sick. yes, again.

so....i got sick monday night.  i went to bed with a sore throat and woke up sometime around 5am with definite cold/flu symptoms.  sore throat, head ache, all over achy feeling, chills/sweats, yuck yuck yuck.  i was sick in october and did a 6 week course of antibiotics after that.  the idea was to completely wipe out whatever has been giving me sore throats so often.  i finished the antibiotics about a week ago and here i am, sick again.  sigh.  so, i called in sick tuesday.

i happened to be at Ro's, which was probably for the better so that someone could go to the store, someone could cook dinner, someone could spoon feed me.  okay, maybe not that last one, but i was pretty weak and helpless.  even by the afternoon, working on wednesday wasn't looking like a possibility, so i called and found people to cover my schedule on wednesday.  it took 30 minutes and 9 different phone calls.  i was pretty annoyed with one of my coworkers, because if she would have just said yes to teach one class of mine, then it would have all been taken care of in less than 10 minutes and 3 phone calls.

when it comes to covering for people at work, my feeling is this: when someone is sick and asks me to cover, they ALREADY feel like crap, that's why they're calling in sick, so if i can make their life just a tiny bit easier, then i should.  you know, by assuring them it's no problem, telling them to take care and don't worry, etc etc, then suck it up and do the extra class or cleaning or reception.  but, yet again, i learned (for the millionth time it seems) not to expect such niceness from others.  you'll just get disappointed in the end.  be nice because you want to, but don't expect others to always return the favor.  oh, is it christmas time? hm, it is, huh.

so, tuesday and wednesday were worthless.  thursday, my day off, i managed to pull myself together enough to come home.  to an apartment that was 12degrees.  ouch.   but, i came home to a package slip from the post office.  i rode my bike to the post office and picked up my package.  it was an odd size, and i couldn't imagine what it was.  then i saw the customs slip and it said "pottery" in my mom's handwriting and i knew exactly what it was.  we had been talking about them a few weeks before - she had sent me my very own handmade clay nativity set.  (pictures...eventually)  it is so cute all set up next to my tv, which feels wrong somehow, but i don't really have any other good place for it, so...oh well!  it is my lone christmas decoration.  sad but true.

then, friday i didn't have any classes, but worked about 6 hours.  i felt okay, but definitely not great.  saturdays are my busiest days, and i managed to get through today, but my voice is now hanging on to its last cords (get it?  haha...but not actually funny).  luckily i don't have to work tomorrow, and then only have one more week to get through.  plus fun stuff like getting my nails done tomorrow, a work bonenkai on wednesday, a date with Ro on thursday, a christmas party at a friend's on saturday and a date with a 747 on sunday!  (may or may not actually be a 747)

i'm still thinking of doing some kind of last minute nengajo with a picture i took sometime this year,  printing them at my neighborhood photo store, addressing them on the plane/on vacation and just sending them when i get back.  i will be back to japan on the 3rd anyway, so they won't be late.  they just won't arrive on new year's day.   (gaijinwife: i will be hand addressing all mine because i can't read enough kanji to even be able to type them into a database.  so i just look at each address and copy it stroke for stroke.  hopefully i can avoid shaming myself too badly.  haha!  though, most people are impressed i can write kanji half decently, so it usually works out.)

as for christmas presents, i got my older brother and his girlfriend their gift.  and i bought something for my mom.  i don't have anything for my younger brother or dad or grandparents.  or Ro yet either!  hmm...what do 23 year old boys want (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg)?  and my dad and grandparents?  still not decided about Ro either.  hmmm, must do a bit of brainstorming.