Feel Sorry for ME!

I am sick. I have strep throat. I'm sure one of my twenty-two darling dears in 4th grade gave it to me. They are so generous like that!!! They are REALLY good at sharing!

I did go to work the day I was pretty sure I had it and then confirmed it with a strep test at the dr.'s office last night. Luckily, today I was scheduled for a meeting at the county office, so I didn't have to actually teach. I got to sit on my butt all day, after sleeping in, taking my time getting ready and even had time to take a long relaxing lunch! AND the best part was getting home by 3:00! That NEVER happens! So, I guess being sick this time had it's rewards.

I know I've been a bad blogger, but I really don't care. I have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOO extremely busy with school that I just don't have time. And, nothing exciting has happened in my life - other than buying a new refrigerator - that I didn't want to bore you with mundane life. You're welcome :-)

On a side note, my friend is having a Murder Mystery party at her house this weekend for Halloween and I couldn't be more excited about going. I'm playing the part of the Maid of Honor in this wedding catastrophe! Perhaps I can get some awesome pictures and actually blog about that!!

What about you? Do any of you have any exciting Halloween plans? What are you or your kids dressing up as?

Hey - It's Spring Break! Let's Get Strep!

Soooo, I started off the week just fine. Felt GREAT on Monday and was excited about the week because I knew I only had FOUR days to go until Spring Break. A teacher friend was very sickly on Monday and I made her go home. She could barely hold her head up, so I helped her get her stuff ready for a sub. and sent her home to get rest. She came back on Tuesday and we could all tell she felt much better!

By Tuesday, I noticed my throat was getting a little sore, but I just figured it was due to the spring-like weather and the sinus infection that usually accompanies any weather change.After school, I had to go over to MTSU and serve as a panelist on the NSTA student chapter forum. You see, I actually DID do something smart and nerdy at college because I was the founding president of the National Science Teachers Assoc. Student Chapter at Middle TN State Univ. (NSTA-SC @ MTSU) Whew! So I went to speak about what it has been like transferring from the university life to the actual teaching industry and the challenges and rewards that come with it.

That evening, my throat felt worseand I kept checking my temperature, but I was still as "normal" as I could be. I had even stopped by our school nurse's office before leaving for the meeting to have her look at it. She didn't seem to be worried. After I got home from the meeting, I could NOT keep my head up. I was so deliriously tired that I kept slurring my words. Corey even asked me if I was OK. So, I ended up in bed by 7:00.

Wednesday, my throat hurt, but I was still deliriously tired, so I went to school to get things ready for a substitute. Luckily, we had a field trip to the local high school to watch a play, so all I had to do was get together a bit of busy work to occupy time between when they got back and went home. After I got home I slept for FIVE hours! My throat still was hurting, but not too much. I felt better after the rest and several of my friends called to check on me to make sure I was still alive. I secretly think they were just wishing they would inherit my super sweet-ass Element!

Well, that brings us to Thursday. The last day of the week...I woke up and my throat was on

! My school nurse made me an appointment at the CareHere clinic for 3:00, so I spent the day showering myself in Green Chloroseptic spray to numb the pain. I managed to make it through the day and went to the Dr. at 3:00. Her diagnosis - STREP THROAT! Ugh. I didn't have ANY of the usual signs other than a red swollen throat that usually accompany strep. Other than that, I felt great! She gave me a shot of penicillin and a prescription for Corey and me for a Z-Pack.

Corey and I went to dinner that night with school friends for a fundraiser and went shopping at Target afterward. He suggested I try Breathe Right Strips since my nose had been stuffy through all this and I've been resigned to being a mouth breather. Well, let me tell you that those things kick major ass! It was the first night I've been able to breathe all week!

So, kids. I guess the moral of this long and boring blog is - strep doesn't always appear as you think it would. And, it hurts like hell.

Have a Happy Easter! Eat some bunny ears for me since I can't swallow anything!

Sick...ugh...

Hi! I'm writing tonight feeling like total crap! I had a sinus thing this past weekend, but really didn't think much of it since I have sinus issues frequently. On Monday I went to school and felt pretty good, but when I was on my way Tuesday, my sinuses started to drain and I thought maybe my allergies were acting up. Throughout the day on Tuesday I started feeling worse and worse - I was having to open the back door in my classroom to go and get air. I took my temp. at school and it was normal, but I felt like I was burning up! By the time I got home Tuesday night, I knew I was sick and was dealing with much more than a sinus infection. I went ahead and scheduled a sub. and made a Dr. appt. for Wednesday afternoon.

Well, as it turns out, we got out of school for a snow day on Wednesday, but I didn't even get to enjoy it! Dammit. By the time my 1:00 Dr. appt. rolled around, I thought I was knocking on death's door. Seriously. My head was so hot I thought my eyeballs were going to catch on fire! The dr. told me that my temp was 100.4 and that I was 2 days away from getting pneumonia! Sooo, I got a nice PAINFUL shot in my derriere and several perscriptions for antibiotics, cough syrups, decongestants, etc..

