Good Friday

I have had no motivation today. that's part of the problem with half days and parent/teacher conference days. I woke up this morning and just didn't want to get out of bed. I knew I did not have a first or second period and my third and fourth periods are two of my honors classes that could do everything blinfolded, then the rest of the day I get to sit in my office waiting for parents to come see me. Since I do PE and Health, no one will come see me unless it is a parent that I have known for the past couple of years and those parents usually pick up their kid(s) and go back to work so I sit and do nothing. At least today I came prepared. I can spend the afternoon re-organizing my gym office and listening to continuing education stuffs. So at least my afternoon can be somewhat productive.
So scratch that afternoon plan. Parents were in and out of my office at intervals so going to the other office was a no go. On the bright side, I didn't have to clean my other office. I walked into the office for my class and the office was clean. I mean everything that I needed to do was already done. I don't know who did it, but I am very grateful for that person. Thank you whoever you are. Now, if only I could figure out who keeps taking kids jackets that are left in the gym after school that would be marvelous.

What's in Your Load?

This past Sunday we had a special stake conference. It sure was a special one too. Elder Bednar came and spoke to the stake. It was great! Usually when an apostle speaks at General Conference he seems very serious and down to business, but when not in General Conference he is hilarious! Actually, the best part wasn't even Elder Bednar's talk. The best part came from a young man who was really nervous about being called out of the congregation to bear his testimony. He was really nervous and was telling a little story about a conference talk he remembered and how if you only bear your testimony at the pulpit you are a hypocrite. Then the boy remembered the person who spoke those words was sitting on the stand. I have never seen an apostle turn so red and laugh so hard!
Elder Bednar gave a great talk. He began by taking to those who are not members of the church and telling them why we have the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then he said something that I wish every person who is investigating the church had heard. He said that those who are not members need to start asking members what they believe. It's hard to talk to people who are not members of your same church to get them to understand what you believe when they are asking people not or you same religion what your religion believes. That's how rumors get started, ugh. Anyway back to Elder Bednar's talk. He then starts telling this story about a friend who bought a truck that the family could not afford at the time and in order to justify why he bought the truck the dad went up to cut some wood for a wood burning stove to save some money because he had bought the truck anyway even though his wife had told him not to. While he was up out it started snowing and the truck became stuck. The man then decided that he could either sit there and die or go cut wood. So he cuts the wood and places the load in the bed of the truck and he becomes unstuck. The point of the story is that the load gave the truck enough traction so that he could get out of the snow. He likened it to us and what load are we carrying? What are we hauling around with us? The right kind of load will lead us back to our Heavenly Father. He also states that the absence of a load is not a blessing nor does it lead to happiness. What kind of load do you carry?
Elder Bednar also talked about not having time to do the important things in life like family prayer and scripture study. He says, "'I do not have time' is a deception [of Satan]. It is a fundamental falsehood. 'I do not have time' equals 'It's not important'". This really struck me because I often say that I don't have time for certain things. I may think those things are important, but if I am saying I don't have time to do them then they really must not be that important to me. No more excuses if "I don't have time".
Elder Bednar also issued a challenge. He said go out and get one of those little paper back copies of the Book of Mormon read through it looking for all the instances of "strengthened of the Lord" and "In the strength of the Lord". He promised that if we do that then we will have ears to hear and eyes to see. Will you take that challenge too?
I love listening to the leaders of the church. I am so grateful for the inspiration that they receive and the examples that they are to those around them. It truly was a special stake conference.

ACSAL CHAMPS!

A big congratulations to the the SST Stallions boy's basketball team! They took the championship last night to be crowned the best middle school basketball team in the Alamo Charter School Athletic League (ACSAL). I applaud the boys for coming from behind to win. They started the game up 12-6 at the end of the first quarter then finished the half down 16-22. The third and fourth quarters were intense. Not a lot of scoring happened. By the end of the fourth it was 25-25. Everyone in the gym was on their feet. It was absolutely crazy in there. The boys hit a few free throws to end the game 28-25. The buzzer went off and it was heartbreak for the the opposition and pure joy for the Stallions. So Congratulations Stallions! You worked hard and did a great job this season.

