Ill

I feel like I've been sick forever. Well, I had one good week. Fortunately, my cough syrup not only controls my cough, but it also helps me sleep. Once my eyes were finally closed, I only awoke once during the night, thanks to my snoring David. In my dream, I was wandering all over my house, trying to figure out who was snoring. No one who was sleeping made so much as a peep. David was the only one who was awake. I sat at my computer and did a google search to see if a sleepwalker could snore so loudly. That is when I truly awoke to find my husband in bed beside me, sawing logs. An elbow to the ribs, and I was able to fall asleep once again.

Hiatus

Blogging took a backseat for me during the past two weeks, as I was wheezing and coughing my lungs up. The doc said it was Bronchitis. I am now on my second round of antibiotics, and I am headed to bed with my cough syrup with hydrocodone in it. Last night was the first good night of sleep I have had in over 14 days. Hopefully, the cough syrup will do the trick again tonight.

Perspective

Yesterday, I was informed that, effective immediately, my school system has placed a moratorium on the hiring of substitutes for support staff. This means that if I call in sick, no one will replace me for the day. For a teacher assistant in an ED classroom, this is not only inconvenient, but a recipe for disaster. When one child has a problem, it is "all hands on deck," and it takes the entire team to maintain order for the other children. Now, I know that the team will be okay without me. They will manage just fine. But those poor kids are the ones who suffer.

Then again, maybe our kids don't know what suffering is. As I watch the news coming out of Haiti, I am struck by how the whole world has been turned upside down for the Haitians. Forget substitutes, those children don't even have a school anymore, much less, a home, clothes, food or even clean drinking water. Many will be left orphans, and many have died or will die.

And here I sit, complaining about our schools not taking proper care of our children. A little perspective, please.

Cheating

The middle of the night is the worst time for a dieter. I woke up numerous times during the night because of my asthma. I couldn't lie down so I started thinking about eating. It didn't help that my kind husband had left a bag of plain M&M's and two fortune cookies on my nightstand. Out of sight is not necessarily out of mind, but to have food within arm's reach is just too tempting. I succumbed. I guess I'm weak. I feel only slightly comforted that I did withstand temptation during the daylight hours. Now that I know my weakness, I can deal with it.

Losing weight

I have to do this. There are plenty of good reasons, but the one reason that will motivate me most is that I hate the way my clothes look on me. I don't like the size I have to buy. I don't like for my sleeves to be too tight. I don't like that my tummy hangs over the top of my jeans.

I have the tools. I know what to do. I lack the will power to make it happen. I would rather sit and read a book than do a workout video. I would rather have chocolate than a piece of fruit. I hate vegetables.

So, I have set moderate goals. I refuse to be disheartened when I fail. I will pick myself up the next day and get back to it. And if I want to have a Sonic Blast, I will just have to have salads the rest of the day.

I think my kids are crazy

When my alarm sounded this morning, both of my children came running. "Mommy, it's time to get up so we can work out!" This may be the only thing that will drag my lazy rear out of bed to exercise. Still...are they nuts?!

Brrr...

I have never had school cancelled for a cold day before today. I didn't step foot outside of my house. Temperatures of 10-15 degrees below zero are just too much for me. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow morning, when my son and I have to get into a cold car. I just don't understand why the administration would close the schools today but not tomorrow. I thought that both days were going to be equally bad. Oh well.

Some Things Never Change

I feel my children's anxiety as they await the school closings list. Traditionally, our local school system is among the last ones to close for bad weather. It's as if the administration thinks that if they hold out just a little bit longer, the weather might suddenly change. I think they may be taking Will Rogers' quote too literally.

Supermom

Allow me to toot my own mom-horn tonight.

After a rough day at work, all I wanted was to come home and take a short nap before dinner. I was exhausted. But I suddenly remembered that this was the one night this month that the LEGO store was giving out free snowman mini kits. I barely had time to use the toilet before I loaded the kids in the car to head for the mall. Little did I know that the store had beefed up their advertising over the holidays, and the line was very long. I was not willing to disappoint my son, who had been begging me to attend this event, and I declared that we would wait in line, no matter how long it took.

Two hours later, we exitted the mall - one snowman and one smile richer.

Book Club

I have been invited to participate in a book club. This creates both excitement and anxiety. I LOVE to read. But I love to read for pleasure. I hated my literature classes in school. Reading books, stories, and plays that were assigned to me were a struggle, and discussing them was like pulling teeth. I didn't ever understand the things I was supposed to or draw the same conclusions that my teacher did. Some assignments were disturbing and haunt me to this day. (I still can't see a rocking horse without feelings of unease.) Others, I just plain didn't understand. (Later, I realized that Shakespeare was meant for the stage, not a high school English class, and Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet have become two of my favorite movies. But don't ask me to read them!)

I have high hopes for the book club. Selections will be chosen by other women, nearer to my own age. The only deadline is that I finish the book before we meet. There will be no worksheets. No grades will be given. But will I still have feelings of inadequacy? Will I be judged for my opinions? What if I don't have any intelligent comments? Will it be acceptable for me to simply enjoy the books?

Patterns

My son likes number patterns. His favorite time of day is 12:34. He was elated on July 8, 2009, when at lunch, I pointed out that the time and date were 12:34:56 7/8/9. I expected him to enjoy yesterday, which was a palindrome day (01/02/2010), but he was unimpressed. Of course, that could just be that I told him while he was in the middle of a battle on Wizard 101. Ah, priorities.

Rotten Allergies

Can a person be allergic to the cold? I don't remember a skin prick to determine a reaction to a cold air allergen. But, all the same, I walk outside and begin to sneeze. I breathe in the freezing air, which triggers an asthma attack that can last all day. I would stay inside, but with my heater "on the fritz" (no pun intended to my landlord, Mr. Fritz), the air in my home is almost as cold as the air outside. And, ironically, I appear to be allergic to a nice, warm, cozy fire, too.