Ickiness

What a cruddy week. Hopefully I'll be feeling better and will stop whining soon. I'm just so tired of the prednisone and coughing. However, tomorrow will be an easy day at work, and then Teresa comes!

My face does look so much better now. I'm getting lots of compliments on the improvement, and I must say, its nice not to have Troy compare me to Quasimodo. (He really does love me...) Blinking is still very weak, and Troy told me today that I'm only blinking the eye when I put effort into it. When I just blink with normal force, its not closing.

On a really good note, I'd like to say that we are seeing fall foliage here. I really didn't think we would this year, after a drought and now temps in the upper seventies. The maples are pretty, and the tulip poplars have turned. I do love fall. Now if the temperatures would just drop by about twenty degrees...

Today I learned that I can actually do some stats. Not much, but a very little bit (variance and standard deviance- that's stats, right?)

Election Day

I voted in Virginia's gubernatorial race today. Its a pretty close race, and I'm interested in seeing who'll win. Voting was just one of several things I got around to doing today. I got all my new passport stuff together (for passport number four... man), went to the bank, had lunch with Meghan, and bought educational supplies. I relaxed this afternoon and stressed out a bit about my health.

I have developed a cough. This cough requires Dayquil and Nightquil. It makes my chest hurt and my ears pop. My cheeks are getting even more purple between the prednisone and coughing. Which reminds me... I'd better take my prednisone soon, or I'll forget.

My face has improved. I don't think I'm up to my contacts yet and my ear is still funky. However, I think most muscle movement is back and going well. Its much less noticeable, so I'm told.

On an interesting note, my friend Meghan and I got into religion a bit today. She refers to herself as a liberal, practicing Christian. She asked me today how I felt about death, considering that I think that when you die, that's it. I was a bit bothered that she doesn't really understand my religious beliefs. Its not that I don't believe in God and heaven and all that... I just don't know exactly what it is that I believe. I'm open to God or no God, heaven or no heaven, etc. I try to live my life in a manner that will get me into heaven if it exists. I just don't have a blind faith in one particular direction. I really wish I did, sometimes. It'd be nice to be able to believe for the sake of having a church to go to and a religion to call my own. I suppose one phrase sums up my beliefs right now- "We'll see."

Today I learned that its hard to spend a lot of money when you're trying to force yourself to spend a lot of money. Its when you don't have a lot that you want to spend a lot.

Exhaustion

What a day! It was so hard to get up when that alarm went off this morning. It didn't help that I didn't really know what to expect today. We get our weekly memos on Friday, so I didn't know if there were any surprise meetings today. There weren't any surprise ones, just an expected one that took over an hour.

After just an hour of being here, I was pooped. I stoically carried on, and the kids were good. The sub left good notes about the days I was out, which always makes a teacher really happy. We actually got some work done, and I got plans together for the rest of the week. The meeting that took forever was during my lunch time and past, so I ended up not seeing any students this afternoon. I had to leave the kids with their teachers so I could get some food in me. The meeting was bad because we couldn't agree with the parents about their child's disability. Mom firmly felt that he needed to continue services while we felt strongly that he didn't need them anymore. Plus, that little conference room got so hot! After I left, a little girl in my math class said, "Mrs. Mchenry, your cheeks are purple!" Sheesh. We think we worked out a compromise, but the next week or so could get pretty hairly around here.

I'm going to class this afternoon, even if I am tired. However, I may treat myself to a little frappacino on my way in. Something cold and sweet never hurt anyone, right?

Today I learned that special education law can really hurt feelings.

Plateau in Improvement

Bad Bell's Palsy, bad! This morning was the first morning since starting prednisone that I didn't notice any improvement. In fact, my eye bothered me a lot. I think an eye lash got loose and it took me too long to get it out. My blinking, although easier and requiring less effort to get the lid down, is still very weak. My ear is also still very sensitive. The only reason its really bothering me is that I have a cough, and coughing hurts my ear. Sorry to complain.

Tomorrow I'm going back in for a full day of work. I would probably try to do a half day, except that I have an important eligibility meeting at 12:30. That's past the half day mark, so there's not point in me going home before grad school. Maybe I'll take a nap in the clinic for an hour or so. I finished the rough draft of one of my grad school projects, which is a huge load off my shoulders. I just hope the prof likes it and doesn't want too much changed.

Henry has been just as cute as a button. I gave him a bath today since the weather was so nice (almost eighty degrees in November!), and he was pretty good about it. He hasn't had a bath in months. Since he stays indoors, he stays pretty clean. He's calming down some, but he's still got a lot of puppy in him.

Today I learned that lots of penguin chicks freeze to death in the Antarctic winter (we saw "March of the Penguins" this afternoon) and their stiff little bodies are quite depressing.