Performs Better Under Proper Pressure

Maybe I'm like an aerosol can; I require pressure to perform to properly. These past two months have been very busy, as I knew they would be. I've had classes to teach. I had to keep the bills posted and paid as best I could while my uncle was away and I was minding his store. I've had my usual mom duties. And I've been taking paralegal courses in real estate law and litigation. I've known for months that March and April were going to test my limits. I've just checked my final grade for the real estate class and see my final average was 94.5 out of 100 points. I'm fairly certain my litigation class scores will be about the same.
I told myself the whole way through this term that if I got Bs that would be fine and no one will ever care anyway because the only reason I'm taking these classes is to be able to add the qualification to my translating resume so when I tell a potential client I specialize in legal translation it looks like I know something about it. I just perform better under pressure.

Pretty FLY for a big dork

As I was wasting time checking out 43 Things when I was supposed to be prepping for class last week I came across people listing becoming a FLYlady as one of their 43 things. Not knowing what the hell that could possibly mean, I did what every good morning procrastinator does. I googled it. And what I discovered is this. It might seem like kind of a hokey, dorky concept at first, what with the use of ALL CAPS at times and lots of exclamation points!, but I have been subscribed to the mailing list for a week now and I've got to admit that starting each day with a shiny clean sink every morning and spending a few minutes going after my Hot Spots every day has my house looking and feeling a lot more organized and pleasant than before I started to become all FLY.
Neatness and housekeeping have never been my strong points. Ask anyone who has known me for a while and they'll agree. But I have noticed over these past two years that I have become fairly competent at keeping my home from looking like a complete sty. It's much easier to do when you don't have someone around telling you you suck at it so don't bother.

Spring

Today I can see the trees' bare bones are starting to become fleshed out with leaves. This will cause the evergreens to lose their prominence in the landscape, although they look so fine contrasted with the wild, billowing shocks of forsythia.
As the leaves come in, the clothes start to drop off on campus. Every newly green lawn populated by the young offering their pale winter skin up to the warm spring sun. I see them and think of melanomas and hope they're all wearing sunscreen, but I think it's really something more primal than that. To be young and basking in the sun looks so carefree. I remember it usually wasn't.

Let The Season Begin!

I can tell by the ever increasing number of daily search hits to this blog for Golicks and Dover Delite that that local ice cream season has begun.
I can also tell because today was my first visit of the season to Golicks, which is now open from 12-9 everyday for your ice cream consuming pleasure. Nothing's stirring at Dover Delite yet, but I did drive by The Wright Place on Stratham a little over a week ago and they were back open for the season already.
All is right with the world when it's ice cream season. As usual, half the patrons I saw there today were senior citizens. I love it when I see old people getting ice cream before (or in place of?) dinner. Everyone looks happy when they're getting ice cream. I got Dole Whip (which actually was pretty tasty) and it still made me happy. My girl got a cup of Milky Way ice cream. That was pretty spectacular. I will spare myself the food guilt over going out for ice cream this season. It's one of the finest pleasures in life.

Is This Done Yet?

The novelty of being sick (if it ever existed in the first place) has long worn off. I believe I am fulfilling my yearly quota of illness all right now, including a great spectrum of symptoms. Let's see-- this started off over a week ago with nausea, quickly followed up with the full array of nasal symptoms; congestion, sneezing, runny nose, tormented sinuses and a chapped nose and upper lip area from the constant blowing and wiping of said nose. There was a little sore throat thrown in and some coughing and upper chest congestion. Had a good fever going for a while and got to experience the weird rubbery feeling that brings. Let's not forget the headaches and general fatigue that was somehow accompanied by insomnia (because it's so entertaining to lie awake at night thinking about how sick you feel). Now that most of those symptoms seem to be lessening, I am now suddenly beset with about the only thing left I can think of in the realm of yucky but non-fatal/serious illness. Want to guess what it is? Sure you do! You know, that one were you have to sprint to the toilet every five minutes? No, not the urinary tract infection (although it sort of feels like I'm fighting one of those too). The other one.

