Tin Man and Her Sickness

So, Cora has been sick. She lost her voice. She managed to find a little of it tonight. Have a listen!

Cute, huh?

Saturday Sitting

Thanksgiving was a success. Everyone was fed and no one got food poisoning (Because I wasn't involved in the food prep). below are a few pictures.

Above we see Scott performing resuscitation and last rights to my beloved Toshi. Note the 2X4 holding it together? also note the bottom corner opposite: the plastic just came off!

Above you can see how good of a kid dog Gypsy is...she came over and sprawled out next to Emma. When Eli came over and lay down next to her, she was in kid heaven!

Below is my kid sister and me. Note how slim she is and how I have filled out... I don't see any resemblance.

Below Cora is setting out her home-made rolls...err, what's that? The bag? Oh, well, she always puts UPC labels and plastic bags on everything she makes...yeah, that's it.

I did help...a little.

Below are the kids, with Gypsy looking on, apparently bored.

my other nephew, David, who seems to shun cameras was taking a nap...he is as charming as ever...unless Uncle Jim has squeezed him too tight or scared him...

I think everyone had fun! Cora seemed to have overdone it and felt worse the next day.

And Friday we relaxed. Lots of sitting, some laying, small, small amounts of standing, and lots of snacking. Thats what we did Yesterday...Well, Cora did not do as much snacking as I did. In all it was a very good day. I spent a lot of time moving things into my new computer.

My new computer is like a rocket ship compared to my old computer. I discovered this morning that you can play music in the background while working on something else, like the internet. That is just crazy! If I wanted to listen to music on the old one, I had to turn everything else off, and even then the sound would skip or stop for a second. So, most of the time, I didn't. If I watched You-Tube I turned the sound off. Now, I suffer no such things! I shall endeavor to keep my spy-ware killers up to date and the anti-virus software smoking hot on this one!

We have had some minor changes in our fish tanks lately. I have mentioned a few. We moved Marvin our Maroon clown from his large 30 gallon FOWLR(Fish Only With Live-Rock) tank to our 16 gallon reef. Most of the books say a Maroon needs at least a 30 gallon, but Marvin seems quite content, and even happier in this new tank. The skunk clown we have in there, Flower, is much smaller than Marvin, but took no time establishing his ownership of the tank. Now, their relationship seems to be one of friendship. This morning I saw Marvin taking a length of macro algae from the corner he has been given and pulling it out to the front of the tank. I think it was his way of telling me I should clean some of it out...so I did.

So, here are a few pictures I took of our tank yesterday. I think I did pretty good.

Today, Cora felt particularly bad and finally decided to go see the Doctor. She has Bronchitis...a precursor to pneumonia in Cora's case...last time she let it go too far and caught pneumonia. This time she realized what was going on and now she is on some anti-biotics. That should help. I made her turkey soup and she is resting under a blanket and my watchful eye.

She has lost her voice again. I usually joke about how quiet it is when she loses her voice, but I really hope she begins to feel better.

Challenges

I got the opportunity to teach high school today. It was math. I am pretty much useless in anything above algebra, so I was happy when most of the classes simply began working quietly. Sure there was a low buz around the room, but most seemed to be on task, so I let it go.

At one point, though, one of the kids asked me why I did not have a better grasp of math. I said that I chose history for its remarkable, and, honestly, noble lack of higher math.

He wanted to know how much history I knew. He wanted to ask me a question about history. I usually tell kids that history is such a big subject that it keeps us historians humble. We can only KNOW a very small portion of history, and even then, it is a relatively loose "KNOW." I went ahead and played ball though, figuring, how much can a high schooler know? If I were a betting man, I would have cleaned the table. He asked me a simple one. "How did WWI begin?" Of course, my "simple" might not be everyone else's "simple." Obviously, the political, economic, and social underpinnings of WWI were very complicated, but in a nutshell, I handed him a simple narrative, which he took wide-eyed. He said, "We just talked about it in class this morning...and you got it!!" I should hope so, I have been in school long enough. Also, I read that stuff for fun. Kinda like shooting fish in a barrel...with a 16" naval gun...can't miss.

I had some time to look on-line while they did their work. I got a job for tomorrow and am filled up for the week now. I also read a fun short book on-line about the Chrysler plant and it's role in aircraft engine production during WWII...hmmm, obviously I AM a hardcore historian, if that's fun.

I got home and collapsed in my chair for an hour...I think I am in the midst of a cold. Of course, my colds only truly show themselves at night. I caught this one in the act and have been hitting it with Airborne vitamins and have found some cold meds that help. I always have trouble sleeping with a cold, no matter how good I feel during the day. Last night, I woke up about 45 minutes after going to bed. Could not sleep. I was experiencing drainage...probably more than you want to know. Still, I took another dose of cold meds and was able to get back to sleep by 330AM. Six O'clock came WAYYYYYY too early. Tonight I have sore muscles and my sinuses seem to be filling with viscous fluid...perhaps the consistency of molasses...maybe cold honey, but without the sweets. Oh, the joys of teaching!

Rabid Closet Mamba Attacks Teacher!

So, yesterday, I was getting ready for work. I was all ready, just had to pull up my britches and that's when I straightened up...and died. Well, I really just burst into an intensely burning ball of pure pain. Oxygen left the room and my lungs cried in vain. My spine cracked and my innards cringed. An anguished yell escaped my lips a microsecond before all my airways stopped functioning. I fell back on the bed twitching like a freshly caught fish that no one has had the chance to conk on the head. I finally managed to roll over on my stomach, where I suddenly noticed that flames were no longer coursing through my lungs.

