Sometimes illness has its reward!

I've been ill for the past three weeks. Not falling down sick, mind you, but sick enough to send me to bed exhausted every night for the past two weeks. My classroom has had a lot of illness since school started at the end of August. I like to call my students "my little petri dishes" because they keep brewing up new and more virulent forms of illness with which to infect me. My throat has been sore for 19 days -- scratchy and raw. Not strep. Not needing an antibiotic. But dry and sore.

Today is the first day I have felt like my old self. I think it must have something to do with having four consecutive days away from school. I have gotten some quality rest, and feel like I am on the road to recovery. I hope this past month does not portend illness for the rest of the school year.

The kids have come down with this cold, too. I am actually grateful they got it now, while we're off for the Columbus Day holiday. Sucks for them, but at least they are not missing any school, and neither am I.

The one upside to this round of illness has been my complete lack of appetite. REALLY weird for me. I have been known to be hungry while suffering from intestinal flu, for crying out loud! I have actually lost about 6 pounds, and it feels absolutely wonderful. I hope I can resist the urge to binge once the illness has passed completely. This is the first time in about five years that I have any urge to try to lose weight. It is a good feeling. I'm making plans. We've been eating more healthfully. I have been praying about this and it feels like some sort of break-through.