worth the wait

The Husband is the proud owner of an iPhone. It's pretty cool, I have to say. Shhhh don't tell him I said that.

They used "You're" correctly!

I managed to make it to school long enough (the last 20 minutes!) to hand out report cards and say goodbye to my kiddos. I like to hand out the report cards and shake the hand of each kid and say, "Congratulations, you're a 4th grader now!" Here's how it went down today:

I walked into my classroom and was spotted by one student who screamed my name, causing the whole class to jump up and attack me. It's amazing how much physical power 21 third graders can have! (Three were absent and three were suspended-fight yesterday.) After they just about knocked me down they asked how I was feeling (so sweet), ate two cupcakes each, (not something I would usually allow in the classroom but it's the last day of school, give me a break!), finished signing yearbooks, and packed up to get ready to go. But of course I couldn't go without receiving my very LARGE get well card from the entire class (including their signatures and phone numbers. . . I guess so I can call them?!) and individual get well/goodbye cards from each kid. Here are some of the cards that made me laugh out loud (incorrect spelling purposely left that way):

"Get Will Soon!"

"I hope you get better I miss you so sooo soooooo much you're the best teacher ever!!! We don't want you to get worse."

"Roses are red and vilets are blue so that mens. . . I love you! I wish you a good time."

"I miss you. You're the best teacher in the world. Make it shine like you!" (This card had a picture of an apple, but I still don't really understand it!)

"Rose are red vilet's are blue you are the bestest teacher I know."

"I'll miss you so much. I'm your best friend ever!"

"Do u still skateboard? Ha Just kidding. I'm just playing with u because u need to get better come back please. I'm doing better."

"The thoughts of you gone. I'm very fond of you. So sad so sad gone for to long. We all miss you. Come back come back as soon as you can PLEASE! I want you to get well soon. We miss you. All crying over you Hope you are to." (On the back of this card is a picture of a crown and the words, "Another card from Halmark goldcrowns.")

"I miss you a lot I really want you to get well soon so you can come brand new next year."

Me too. Me too.

good news/bad news but mostly just good news

I went to see the pulmonary specialist yesterday. The good news is there isn't anything more serious going on with me. The bad news is there's no miracle cure to quicken my healing process. So I'm going back in a month for yet another set of x-rays and hopefully I'm better by then or they'll do a CAT scan/MRI or put a scope down into my lungs. Yuck! I'm sure I'll be all better by then, right?
I'm off to school to drop off report cards and say goodbye to my students. Good times.

Yin/Yang

It doesn't take much to make me happy these days-it's the little things. Okay, that's a load of crap and I am quite moody and cranky lately. You would be too if you had pneumonia for a month and your left side hurt so much it felt like one of your ribs was separating from the rest. So on Friday when I received a package in the mail from the parental figures, I was ecstatic. I called to make sure it wasn't an early birthday gift (only 12 shopping days left!) but alas, it was a deck-warming gift. And a few goodies for the Husband, pup, and I. The PB jar is Rex's, he loves to clean out the almost empty ones, the Men's magazine is obviously for the man of the house, and the yoga mag is for me, the one who is too sore to do yoga. But maybe one day I'll be able to. And afterwards I'll enjoy using my new Crate and Barrel bowls and tray on my BRAND. NEW. DECK. So pretty. All it needs is the bottom part stained. Which would mean we need the rain to stop. You know what though? I'm just happy the Husband is so damn handy.

The Kids of America

Who says the youth of America are lazy, good-for-nothing, rude, and irresponsible? The Husband rounded up about 10 of his 8th graders and they essentially (okay, they needed some direction from me and I did have to use my teacher voice twice) packed up my entire classroom for me today. We bought them lunch-pizza (which they said thank you for!) and taped, boxed, and piled things for hours. I'm so impressed and I could *almost* see why the Husband likes them. Middle-schoolers that is. Shh, don't tell. I mean, they gave up a Saturday (and we started early-according to them-10:00am) just to help their math teacher. And not even help their math teacher, but help their math teacher's wife with pneumonia!
Thanks kids, you've restored my faith in the youth of our world. Just by putting books in boxes and not cussing (that much) in front of me. You did, however, make me feel very old with the radio station you made me listen to. And no, you cannot tell my students you heard me cuss. I was tired and needed a nap.

