Appreciated

Have you ever gotten drunk and blurted out something so insanely inappropriate in front of your co-workers that you will NEVER live it down and you now officially have to transfer to a new school (and possibly to a completely new school district) or else spend the next thirty years not being able to make eye-contact with anyone who says good morning to you?

Yeah, me neither.

But on a completely unrelated note, I went out for a glass of wine with a few co-workers last night.  And even though one glass eventually turned to two (and two to three...), we all behaved like responsible, respectable adults.  Any rumors about me throwing popcorn all over the place or trying to take a nap underneath the table at Marie Callenders is strictly heresay. 

So enough about that. 

Other than this cold that has been hammering me, this has been a pretty great week.  Yesterday they announced Teacher of the Year.  I didn't win, but I actually felt relieved by who did.  The teacher chosen had just lost his mom in a house-fire a few weeks ago.  It actually felt pretty crummy being pitted against him, considering the tragedy he just suffered.  I think winning would have felt like a shallow victory.  Plus he really wanted it, and overall he deserved it, so I'm glad he got it.

Even though I didn't win the big one, I was presented with three smaller "Making a Difference" awards yesterday morning during our staff meeting.  Later that same day, ASB came into my room and crowned me Most Creative Teacher (Niecy got "Most Influential"--way to go!).  This was for the Staffulty Awards, which are fun because it's actually the students that vote for their teachers.  By the end of the day, I had also received a poster, a C.D of my favorite music, and several cards from students for staff appreciation week.  I felt so damn saturated with appreciation that I'm sure I was visibly glowing.

Today I wasn't quite as glowy.  I woke up at 3:00 a.m this morning to get a drink of water (my mouth felt so very very dry), but once I crawled back into bed, I could NOT go back to sleep.  It was some sort of warped, reversed insomnia.  I tossed and turned and stared at my ceiling for two-and-a-half hours.  Finally, at 5:35, I gave up, turned off my alarm, and got out of bed.  I stumbled around the dark for fifteen minutes, trying to find clothes to wear to work without waking up Clint (I usually lay out my clothes the night before, but didn't this time).  At 6:00 a.m., I threw up in the sink.  Yeah, that sucked.  Then I got ready for work.  The rest of my day passed by in one glazed-over, uneventful blur.

I hate to end with "uneventful blur", so I have to add one more sentence to finish this up.  Okay, there.  Going to bed now.