Fadedwords

Yesterday was the first day back to work.  It was a really good day, full of lots of excitement and positivity from my coworkers.  I think everyone is incredibly eager to work with our new principal and get off on the right foot.  We spent half of the day in a lengthy meeting, but it didn’t seem to drag on.

Today is a day that all of us can work in our rooms and get things ready to go.  Most of my stuff is cleaned up and ready to go, and I’m waiting on the master calendar before I can start prepping for lessons and whatnot.  I have a couple of things to ask the principal regarding what his expectations are for me, compared to what expectations were last year.

I’m feeling… not great today.  I wasn’t feeling great yesterday either.  I have a headache, a slightly sore throat, I’m tired, and I have a stomach ache.  I’m hoping that I’m not coming down with strep, although it’d be a real possibility with Jake so sick.  I have no time to get sick though, so I’m just not entertaining that thought.

A real positive for me has been that several of my coworkers have told me they can “really tell” that I’ve lost weight.  That lifts my spirits and really motivates me to continue on.   

Off to do some things.  It’s good to be back to work.

His sense of adventure is staggering.

Jake is doing much better after his trip to the emergency room.  He’s been taking it easy, resting, and sleeping whenever he’s needed it.  His back is still a little sore, so we’re not sure what’s causing that.  Thankfully the medicine is helping with everything though.  I’m quite relieved that he’s alright.

Tomorrow is the start of the school year for all the staff.  I large part of me is looking forward to this; I know that our new principal is really fantastic and I’m very excited about working with him.  There are so many people I didn’t get a chance to see all summer, and I’ve missed them greatly.  I’m also a little sad to see the summer fade away.  I feel like I haven’t accomplished nearly as much as I wanted to, or relaxed as much as I could have.  I suppose the best laid plans usually go astray.

This week is all teacher work days.  We have orientation on Thursday evening, which should be a nice night.  It’ll be good to see parents and students again.  Then school starts on the 25th.  Next week is shaping up to be busy.  I return to work, I have my first group riding lesson (which I’m quite nervous about), and it’s looking likely that I’ll be able to go see SARK at a book store in Durham.  I don’t want to get my hopes up about that yet, but I have wanted to hear her speak for quite a long time and it’s quite possible that I’ll get to do that.   Keeping fingers crossed.

Jake IMed me yesterday morning and told me he wasn’t feeling well.  I encouraged him to try to eat something and get lots of fluids in.  He ate an orange and then went idle for awhile so I assumed he was doing better.  At about 2ish he IMed me again and said he really felt bad, that his back had started to hurt too, and he needed me to come and get him.  He had driven the bike to work, and didn’t think he could keep it up.  He also said he thought he needed to go to the doctor.  Approximately ten seconds later I was speeding down the highway.

I had planned on taking him to urgent care, but when I saw him I knew that plan was changed.  He was clearly in a great deal of pain.  He had a fever.  He looked awful.  I had never seen him looking so terrible.  When I asked if the emergency room was OK he responded with, “Whatever’s closest.” Yet another clue that the ER was likely the best choice.

They got him back and in a room very quickly thanks to the acute pain in his back.  I’ve never seen him in so much pain, and I hope I never will again.  It took two shots of pain medicine, but eventually he was knocked unconscious.  That part was kinda fun.  He was in and out of it, one minute asleep the next minute saying random stuff.  He was finally comfortable, which was all I cared about.  His fever broke too.

After tons of tests we were told he has a bad case of strep throat, complete with a white blood cell count of 18,000.  When he gets sick, he does it well.  They didn’t do too much investigation on his back, but gave us a prescription for pain medicine and a note to see a back doctor if the pain persists.  He has antibiotics and all sorts of lovely things to take.

On the way home last night he requested a “strawbrerry” shake and a cheeseburger, and I was inclined to oblige him.  I was just glad he was feeling hungry, as he’d been so sick earlier that the thought of food made him queasy.  It was torrential downpour last night, and driving was terrifying.  We decided to wait on picking up his medicine until today because of it.  I’ll be picking those up on my way back from my WW meeting this morning.  I’m only going to weigh in today, because I don’t want Jake to be alone for too long.

I can’t begin to explain how relieved I am that it’s only a case of strep.  I was incredibly worried seeing him that way.  It’s not like I didn’t know how much I love him, but seeing him sick had my heart in my throat.  I told him that now we’ve both had to go to the emergency room and we’ve seen each other at our absolute worst… so we’re even.  No more of that.  He agreed.

I went to Wrightsville Beach with three of my friends yesterday.  It was a really lovely day, not humid or too hot.  The water was glistening.  There were a reasonable number of people there, so it wasn’t crowded.  I was able to wade in the water, and lounge on the beach and write a little bit.  I posted pictures here.  I also put up two other new albums, one for Bethany’s Princess Party and the other for Andrea’s Bridal Shower.

I will share a couple pictures here though.  Before anyone asks- yes I was wearing sunscreen.

This is the first real sunburn I’ve ever had.  Usually I tan with no issue.  Needless to say, I’m miserable.

An upside?  No pain from my riding lesson on Tuesday.  I guess everything’s a trade off