At Least It's Over...

My February School Vacation is over.  And there is a storm coming.  I have a calendar and an innate sense of Working vs. Not Working Time so I'd know about the first thing without any sort of reminders.  The second one requires some external sources of information.  

Usually...

I'd know there was a storm coming even if my sinuses weren't trying to pound their way out of my skull for most of today in response to the atmospheric pressure changes.  I'd know even if I didn't have several sources of meteorological prognostication at my fingertips such as the Internet or television.

I'd even know if I didn't have a window through which I might observe the darkening skies.  I would know because I have the greatest early warning system anyone can have.

I have cats.

These two beasts I call roommates have been bickering all day.  When they haven't been doing that, they have been bugging me by winding around my legs every time I try to walk, pestering me for treats, offering to "help" when I am on the computer and just being general irritants for hours and hours.  

And you don't even want to know what happened when I tried to knit today.  Poor yarn.  It didn't deserve that...

Don't get me wrong.  They are very cute little irritants.  I do love them dearly.  And they do eventually tucker themselves out with all the capering, hissing, knocking things down and whatnot.  Frankly, I can't help but wonder if they are trying to help me transition back to work tomorrow.  Maybe they think that, by making my every step an adventure in obstacle course maneuvering, I will suddenly decide that it is safer to just go to work.

They may also be sick of having me around.  It's not like I've been utterly delightful this past week.  By my count, I have used somewhere around 240 tissues between last Friday and this exact moment.  I know this because I multiplied the number of tissues in a box by the number of boxes currently in the trash can.  I didn't count the actual tissues.  That would be gross.  And really rather impossible since some of them are still in the car, various pockets and my purse.  Others were discarded during those rare moments I could get out of the house.  It would be crazy to count actual used tissues.

Seriously.  What were you thinking?  Counting used tissues...that's nuts!  Doing math to estimate tissue usage, on the other hand, is perfectly sane and a very natural thing to do when you are stuck inside with throbbing sinuses and unable to get off the couch for fear you will be attacked by an Abusurdly Gi-normous Kitty cleverly disguised as a circus tent.

I broke out one of the Dollar Store Cat Caves a few days ago to replace the one he has shredded.

He likes it.  But he still won't let me toss the raggedy one.  And I'm too weak to argue at this point.

It certainly is possible that they want to help me out the door tomorrow morning by making leaving sound appealing.  However, I think that my starting school again tomorrow might be something of a coin flip at the moment.  There is certainly no doubt that precipitation is in the works, but the models keep changing and the forecasts aren't giving me any real indication.  At present, I figure it's best to program the coffee maker, put out some shoes that match and try to find some non-drowsy decongestants to get me through the day.  At this point in the school year, I have mixed feelings about snow days, truth be told.  We do have to make them up, after all.  And it doesn't help matters that we have a principal who gleefully announces the "new" last day of school each time we miss a day.  

On the other hand, I could use one more day to try and get past this Cold/Flu/Goo/Sinus Infection/Whatever Else Could Possibly Be Going Wrong With My Sickly Self situation.  I finally managed to get the fever down and that will make working with the children possible, but another day of rest wouldn't hurt.  

I think that this vacation will not go down in the annuls of Vacation History as one of my best.  Not the worst, mind you.  Just not one of the winners.  However, time off is time spent not working and there is always something good to be said for that, right?  There were some good moments, several, in fact.  But, had you told me on that first day of freedom that what I thought was a cold would hang on this long, I'd have chuckled in your face.  Politely...but chuckled nevertheless.

You'd not have thanked me for that.  You'd have The Goo, too.

I think that the Genius recommendations over at Itunes were really trying to tell me something when I checked them out on Monday.  Maybe, had I not opted to purchase what they thought I might need in my library, I would have been spared.  Who knows?

What I do know is this:  Sometimes The Ramones had it just, exactly right.

SA