

I have been sick now for more than a week.  Not the push-through-it kind of sick, either.  The have-to-get-a-ride-to-and-from-school-to-work-at-all kind of sick.

I've been eating up sick days, and the most I'm able to accomplish in a day is writing lesson plans for a substitute teacher OR teaching.  Last week I went in a couple of days, and one day I was a complete mess, which the kids enjoyed, but...oy.  Not a single kid left the room without learning that day, but as for learning about the novel, eh.

The worst part is missing the kids.  I'm planning for them pretty intensively so that they continue to move forward without me, but I really hate not seeing how they are doing and being able to ready them in person.  I went back last week to absolutely glowing notes for them, which does help.

I feel my brain rotting by the DIY TV hour.  My husband is ready to kill me: I can barely do a load of laundry (my chore) without needing to lay down, I'm pretty sure I smell bad, he's been waiting on me since I got sick, and now he is sick, too.

LOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGGGG Weekend.

Around these parts, public school teachers got Thursday and Friday off school for the professional convention.  I usually attend with a friend from college who is also a teacher.  She's at a new job this year, and when I called at 8pm Wednesday night to solidify our plans for Thursday, she was still at school, poor baby.  After another hour lying on the couch wishing for death or a least less snot stuck in my face, I called my bud back and cried uncle.  She graciously let me bow out, and the relief I felt was almost overwhelming.  Apparently I've been ignoring some memos from my psyche.

I slept in, baked, and ran errands over the last two days and I'm starting to feel human again.  I think I'll do some writing at the library (I just started working on The Artist's Way; I'll update you later) and then do some grading when I get home.  Maybe I'll be a real girl on Monday!