I called a sub for Thursday as well and felt even WORSE today! My temp got up to 101.7 and I really thought I was going to pass out and Corey was going to find me dead in the floor when he got home from work. I went all day either freezing or burning up. At one point I got so hot that my vision started to blur. Ugh. All day I had a miserably, painful, deep-chested cough that didn't produce much but pain. All the muscles in my back and my abdomen have never hurt so bad! And everytime I coughed, it felt like tiny elves were taking pick-axes to my lungs! Ouch!

As of 8:00 tonight I am feeling better. My fever has gone down and I haven't had a coughing spell in about 5 or so hours. AND...here's the BIG part - I can breathe through ONE of my nostrils!!! I can't tell you how exciting that is! At one point I thought I was condemmed to be a mouth-breather forever!

I have called in a sub again for tomorrow, which sucks because it was supposed to be my classes' Valentine's Day party and a half day at school for the kids. But, since I'm still sporting feverish tendencies, I'm probably the last person anybody wants to sit next to. So, I'll spend tomorrow at home. Ugh.

We're supposed to head to Crossville this weekend, but I will need to work on my lesson plans at some point since I was out this week. Perhaps if I feel like it, we can head out tomorrow afternoon when Corey gets back from work. I don't know if I'll be up to it, though. Two hours in a car sounds absolutely exhausting to me right now...

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Corey brought me a Route 44 Diet Sprite from Sonic, Cheese & Cracker Combos, and Cheese Pringles. Yum! That's about all I've eaten in 3 days. Not much of an appetite. Anyway, like I said - I hope you all had a great V-Day and got lots of good chocolate and diamonds! lol

Holy Crap It's Been a Long Time!

Hello dedicated readers who have faithfully checked my blog everyday for almost a month an seen NOTHING! Apparently, I have been busy! How busy, you ask? Well, I was SOOO busy that I forgot it had been so long since I blogged until I had friends actually calling me to say, "When are you going to blog again?" So, I guess I should fill you all in on my month.

School has been SOOOOOOOOOOOO busy. We had a man show up in Magnum P.I. shorts to talk to the kids about his books. His name was Jonathan Rand and he writes children's SciFi books. You can learn more about him here.

This past Friday, we had Fall Festival at school and so I spent a total of 14 hours at school that day. Then we went to eat with our friends Clare and her boyfriend Tim since it was her birthday. We had mexican and by the time we left there it was almost 11:00 and Corey and I were both DEAD! Corey had strep-throat and I had a sinus infection. I'll tell you, the entire way home from the restaurant I had snot dripping from my nose all over my face and not a Kleenex could be found in my car. And if you've ever been in my car before, you know you could play Let's Make a Deal in there since I have tons of useless crap in it!

Anyway, I've spent the weekend in bed and Corey has been laid up on the couch. (He doesn't get to infect his germs into the bed during the day.) Plus, I had to nap during the day because I could barely sleep at night due to his excessive snoring! I tried to get him to sleep in the other room, but he wasn't up for that. Damn...

I'm sorry this blog wasn't more fun, but I'm pooped and I'm suffering from a case of CRS (see if you can figure that out, smarties) but I will leave you with a lovely picture of myself and Mr. Hawkins. I think this accurately portrays the way I feel about critters...

P.S. I have found my new favorite show this season. DIRTYSEXYMONEY is the BEST! It stars Peter Krause who was on my all-time favorite show Six Feet Under. I love him. Shh..don't tell Corey!

Sick Day!

Hello super fans!

I played hooky today from school. Well, not really - I did really have a Dr. appointment for an ailment I've been having since Sunday. I have had what I've been calling "Phantom Gall-Bladder" pains, off and on for 3 days now and I have been SO uncomfortable! I had my gall bladder taken out in October of 2001, so it is not that! It is a very dull, persistent pain in my upper abdomen which also seems to put pressure and pain in between my shoulder blades. I have also had acid reflux, which has just added not only to the comfort level, but the fun as well! So, I went to the CareHere clinic today (it is a free clinic for County employees) and saw the Dr., who was not the usual Dr. there. She told me...get ready for this...I have HEARTBURN. ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?! ARE YOU TELLING ME I TOOK AN ENTIRE DAY OFF FOR F'N HEARTBURN!??! I was pissed!!

She gave me some Zantac and told me to eat bland food. Um, yeah...that's ALL I eat anyway! Puh-leeze. Again, another person who was not well aware of what they were getting when they signed on with me.

I went to Kroger and spent $20+ on Chicken Noodle soup, crackers, mashed potatoes, pudding, cottage cheese and milk. My dietitician is gonna LOVE this! "Where's your fruit?" (star) "Where's your vegetables?" (another star) Oh, did I tell you that she put a CHECK MARK by the 2 freakin' Danish Wedding Cookies I ate last week?! Have you ever seen a danish wedding cookie before, you skinny bitch? They are about as big as a QUARTER! I just don't understand people who don't eat...

Today, as usual I will leave you with some sort of visual representation of my blog. Please enjoy!