Sick AGAIN

Maybe it's the building - it's been around since before modern safety codes. Place is full of mold/asbestos. Yuck. Maybe it's the kids. I guess their parents don't really have the money to take them to the doctor when they're sick. They just send them to school. Maybe it's me - a sorry immune system, not enough sleep...

Whatever it is, I can't get a month into school without medical trauma. Fever, sore throat, sneezing...I've got it all. We do the hand sanitizer thing, cover your mouth when you cough thing, wash the hands frequently thing, and nothing works. I still get sick all the time, every year. Right now I'm miserable. I woke up in the middle of last night with firethroat and beatenwithhammer head. I kicked its butt all day and made it through my eight hours, but now I'm paying the price for working through the pain.

I'm so frustrated with so many things/people at my school that I could scream. I do enjoy sixth grade far more than I did the younger grades, but these people come with their own set of problems. Romance drama, hormones, and cursing fill my days. And that's just the coworkers...only joking. Teenagers are insane. I realize this is news to nobody, but I'm only now realizing the truth in the statement. The only previous experience I had with teenagers was being one, and I, of course, was nothing like the stereotypes. [ha...]

The students are the least of my worries, though. They're helpful and respectful enough to truly seem to feel bad when they dissapoint me [read: when I catch a bunch of girls cursing and/or talking filthy] or get caught doing something wrong. They do their work and are as responsible as 11-13 year old people can be expected to be.

My main trouble is the adults I work with. I've been through this before so I'll spare myself going through it all again... Didn't these people have to attend college? You'd think that a bunch of 20-40-somethings would have outgrown high school, but that brand of drama is alive and well amongst my colleagues.

[One might say that I am no better, ranting away on my little website instead of confronting people I have trouble with, and I accept that. However, I separate myself from work-related drama, keep to myself and stay out of the gossip circles. Therefore I feel I am exempt from any and all high school comparisons, unless, of course, we're talking about the people who look at me and think I'm still in high school. I'm all for that.]

Blah Blah Negativity Blah. Just writing about these things makes me feel worse. On to something happier.

Things I have to Look Forward to in the Coming Weeks:

1. Training this Saturday. No joke - I'm happy about it despite the subject matter: Human Growth and Sexuality. Yep - I get to give the girls at my school The Talk. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I get to feel some degree of pride in knowing that I will share with these girls information that could keep them from having a baby as a teenager, or maybe it's the $375 I get for attending, since the district has a nearly impossible time getting anyone to sign up for the course. Either way, I'm not dreading training for once. Pretty cool.

2. Day at the Estee Lauder Spa at Neiman-Marcus next Saturday. Obviously this was a gift - teachers can't afford fancy spas. I'm going to feel like the most spoiled, pampered princess in Dallas.

3. Two root canals. Again! Probably shouldn't be happy about this, but the ends definitely justify the means, and I can't wait to be free of dental pain.

4. Payday! A week early! God bless the union for fighting for us! Instead of an erratic pay schedule that sometimes left us six weeks without a paycheck, we'll now get paid every month on the 15th. I hear we got a raise too, but I'm not getting my hopes up. 

5. May 2...wait. That's really far off. Oh well. I guess there's Winter Break to look forward to...