Right now my friends and co-workers, Scott and Tiara, are climbing a mountain- Mt. Dajti, to be exact- with Bobby. I, however, am at home, lounging on the couch in my yoga pants. I managed to catch a nasty cold and have been sick since Monday night. I thought it would release me sooner, but unfortunately it has barely let up at all. I reckon this is the price of the adorable children- their germs.
I powered through and plastered on my happiest First Grade Teacher Smile all week, went out with Tiara and Scott on Wednesday for dinner, and on Friday night we went out again. Unfortunately there is no rest for the wicked, because yesterday (Saturday) was a trip that could not be missed. We finally made our way onto the free buses that shuttle you out to the new mall, TEG, to partake of a relatively new complex of capitalism. It opened only nine months before we moved here, and it’s a big deal to have international brands, which are rare around here.
Since our school has very few resources (I hand drew my calendar and days of the week, and then laminated them with clear masking tape) we were ecstatic to head to TEG and visit Carrefour** followed by a lunch at the Western food mecca Stephen Center restaurant (Dr. Pepper, WHAT?), and finally we ended the night with dinner at our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Villa 31. It is incredibly lucky that this place is right across the street from the front door of my apartment building, and it is also incredibly good. We have been going there two to three times a week, because who doesn’t want to eat under a canopy of grapes and lemons?
Wait, that was a big tangent- what I’m saying is, I’ve been pushing on through and trying to hang and be all positive and continue life and all that jazz. Which, let me also say, is pretty hard when I cough all night and get zero sleep, feel like there are rocks rolling through my sinuses, and can’t breathe about 90% of the time. But this morning? When the alarm clamored in my sinus congested ears at too early o’clock, I knew for sure I was not climbing a mountain. I have a hacking cough (that conveniently almost made me puke in Carrefour**) so a hike that is more than just strolling around town didn’t seem like anything my lungs would support me in doing. So, I decided to stay home and give myself a good old fashioned sick day, since I’m back at the factory bright and early tomorrow morning.
I curled up with my laptop and tackled a computer housekeeping to-do list. My gmail was backed up to 500+ e-mails, many of which were from real people to whom I needed to reply, so I did that first. My desktop was littered with random lesson resources and Word documents related to planning, or scanned in pictures of diplomas, or notes to myself on how to get my birth certificate apostilled, so the next order of business was a grand computer clean-up. I also had all of my annual plans and lesson resources for my current school saved all over the desktop, so I just sucked it up and spent… wait for it… TWO HOURS sorting through my digital pack rattery.
Most importantly, I also finally re-started my licensure application with the state of Colorado, and I verified my voter registration in Colorado so that I can get my absentee ballot. I tied up a host of other loose ends thanks to the miracle of the internet, and since we cleaned house yesterday and I already sorted my out of control stack of papers from school work, all I have to do today is plan a 4th grade World History lesson. I can do that. I know I can.***
I think it’s time to put on real clothes and go grocery shopping. It’s a 3 minute walk and not a big list, so this still fits my rest day plans. I’m feeling pretty productive for someone who didn’t get dressed before noon!
**Carrefour is basically a Super Target. Would you want to puke in the yogurt aisle of Super Target? Exactly.
***Maybe.
Originally published September 23rd, 2012, on Blogger
