Subtle Signs

I pretty much hacked, wheezed and moaned my way through last week.  The cold that gripped me the weekend prior managed to morph its way out of my head and into my chest.  Truth be told, I sounded worse than I felt by then, but that isn't saying I felt like tap dancing at any given moment.

We had a half day teacher's workshop day on Friday and I took the opportunity to step out and pick up some lunch before tackling the assigned paperwork.  That's a rare little treat and I like to indulge myself when I can.  (Lunch wrapped by the hands of another, not the paperwork part...)  As I was heading out, I happened to see Mr. Assistant Principal.  We have not spoken once this week, but that didn't stop him from commenting:

Good gravy, Ms. Sheep!  You've been coughing all over us all week!

That was probably the first sign that I needed a long weekend.  When colleagues who have not set eyes upon you for five days but who can still hear you coughing from a full floor away start saying stuff, you kind of can't help but think.  The second sign came at the grocery store that afternoon.

I was standing in the produce section, blearily staring at the available greenery and really only conscious of the fact that I probably could use a fruit or a vegetable of some kind.  I finally registered that a conversation was happening not three feet from me.  The woman carrying on the bulk of the chatter sounded remarkably happy.

Well, I must say...since I left teaching, I feel so PRESENT!  I mean, you know how it is.  It's seven straight hours of focusing on the students and then another few hours of doing the paperwork.  You can't ever seem to do anything for YOURSELF!  Even during the summer, you spend the whole time trying to get everything done before you have to go back in September.  Now, I'm so much more RELAXED!  Why, just the other day I woke up and said to myself, "I'm going to the fair today!"  And I had a second cup of coffee before doing just that.  I swear to you, I feel ten years younger!  I've never felt BETTER!!


It is to my credit that I did not pick up a bag of mixed salad greens and just beat her about the head and shoulders right there in front of God and the tomatoes.  It is not to my credit that I even thought about it, though.  Or that the only thing really stopping me was my utter exhaustion.  This, I realized, was another thing that might indicate my need for a long weekend.

It is also a sign that I looked forward to working on the Situationally Necessary Octagonal Replacement Thingie (SNORT).  That little project has been the bane of my knitting existence for a month now.  It's not that it's hard.  It's just kind of boring, and, in shades of light orange, perhaps edging just a little too close to pink for the intended recipient.  Sometimes looking at it makes me wonder if I should just scrap the whole thing, but I'm in way too deep now.  You can't do five million rows of stockinette and then decide that little boys should probably conform to society's thoughts on color scheme.  You have to ignore that voice in the back of your head, right?  But it's a very loud voice and sometimes makes knitting this thing even harder.

Not so, this weekend.  I positively glowed at the thought of sitting and slogging through row after row of mindless, peachy stockinette.  It sounded like the most delightful thing a person could ever do in this life.  Now, I ask you.  Is that a sign or what???

The final sign came yesterday when, after a two hour nap, I found myself overwhelmed with the desire to send out engraved announcements.  Surely, the entire world would be as delighted as I over the amazing perfection of this nap.  Never before in the history of Saturday afternoons has two hours been better spent!  Let the universe ring with songs of praise for this most divine of blessings!!!

Yeah.  I think it was time for a three day weekend.  Thankfully, the government agreed with me on this matter and Monday is a day off.  I plan to make an early morning run to the pet store for much needed cat food and then it's right back home where I can nurse my cough-sore stomach muscles and bask in the steam of warm beverages.  Perhaps I'll even see if I can repeat my off-the-charts-amazing napping feat.  It's all good and extremely well timed.

I just hope I don't run into that retired teacher at the pet store.  After all that napping, my energy is back up a bit and I can't make any promises should I see her near the canned cat food...

SA