Cora, my beloved wife, saw the whole thing. She can describe how the rabid mamba snake came out of the closet wrapped itself round me and bit me on my ribcage. It squeezed me really hard, and looked at Cora and smiled before it fled through the window. It was an awful site, she may need counselling.

We decided to lie to everyone, so the population doesn't get up in arms and there aren't any riots in the streets against the new found Rabid/Closet Mamba Snakes to take the government's attention off more important matters. Besides, even though I missed a day of work, I lived.

The following is our cover story: I pulled up my pants and threw out my back. I finally found a position in which I could breathe without fullfledged stabbing pain, and then crawled into the livingroom in a strange hunched waddle, where I called the chiropractor. Cora was calling her work to tell them she would be late. I went to the chiropractor and felt considerably better.

The result was I stayed home and did nothing but apply ice, heat, and stretch. I also looked for pain relievers and stuff...which I found, though in far from copious supply. I managed to combat the pain and lie very still. Overall, it was a day of extreme pain. I did, however, survive.

Tomorrow I go out hunting for that damned Mamba!

Slow Day

I did not get a teaching job today...but then it is the first day back after break...what teacher would miss the first day back? Few, I am sure. I stopped at the maintenance shop, but they did not need an extra hand today. Cora stayed home with a bit of a stomach bug. I worked around the house tidying things up and doing some laundry. I also mde soe chicken soup in hopes of nursing her back to health and sending her off to work. LOL! Nah, I just wanted her to feel better. We WERE scheduled to attend my youngest nephew's birthday party tonight, but Cora was still feeling nasty and we did not think it advisable to take her ailment with us to my sister's.

I rented a movie. Wanted. It's a pretty good show. There is a point where there are rats on the screen, making attendant rat noises. Cora and I got a kick out of it when Toby, who had been sound asleep in his bed, JUMPED up and started sniffing around the TV stand looking for the source of the rodent noises... Can you tell he is a rodent hunting SOB? (He really is the son of a bitch.) Anyway, it was funny.

I did get two requests for the rest of this week...however, I am already taken. Music for the rest of the week. I also got three jobs for later this month...at least they did not forget me over Christmas Break!

Mopey Monday

I am not terribly mopey, but apparently I can only get sick and feel horrible on days of the weekend. I feel pretty darn good today! I think it is because it is Monday and since we had to get up, I felt like staying in bed. Isn't that how it works? If I have nowhere to be and no plans, I wake up extra early. If I have to be somewhere at a particular time, like work, I could stay in bed for hours. Well, that seems to be the standard mode of operations.

Oh, and what is it about Sully that makes him sleep like this?

Today promises to be fairly standard. No frost on the windows, nice. One hour late start. I am subbing for the reading teacher, and she has things I cannot sub for, so I have frequent breaks. Last week she had me busy making copies during those breaks. I look forward to more of the same. What really happens is I start some copie and get bored and find someone to go talk to...then I get back to copying again. It doesn't sound like it, but it makes for a long day.

If you like science fiction like I do, and if you like art, why not drop by this blog and take a look at the neat pictures and media this person has posted...it takes awhile to load...or maybe, more likely, it is my dinosaur of a laptop, but it is worth the wait. I spent the better part of yesterday surfing through it off and on. I like the ones that are so well put together artistically that it could just as well hang on your wall as be on the net.

I had some requests for picture of Cora and I on our drive...I was saving those for Cora to post...she doesn't appreciate it when I use ALL the good pics. I don't blame her. Here is one of the pair of us. And also a COOL car we saw. A Challenger, which I wanted to cll a Charger, but the chrome did not lie. It is NEW right off the lot. The guy was very nice and let me take some pics.

Well, I am going to need more coffee and a can of Lysol for work...

Misery Loves Company

Those sweet little munchkins with the heavenly little smiles, the squeaky little voices, great big hearts, and the tiny little hands...MADE ME SICK. I started getting the sore throat on Thursday. I began combatting it immediately...which may have only put off the agony until today. Last night, while I was tired, I could not get to sleep until roughly 2:38am. I woke bright and early at 5:43am because I could no longer breathe through my nose. I tried to remedy it with cold meds, but it was no use. I got a little sleep this afternoon. I feel like I was splitting firewood all day. In fact, I sat on my ass. For some reason, though, that does not keep every single muscle in my body from aching. Oh, I am going to kill the little bastard bicycle pump elf that has been raising the pressure in my head when I wasn't looking.

I think I may have accidentally left some of my cold/flu laying around and Cora might have accidentally stepped in it...Hmmm, that visualization is not quite right...that makes it sound like I barfed. I did not. I am just saying that Cora took some of my left over cold and seems to be miserable, too! We have been two pathetic humans today. At least I have had company.

We had a nice roast for dinner. Not quite gourmet, but certainly yummy! Which reminds me. We stopped for lunch yesterday at this German place in a basement. We had some German fare that I don't think I had ever had before. Brats, sour kraut, German potato salad, and some other nice goodies. Oh, yeah, and the beer.

I work at the elementary tomorrow...that is one hour late start on Monday...which means I don't have to be there until 9:15!! Now, let's all hope I get some sleep to match. I should probably spray the little angels with Lysol when they come in...