Strike of the Swine Flu!

It seems that wherever I go, sickness follows. First it was the measles in Guatemala, then the Whooping Cough in my Midwest school. Now it's the Swine Flu.

My little first grader came up to me yesterday with a solemn look on her face. She very politely informs me that her brother has the Swine Flu and then runs off to play. I just stare at her retreating back. The Swine Flu has come to Washington.

I had heard rumors that it was out and about. A high schooler was stricken last week. I just didn't expect it to spread quite this fast.

I'm not very doom and gloom about the situation. More than anything, it makes me laugh in an incredulous sort of way. The crazy illnesses that still exist in America.

Today the little girl came in with an awful cough. As she generously sprayed me with Swine flu exposed spit, I'm thinking, "Better go stock up on OJ and dust masks."

The Delta Site Hates Me

The Delta site hates me. That's the only conclusion I can draw. Not only did it try to make me rebook twice, but it wickedly raised the price each time! I could understand the rate hike from $295 to $330. I could only find $330 fares on the web, so it wasn't such a shocker. But then to raise it by $100 while I was booking it? That's just ridiculous. A flight doesn't go up $130 in ten minutes.

I guess I can't rule out a train trip home just yet, as much as I'd like to. I managed to wrangle a week off, and I want to spend as much of the time I have off with my family. Thirty-five hours on the train each way is not what I call fun.

I know I've got to get home soon---my grandpa's ill, and our whole family is gathering for a wedding. I can't miss this time with them, but I hate the feeling that I'm being taken advantage of.

Is it bad that I only do laundry every two weeks (and it's only one load)? I know, as a female I'm supposed to have tons of clothes and a very low tolerance for grime, but maybe those genes just skipped me.

I know that the shopping genes bypassed me. I hate to shop. I only believe in buying things that I'll feel good about wearing (and wearing often), so it takes forever. Add to this the fact that I'm pretty modest (no low-rise jeans or low cut tops for me, thanks), and it adds up to a whole lot of time in the stores.

So is it any wonder that I put shopping off for as long as possible?

This really made the theft of one of my suitcases off the bus in Costa Rica a debilitating blow. There went almost my entire supply of comfortable, worn-in jeans (that were actually tall enough!). I was devastated. I literally only had two shirts, a headband, and a set of underclothes to my name. It was a sad, sad day.

Okay, I Laughed

I love teaching kids. If they're not deliberating who to call in the case of a vampire uprising ("But the fire department can't do anything about vampires!"), they're making innocent slips of the tongue.

We were working on the -ank word ending. I was having them read words off of the board, and this took a nasty turn when we came to "sank." This child couldn't be satisfied with such a straight forward word. Oh, no. He had to add another letter, turning the nice, innocent "sank" into "skank."

Oh, yes.

As I desperately tried to stifle my giggles (these were second graders, after all, no need to discuss exactly why this word was so funny or what precisely it meant), I moved on. Wouldn't it just so happen that the next word was skin. Oh, joy.

I laughed, and I laughed, and then I changed the subject. Very smooth.