Back to work after sick days for all

Sometimes you get lucky and the day you decide you're calling in sick tomorrow, school is canceled for three days. With a weekend sandwiched in between, I've been able to recover from my cold (not H1N1, as all the students believed they had). I hope everyone else was also able to recharge, and that my 10th graders will be ready for their massive test on the first theme in their lit book. Okay, that might be too much to ask.

Admittedly, nobody can spend five straight days just studying or grading papers while recovering from a cold. One is bound to fit in a trip to the mall or the movies. The idea is just not to reinfect oneself in the process. My husband and his parents kindly took the kids to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D while I enjoyed a little retail therapy. I didn't find the penny loafers I was looking for, but did splurge on a more comfortable pair of comfort dress heels. My feet are thanking me as I write.

The best thing about having five days off? This is going to be a short school week. Ample time to regroup and wrap up a few unfinished items--and locate the new hand sanitizer dispensers to curtail the inevitable reinfection cycle of this nasty little bug called the common cold.