WNBP: Excuses, Excuses!

I have multiple reasons for not blogging in a week.  Actually, they aren't so much "reasons" as they are "excuses that I intend to put out there until someone takes pity on me and tells me it's OK."  Given the day and the nature of the post, I think it will all work rather nicely in Bullet Point Format.

*Let's get this out of the way right off the bat: Today was the last day of school.


*Hallelujah!!!


*It is not so much the last day as it is the last day I have to teach kids since there are a week of workshops coming my way as of tomorrow, but we take what we can get.


*We are bidding a fond farewell to the following characters in my little cast: The Boy With The Bass Booming Earbuds, (The Boy Who Is) Dark And Disturbed and The Boy For Whom All The World's A Stage.


*Each of them left before the last day for varying reasons, all of which were in their respective best interests.


*It has been very, very quiet in my classroom over the last couple of days.


*You seriously won't believe how much teacher stuff I can get done without extra students...


*My great uncle passed away on Monday.  He was 93.


*This was sad, but I think I'm maybe more sad for those of you who didn't get to know him.


*Truly a gentleman from another era.


*A better one, some might even say.


*His memorial was Saturday and it was as moving as any I think I've ever attended.


*He was a man who believed in service to others, the importance of ongoing education and the value of hard work.  He was what you might call an "old school gentleman."


*And he liked to blow up cans with fireworks on special occasions.


*Which was a contradiction in the most awesome way you can imagine.


*I'll be startled every time I remember that he isn't here anymore for a very long time.


*I was very sniffly at the memorial.


*Which was understandable.


*The fact that I remained sniffly the next day at Daddy Sheep's Father's Day lunch was not so understandable.


*It is June.  I don't get sick in June.  That is silly!


*Allergies.  Yup.  That's what I figured it was.  Allergies.


*Best Student Line Of The Week Courtesy of Spunky Girl:

You can think whatever you want, but I'm telling you right now that is NOT allergies.

*It is not allergies.  I have it on good authority from an actual 6th grader who knows.


*Full-on cold, complete with laryngitis and nasal drippage.


*I missed the 8th grade promotion ceremony.  I think that Mr. Principal was mad at me for that until he saw me this morning.


*It was suggested that I consider going home.


*I did not go home.  It was the last day of school and I'd already ordered my Super Special Last Day Teacher Lunch Of Chinese Food. (which is almost free)


*I am so totally not missing my SSLDTLOCF (wiaf)!!!


*I was talking with the Literacy Coordinator about a student this morning.  I was half-way through a brilliant observation when she threw up her hands and cried:

That's it!  I can't talk to you anymore.  It's too much!  You're just so...I mean...my God!  It's THE PLAGUE!!!!!

*She then proceeded to walk away flapping her hands in a warding off gesture and I could hear her warning others to stay as far away from me as possible.


*So, I guess I have the plague...


*I took some cold medicine last night.  The sleepy kind.  Went to bed a little after 10:00.  Read for a while.


*Woke up at 3:19.  I know this because I could see the clock and it was a very odd time to be awake.


*Then I thought, "Gosh, I can sure see that clock clearly.  Oh, silly me!  I left the light on!"


*Then I thought, "Hey...I can see that REALLY clearly.  That's weird."


*Still had my glasses on.


*Then I thought, "You know what else is odd?  I shouldn't be looking down at the clock.  It should be at eye level."


*I was still sitting up in bed.


*With my ereader in my lap.


*And no recollection of what I read.


*Sleepy time cold medicine, indeed!


*I settled myself into bed like a proper human and slept through to the alarm.  And then some.


*Still considered a plague carrier by my colleagues...


*For the record, I wasn't reading Dark War: A Matt Richter Novel (Matt Richter Novels)


*Because I finished that already.  


*Fair Warning:  Don't try to read this one if you haven't read the others in the series first.  You will be lost.


*Further Fair Warning:  Fans of Simon R. Green (Something from the Nightside (Nightside, Book 1)  should know that these books are a quarter concept away from being in a total copy-cat situation.


*But that doesn't mean I don't love them because a zombie private detective is just too cool to ignore.


*I wasn't reading that when I dozed off, though.


*I was reading Kitty Goes to War (Kitty Norville, Book 8).  


*Werewolf DJs are cool, too.


*Not cool enough to fight off the effects of NyQuil, but I don't blame the books for that.


*If I ever get to the point where I can be on summer vacation, I envision some hard core reading in my future!


*But I have to get my plague-ridden self through five days of workshops and meetings first.  


*I'm packing up my knitting tonight.  


*I think I'm going to need it.  It's hard to pay attention when all the sneezing kicks in.


*Plus no one is going to want to sit with me and I'll need something to do...



So, as you can plainly see, I have had a lot on my plate over the past week.  Between finishing up the school year, family obligations and attempting to spread the plague hither and yon, I've barely had time to think.  It's been a whirlwind, I tellya!  I'll try to do better now that we are in the home stretch and heading into summer vacation.  Meanwhile, I must dash.  I have some leftover Chinese food that smells like it's just about heated through and I suffered through a snuffly last day of school to get that!

So much to do, so little time...

SA