This and that

The head cold has moved in and taken up residence in my face.  I seriously feel like the guy from the Mucinex commercials is living in my sinuses.  Because drooling wasn't enough...

Needless to say, I am not that fun to be around.  I am cranky, and drippy, and snotty and several other dwarves who didn't make the cut.  However goopy I may be, the birthday show must go on.

Karissa turned nine.  I have no idea where the time has gone.  I thought Karina's childhood passed in a flash, but nothing like the sonic blur Karissa's seems to be. For the first time she was a little embarrassed by the Dora napkins I grabbed to bring with the cookies for class. She is too old for Dora?  As sad as that thought is, does that mean I can get rid of the Dora house and all its trapping and gain back 4+ feet of floor space? Probably not.

I dragged myself to school yesterday to bring cookies for her class.  It was the first time I've been back in her class since before my surgery.  I've intended to go, but for one reason or another, I haven't made it yet. It probably would have been better if I had felt less rotten.  I could have at least tried to be a little more peppy.
The students were wound up because it was almost the end of the day, I brought frosted glitter heart cookies, the barometer was dropping, and maybe even me being there.  The students were interesting. Some went out of their way to hug me or talk to me. One, who can be quite a handful, was extremely patient trying to figure out what I was saying to him. When he figured out I wanted to see his artwork, he dug it out to show me and did a little more on it without arguing. It was touching.  Some of the kids weren't sure what to make of me, and gave me a wide berth.  That is okay, too.  There are a few new students who have no idea who I even am. I think they may have been wondering why there was such a strange vibe just for "Karissa's mom," but maybe I read too much into it. I want to go back when I feel better and not bearing sugar laden cookies to talk to them a little bit, with the help of the Dynavox. I know some of them have questions.

I am trying no to over-analyze yesterday.  I know I didn't feel great and it hasn't even been four months yet. I found myself desperate to say something to some of them on passing, like "nice art work," "How is your brother," or "stop rocking back in your chair," but I couldn't do it. The white noise of 31 bodies is amazing. I have always used my voice to project over, so I never really thought about it. It is hard enough to understand me when it is silent and you are facing me. Standing behind a student with the underlying hum of markers and breathing would probably be pointless. When you've had to restate whatever it was multiple times and then they give up and give you the "I don't know what you said but I'm embarrassed to ask you again smile," it is kind of pointless.

Karissa had Talmud Torah and Karina came home to go to the dentist.  I stared mindlessly into the computer for far too long and finally succumbed to a hot bath. Joy miraculously had the third season of Downton Abbey to lend, so there was that to look forward to at night.  Kelly took Karissa to dinner for her birthday and brought home a little cake.  Did I mention I was not fun to be around?

Today brought more excitement.  Karina was going to drop the cat at the vet and head back up to school.  After slipping and sliding less than a mile to the vet and back, she was relieved at the new campus was closed.  I know that people with "real" snow think it is ridiculous how a few inches brings us to a standstill, but the 20 car pile-up on the I-5 was no joke.

There is no school here tomorrow for grading day, so Karissa has a completely free day to play in the snow tomorrow.  This evening has all of us home early, warm food, and a new episode of Big Band.  Oh, and Downton Abbey, too.  Smart people in my house will fall asleep before I do because the snoring is out of control since I can't breathe. Snoring, drooling, swollen and unintelligible.  Who doesn't dream of waking up next to her?

While she is cavorting in the snow tomorrow, I'll be at physical therapy and then acupuncture and then getting things together for the birthday party on Saturday.  The timing of no school, no ballet, and Karina works out really well, actually.  I probably shouldn't say that aloud. Tempting fate and all of that.

Yes, it is Thursday and Lesley did come over. She and Karina ganged up on me a little, which is good. Apparently not everyone still wears clothes they had in high school.  We went through my side of the closet, the dreaded foot locker, and my night table, where there were no fewer than 50 magazines, a dozen books, and a bundle of pens, and some miscellaneous junk.  Some of the magazines were as old as 1985. Of course there was some project/recipe/craft in each of them, but if I couldn't tell what it was by a five second perusal of the cover, out it went.  Lesley took the Mary Jane's Farm magazines to look at the quilting stuff, but she vows to recycle them when she is finished with that. I'll be back at her house next Thursday to keep her honest.

Lesley was not impressed with my flowered capri pants.  That is because she was never a woman with a ridiculous chest. You wear something loud on the bottom to hopefully draw the eye down.  I don't think I could have succeeded in drawing the eye up even if I had had a third eye in the middle of my forehead.

I hope this post isn't as rambling as it seems to me, but I fear it is. I can't even blame it on good cold medicine since all I've had is one dose of Motrin.  However, I'll cut my losses here.  Until tomorrow, when I will hopefully be more coherent.