Not feeling so hot

Feb. 22: Ah, Friday at last. I went to work today, though without a voice. I sound very much like the huge bullfrogs in our backyard pond who break the silence of the night with their long deep croaks. But better to be in the classroom and do little to nothing, than to call in sick again and 1) be scolded for all the trouble they have finding enough subs 2) have the sub do even less than I would do. Yesterday, when I was at home sick, I read my email and saw that the department chair had put out an email, copied to the principal, the people downtown, and everyone in the department, thanking two teachers, Ms. So-and So and Ms. This and That, for covering first block for our "absent colleagues," (she named me and Ms. E.) The tone implied that the two of us, the absent colleagues, had caused havoc by being absent, because she ended the memo stating that she'd had to spend from 7:30 to 7:45 finding coverage. I politely replied to "all" (why should the principal think I'm irresponsible?) stating that I had put in for my first absence of the year the day before on the system's computerized system, had called the AP the night before, and had followed procedure exactly, and was sorry my absence had caused an inconvenience. This morning, the other person mentioned in the email told me she'd been offended by the implications too. Oh, I'm sure the stress level is getting to everyone, including the department chair.

I've been freezing all week, right to the bone marrow. At night, getting out from under my blankets, makes me feel as if I'm one of the passengers on the Titanic jumping onto the North Sea. My teeth chatter all the way to the restroom, as the cold chills ripple through me from head to toe. Back in bed, shivering, I try not to think about stories involving cold, such as "the man" in "To Build a Fire" walking across the Yukon in minus 50 degree weather, or the latest clip of a blizzard on the weather channel, but the freezing tales just keep on coming. I think about a true story about a couple and a baby driving from California to Utah in the winter who take a side road, get lost, get the vehicle stuck in the snow, and end up walking hundreds of miles through the snow looking for help, nearly freezing to death in the process(brrrr!). With Advil pumped into me, I've been able to function during the day without an electric blanket, but I've been an ice cube at night. No, I would not do well in the North.

It's nearly 6:00 p.m., but I feel so sleepy, I could nod off now. I'll try to hang on until 8:00.