mute and restless

I'm one of those people who can't stand to take a day off work. Don't get me wrong, as a public school teacher I am quite fond of school holidays. But when I'm supposed to be at work, I have a hard time thinking of anything other than what I should be doing.

Even with my germ-filled job, I seldom get sick. That's quite a feat, given that I spend my days with 150+ 8th graders. Who, by the way, have been sick quite a bit this year.

But this year has been different so far. Two weekends ago I fell ill and took a Monday off to rest. I felt good enough to drag myself to work, and with the help of some over-the-counter meds I managed to finish the week. This past weekend I had fun figuring out a three-day lesson to teach my students about the size and scale of the solar system. Monday's lesson went well, but by Tuesday I was struggling to talk. Each class period my voice became weaker and weaker. By the time I got home I couldn't do anything but whisper. And my throat hurt. A lot.

So I took Wednesday off hoping to return to work today to finish the third day of that three-day scaling lesson. I let my voice rest, drank tons of herbal tea and just generally rested. But still no voice. So I stayed home today.

I'm now able to get a very pathetic version of my voice to eek out now and then. I'm not sure if I'll be able to talk much tomorrow, but I'm determined to go to work. If I have to, I'll grab the loudest kid in each class period and appoint them my helper. S/he can repeat to the class each direction I manage to squeak or whisper.

However it turns out, it's sure to be an exciting Friday.