Week in Review

It's been quite a week. Everything that went on with my health finally started getting better. I had a peri-tonsilar abscess that was causing my throat to hurt so much and be so swollen. From what I was told by the ENT, it should have been drained the day I went into the doc for the mono diagnoses and the CT I was subjected to lied and is not a reliable source for throat things. Anyway, last Monday the abscess took care of itself and burst. It was quite gross so I will spare you the details. Let's just say it was very reminiscent of the abscess I had last year after my appendectomy. As soon as it burst though, I was feeling a thousand times better. I could start opening my mouth to eat and I was actually able to eat a full meal. For the first time in two and a half weeks I was able to eat a full meal instead of just five bites and done. Food Glorious Food! The only thing I am having a hard time with now is having enough energy to make it through my day. I wake up feeling totally rested then about two or three hours later I am ready for a nap. I have even had a hard time staying awake in my afternoon classes. There have been a couple of times when my eyes have closed and I have not been able to fight it. Thankfully, the kiddos haven't recognized it and taken advantage of it yet. Besides recovering from all that stuff the last basketball game of the regular season was postponed to today because of leaks in the gym we were suppose to play in. Game tonight then play-offs start Wednesday. Since Leland is out of town we did an early Valentine's Day. Dinner and a movie was perfect. Just spending time together makes my day. We watched Couples Retreat. That is such a hilarious movie! A night with the hubs makes for a great Valentine's celebration. Saturday I took Leland to the airport to send him to San Diego for his presentation. It was a lot harder for me than I thought it would be to let him leave. But it's all good. A couple hours later Mom arrived in town to help me out. She came for the weekend to help me clean and get the apartment back into shape since I wasn't able to do much while I was ill. She even bought a new vacuum for me since mine broke while she was using it. I love when Mom pampers me. I am grateful Mom was able to come and help out. There wasn't a whole lot for her to do and I know there were events that she really wanted to go to in EP that she gave up to be with me. I think she came to see how I was really doing. I don't think she believes me when I tell her I am really doing fine. She knows I will down play some things so she won't have to worry so much. It's was a nice cover-up she tried to pull, but I saw through it. Good try Mom. Sunday was a great way to end the week. Great talks, the ward choir sang beautifully, and the lessons were amazing. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Sundays? That was my week in review, oh yeah, I forgot, my phone was stolen at the med clinic when it fell out of my pocket on Monday night. Stupid people who took the phone. Dee,dee,dee the phone and it's service gets cut off when you report it stolen so what's the use in taking someone else's phone. On top of that, once it's activated again they can find the phone. Whatever they will receive the consequences. I have a new phone, but none of my contacts. If I don't pick-up a phone call or I am hesitant when I answer my phone now you know why. With how things went last week, I know this week will be better! Have a great week!

25 Words

A couple of years ago we had a lesson in Relief Society and there was a story about a soldier who had been taken prisoner. During his stay with the enemy he was allowed to write to his family, but he could only write twenty five words. The person who was teaching us that day had us do the same thing. We had to write something of advice to our family, friends, whoever we could think of and it could only be twenty five words long. I wrote down my advice and have kept it in my scriptures ever since. I have been wanting to post it for a long time but kept leaving it in my scriptures. This time I remembered to take it out.

Smile

Laugh Often

Say "Thank you"

Say "I love you"

Remember who you are

Endure to the end

Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ always love you.

Not So Comforting. . .

when the meds you are prescribed don't work and you end up getting worse because the meds you have are treating something you don't have. That is what happened to me last week. The first doc that I saw thought all I had was strep throat, too bad he was way off. I went into work last Tuesday because I was feeling better and decided everything was fine. I awoke last Wednesday and had to have Leland take me into work because I was feeling bad again. Not only did I have to have him take me to work I had to have him pick me up early because I just didn't have the energy to do anything and I was feeling really sick. I went home went to sleep and thought everything was going to be better the next day. Boy was I wrong! My throat was about 75% blocked due to swelling in my tonsils and I felt like I had this huge goiter on the side of my neck. I went back to the clinic where they did a mono test on me. Lo and behold, I have mono and I had probably had it for at least two weeks before being officially diagnosed. That explains so much! Now that I know, I also know that I could have this thing for another few weeks or upwards of six months. I just know I have to take everything one day at a time until it runs it's course. I have had some ups and some downs already. The real test will be going back to work tomorrow. It's my tough day with all seventh grade classes. We shall see what happens.

Diagnosis

After a weekend of neck pain, swollen glands, overall feelings of misery, still unable to eat anything, and calling Mom for her expert opinion about what was wrong with me I decided to go to the doctor late Sunday night. I wasn't sure of what was going to happen then he asks if I have a sore throat. Knowing that a cold front just came through I and I usually get a sore throat when that happens I told him the sore throat was just from the weather change. He didn't believe me. He had me take a strep test. yes, the second strep test in a week and a half. Again, it was negative, but this time he sent out cultures. As of right now I have a sever throat infection bordering on strep so I am just saying it is strep. I was put on some goooood drugs too. I hate taking the drugs, but they are helping the neck relax, causing swelling to go down, and helping me feel a little better, so they aren't that bad. Leland is still counting the number of pills in the containers so he knows I'm taking them. I told him he would probably have to do that. If I didn't know he was going to do that I wouldn't take them. He even brought me my pills yesterday before he left for the lab to make sure I would take them. I hate pills.
Yesterday I ended up calling in sick to work and staying home sleeping most of the day. Boy did that feel good! I even woke up the first time my alarm went off this morning, no snooze needed! I am hoping though that everyone I have come in contact with last week and this week do not get sick. I would feel awful if that happens. Taking sick days are not that bad when you really need them. I just don't like being away from my classroom knowing that I will have to re-teach everything when I get back. That is something I am just going to have to deal with. I needed that one day for recuperation and it was a great day. I am not near as fatigued today as I have been previously. I am feeling better, throat still kills and eating still isn't happening unless it's crackers, but again, it take baby steps getting things back to normal when you're sick.