Yesterday I hit a low. As soon as the Husband walked in the door from work, I broke down and cried. I just couldn't handle it anymore. I've tried to stay positive and strong but it just got to be too much. I know I don't have something life threatening and lots of people go through things that are much more difficult but I'm tired of being sick. I'm sick of being tired. I want to sleep well every night. I want school to be over so I don't have to worry about my class. I want my report cards to magically write themselves. I need to see more than just my living room. I want to sleep in my own bed, not a recliner. I'm sick of coughing fits. I know I'm going to the doctor on Tuesday but Tuesday just seemed so far away yesterday.
So the Husband did everything he could, got me juice, held me, and then told me to get up and we went for a walk. Of course I felt better afterwards and appreciated how slow the Husband and Rex walked so I could keep up. Afterwards I actually went to go visit some friends for a bridal shower for an hour and came home pretty exhausted. I haven't been out in the real world for so long that it felt great. But exhausting. Everyone (it was all teachers from my school) was so great, asking how I was, telling me my kids miss me, asking if they could help me out. I hate asking for help but I'm starting to get over it. Maybe that's what this illness is supposed to teach me. Ask for help when I need it. Damn, I could have gotten that message from a cold though, no?

Day 29

If I had something new and exciting to post about, I would.
If I had some great, profound news to talk about, I would.
But I don't.
Instead I'll just say
I recently finished creating out of thin air my 18th day of sub plans
I have report cards to do
and oh yeah-did I mention we're moving into a brand new school building in September
and my entire classroom needs to be packed up by the last day of school?
That's the school I'm not currently working at as per my doctor's orders
that's the place that I'm not supposed to go to
that's where all my crap lays, waiting for me to come
and put it
stuff it
shove it
into boxes.
That all have to be labeled
with contents
and a box number (like, box #3 out of 117)
and to and from (me and me)
and room number
and my first born child's name
as well as my mother's maiden name.

I could be exaggerating
Or maybe not

The best part of my day:
The Husband walking in the door with beautiful Gladiolas from Trader Joes.
I love this guy.

After essentially a month of pneumonia, my doctor has decided to send me to a specialist. I have an appointment for next Tuesday and I'll take a third round of antibiotics until then. The good news is I've been sleeping at night finally. The magical cure? Tylenol with codeine (stops the cough) and sleeping pills (duh, helps me sleep) I'm really sick of taking pills but, as my dad says, "Better living through science."

Not to be a downer but. . .
I'm
Still
Sick.

Holy crap this is getting so freaking old.

March of the Penguins

"And those who began their march too late or have fallen behind because of weakness or hunger, hope of survival is now remote. The lone penguin has no chance against the winter's cold. He will simply fade away, absorbed by the great whiteness all around him."

Fallen behind because of weakness? Hunger? No chance? Absorbed into the whiteness? Jeez! Why didn't anyone warn me about this? Maybe I should have rented "Happy Feet."

Day 21

Can you believe it? I'm still sick! I'm starting another antibiotic so hopefully in the next couple of days I'll see a substantial improvement. If not, it looks like I won't be able to finish out the year with my class. Which, believe it or not, I would like to do!

I'm back! I've been MIA for a couple of reasons-1. I'm still recovering from pneumonia. I feel a TON better but I get tired pretty easily and if I talk too much, I start coughing. 2. My parents were in town for the weekend on their way to move to California. It hasn't actually hit me that they no longer live in Alaska. 3. We've been super busy around here, working on the deck in the backyard, staining/putting together Adirondack chairs/end of the school year stuff. The good news? We only have 17 more school days until the end of the year. Yippeee! And I get to go tour my new building tomorrow. Let's just hope it's ready by September!