Some advice: If you are sick, STAY HOME.

**This is TOTALLY unrelated to visual art of any kind.**

I can't tell you exactly how bad my school, community, family has been hit with all manner of illnesses recently but it's been bad enough that it's finally gotten to me and let me just tell you - I have been knocked right off of my feet.

While I might be able to take the stance that this has offered me plenty of opportunities to do things like stay home and rest (as I have really REALLY needed something of the like), I am rather hard-headed, stubborn, and unable to easily see something so obvious as that. *shrug*  As it stands, this is the fourth week (that's a WHOLE month, people!) that someone in my immediate household has been sick and this time its me. Can I just tell you that when mama (that's me!) gets sick, she gets it perhaps worse than everyone?

But, as I stated before, I am kind of hard-headed about things and when I started getting the tell-tale signs of a very bad sore throat last Friday, I ignored them and when about my business. The on Saturday the coughing started in and then, on Sunday, my voice disappeared all while my throat got so bad that my jaw ached because I was gritting my teeth so hard to bear the pain of swallowing even involuntarily. I finally bounced myself into urgent care and they gave me the OK to take a leave from work as well as antibiotics.That night I attempted to sleep sitting up since it was all I could do to keep myself from coughing so hard I would gag and choke myself.

I stayed home from work on Monday with the hope that would be enough and despite my best efforts to work, I was completely wiped out and just about slept all day.  I went back to work on Tuesday trying to be a champ about things but not even halfway through the morning and I was barely feeling like I could see straight. My face swelled up, my eyes started watering uncontrollably, and I was just plain miserable for the rest of the day. By the end of the day when I was trying to pick up my kid from playschool I was barely able to put one foot in front of the other much less drive the 55 minute commute home. (I was literally praying the whole ride that Jesus would reach down from the heavens and grab the wheel if it was so necessary at any point.)

When I finally got home, my husband took one look at me and didn't even think of disturbing me while I went and tried to take the hottest bath and then shower I could and then covered myself with blankets and curled myself in the tiniest ball I could squish myself into at the end of the couch in the living room. I stayed like that for probably close to an hour and a half.  When I was finally able to get up, I realized I was burning hot so I took my temperature that determined I had a steadily climbing fever (my first in maybe over five years!) and then called out for work the next day (that is today).

So here I sit, at home today. And the lesson I've learned is this: if you are sick? STAY HOME. This goes for teachers, students, ANYBODY!!!  I don't care what anybody says but it is irresponsible and NOT WORTH IT to go to work/school/wherever when you are obviously SICK because not only are you wasting time/money/resources because you aren't able to effectively use them (since you are SICK) but you are also exposing everyone you cross paths with to the SICKness that you have.

Let the record state that I stand corrected for everyone time I have said sick days were meant to be worked through.

And with that? I think I might actually finally be better enough that tomorrow when I return to work, I will actually be well enough to perform my job well (the way I always should) and well enough to be around people and NOT expose them to the cess pool of germy mess that I obviously was since last Friday. *wink*