Does This Mean Contagious is Viral?

Contagious was right! I am now a Neti Pot convert too. This bug I have which is kicking my ass in a myriad of ways was torturing my sinuses two days ago. I was miserable beyond miserable. I sought relief at the drug store and along with buying some kind of cold medicine that would get me high enough to escape my misery, I picked up something called a Sinus Care something or other. It didn't have the new age name of Neti pot, but from the picture on the box I could see the little watering can shaped vessel contained within and knew this was what I had to do.
It is scary and gross to pour warm salty water into one nostril, tilt your head, breathe through your mouth and watch the water drain out the other nostril. Scary and gross and yet somehow addictive. After using it a few times that first day at two hour intervals, my sinuses started to calm down. I'm still partially congested but functioning. I wake up in the morning thinking "yeah! I can neti pot my nose now!" This morning I had my first yellow globs run out of my nose and thought it was cool. As I drove off to work I thought, "I can't wait to get home and do that again tonight."

My Turn

I'm sick now. I kept trying to pretend it wasn't going to happen, but it has. I'm horribly congested, have sneezing attacks, my sinuses feel like someone has sandpapered them and the back of my throat, and my nose runs. It's lovely. This has not stopped me from being active and getting things done, but every task I power through leaves me even more tired once it's over.

Sick Days

My girl has been sick for nearly a week now. When she got sick she was staying with her father and all I could do was call her for our daily phone calls and get his email updates that all ended with him trying to reassure me that he was taking care of everything and how bad he feels for her and wishes he could trade places with her. (what a pointless sentiment that is. First of all, it's impossible and just sounds like an attempt to appear valiant without ever having to prove it. And second, if he were sick he wouldn't be able to look after her.) When I spoke to her she always sounded ok and told me she felt good, but nevertheless the ex tried to tell me she was too sick for the two minute car ride it takes to bring her back to my house from his on the weekend. I told him to get over it and bring her over at the regular time.
She has a sore throat, cough and runs a fever on and off. I took her to the doctor's office yesterday and was told she has a flu that's going around and it's a long slow one that should slowly get better in a few more days. I emailed my ex about that and his response was "good thing it's just a flu and not influenza." (No, English is not his native language, but still... He also asked me if he should call the insurance company if he wants to make an appointment with the doctor.) He probably does the best he can but he does not inspire confidence in me.
I've had to cancel my classes to stay home and look after my girl. I have a volunteer TA for one class, but there isn't really anyone else at school who can fill in for me. There's no system or procedure set up for what happens if I am unable to teach my classes. A year or two ago that would have really bothered me, but now I look at it as flexibility. I also used to worry that my students would be judgmental if I had to miss work because of something like this. Now I realize that a lot of them were raised by single parents (moms, mostly) and can understand where I'm coming from if I have to cancel because my girl is sick. Maybe I used to be one of the more judgemental types before I became a parent and that's where that concern about being judged comes from. I love to teach, but my job as a mother takes precedence over that by far. I like to think that most of the students can respect those priorities.
This is the first time my girl has really been stay-home-from-school sick in three years. She is sweet and cheerful, even with a temperature of over 102 degrees. I hate that she's sick, but, to be honest, I like taking care of her.

I Can't Believe It

Well, my boyfriend has just recently informed me that he has quit his job and is taking a new one in India and will be moving there in the very near future. This really sucks. He won't even like India. It's hot there. He hates hot weather. And good luck finding a good steak dinner. I can't just up and move to India to be with him. It's not like I'm a kid fresh out of school with no responsibilities and can just trot off and follow him halfway around the globe. I'm so pissed. I need to be with someone who is reliable and who is here. Maybe I should take a job working on the floor of my uncle's store. There'd be plenty of opportunity to meet guys there, like that one who asked me out last Wednesday.