Don't let the flu bug hit ya on the way out...

Wow. Amazing how one minute you can feel fine and the next minute your entire body feels like your skin is crawling and you are about to literally lose the entire contents of the last 27 meals you ate (or tried to eat) in one fell swoop.

That was me last night. I haven't been feeling that hot the last day or two--and I am pretty much attributing that to stress. Last night, though, I got the chills, couldn't stop shivering, ached and moaned. I took some Tylenol and fell asleep finally, and feel a bit better this morning. This nasty 24 hour flu-like stomach bug was running rampant at school last week and it would SO be my luck to get it.

John got up early this am to do our neighborhood cleanup and called to tell me he was bringing me back a caramel macchiato from Starbucks. He really must be worried about me!

Still no news from our agency other than there are two dossiers in the embassy and one being authenticated. Speaking of that...I wish I had done a bit more research into that whole process. I live an hour and 10 minutes from DC. I had planned to do all that authentication. I thought that's what people did. Well, apparently our agency does it. Rather, they use someone along the lines of Stork Assistant or something like that. Which is fine, if you are out in Illinois or California. I'm HERE, though. And I have to pay heavy duty money to have someone else do the same thing I can do. I know several people who have taken all their dossiers to the State Department for authentication on their own. That's not the way our agency works, though. And that's fine...I just wish I had looked into what that was all about a bit more because that's something I was relying on being a plus of living in the DC suburbs--ah well, maybe it's lots more complicated than I think it is. For our friends who went through Guatemala and Ethiopia, it didn't seem that big a deal, but maybe now it is.

I have been amazed at how many people actually look at this and read this blog, but want to say thanks and welcome to all! I love 'meeting' all these new people!!

Oh, and one more thing...the 'sperm donor,' as I affectionately (not really) call him, is Indian. Which, for those of you interested in the answers to the "What are you?" type questions I listed in a previous post, should give some insight. And just makes that whole 'type in your native Indic (not Indiric as previously posted and not important enough to edit) script' window on blogspot even funnier. Google is far more knowing than we all think it is!

"You have to say please"

Words often said by adults to children, right? Yeah, not today! If it weren't for little pink loving KGB costing her mommy and daddy an arm and a leg (well worth it, though) I would have walked out and NEVER come back. After telling one of my students to get away from my table (he had been all over it since this morning when he spilled coffee on it) he got in my face and looked as if he was daring me to step back. Then, I again told him to get away from my table. He said, and I quote, "You have to say please."

Let me preface this with the fact that when I die, I want my impeccable manners to be noted on my epitaph. I am THAT teacher that tells my kids that I say yes, ma'am and no, ma'am and so will they. I'm willing to bet that 99% of the time, I add please to ALL requests (including don't throw that bag at me, please) and an EIGHT year old has the nerve to tell me that I have to say please? Dear Lord, what am I doing thinking about bringing a child up in an environment where this is acceptable???

In defense of those needing it, my AP said that I should have called for assistance immediately, but it was at the end of the day. This student's mother was WONDERFUL and said she would IMMEDIATELY discuss this issue with my student. Those things said, when did we become a society in which that behavior and language is even contemplated? I just don't know sometimes...what will I do for KGB and school? What will I do for me and school??? My little Physical Therapy guy said I needed a hobby and badly! Hmm...like I have time. But he's right...as I type, my neck muscles are spasming so much that I can hardly keep my neck up! Scrapbooking it will be. I am going to throw myself back into that. It is mindless and time consuming, can be done alone or with groups, and will be a reward to myself and my family for generations to come. John's going to love this!

Oh, and guess how much birth certificates and marriage licenses cost? LOTS, I tell you! LOTS!