Teaching is making me sick and tired (literally)

(Note: this started as a comment to my last post but, once I saw how long it was becoming, I decided to go ahead with a whole new post.)

First: Yes, Nik, my busy schedule HAS cut into my drinking time. Coincidentally, I've also lost about 5 lhs. Hmmm. ;)

Plus, I just got hit by a health double whammy, which has definitely been affecting my appetite. Last week, i got this cold thing and was out of school for 2 days. I rested over the weekend (spent it here with Dave but we didn't do anything major, though he cooked me the best steak EVER) and by Monday I was feeling great again...

...Till Wednesday afternoon, during yearbook, when I started feeling kind of achy. By 4:30, I was home with a fever, chills, aches, etc....got slammed with a 24-hour flu. Didn't want to call in since I had been out the week before, so I dragged myself in (told the kids, "Just stay in the room and don't kill each other"). Came here Thurs. night and Dave took care of me. (Yes, he has seen sick, Afro-haired, whiny Jen and he STILL LIKES ME.)

I'm over the main flu part but still feeling pretty yucky in the head (lol, don't say it, you know what I mean). Got up at like 3:30 am because I couldn't sleep and didn't want to keep Dave up (he had to go into work this morning for a few hours and was getting up at like 4:45). He finally woke up and wandered out here to the den.

"Well, I've been doing some research online," I began.

"Yeah? What do you have now?" he asked good-naturedly. (He's already used to my tendency to "self diagnose" myself with rare, random diseases and actually seems to find it rather endearing.)

"I've got it narrowed down," I told him, "to either a sinus infection or tuberculosis."

"Ah," he said. "Need me to stop at the store on my way home for either sinus or tuberculosis meds?"

He's great.

Anyway, I'm not surprised that I've been getting sick so much lately. First, it's the season--even here in beautiful, sunny Florida (high in low 80s today). Second, due to my afore-mentioned busy schedule, I'm tired and run-down so of course my already-less-than-stellar immune system is even lower. I've been getting less sleep, due to stress and things just being so crazy. Plus,--and this is an epiphany I had whilst talking to Renee on Friday--as a middle school teacher, I see 125 kids every day instead of 25. No WONDER I get sick so much--I see five times as many kids as "regular" teachers, thus increasing my chance of picking up some kind of germ. (Seriously, next to nursing, there couldn't BE a worse profession for yours truly.)

So there you go. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. That Nyquil is kicking in again.