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Never had a head cold the whole time I was in Ireland but...

I was sick during the Christmas holidays with a chest cold. Having finally recovered, this Friday, as I was subbing in second grade, I suddenly felt a cold breeze go up my spine that sent me shivering, and funny tingling begin in my nose. Oh great, a head cold. I looked at all the little red noses sitting around my desk and thought, "Oh great...." By Friday night it was full flow. 

Thank goodness for weekends though. I love weekends when I have subbed a lot during the weekā€”Saturday to catch up on chores and Sunday to relax. And, with this cold, to recover because I am also subbing the next two days.

I did finish a book yesterday. At least I think I didā€”I was walking around in a Dayquil-inspired haze. "Sweet Life in Paris," a culture-and-recipes journal written by a California pastry chef who has been living (at least at the time this book was written) in Paris for the past five years. I really enjoyed it because so much of what he wrote about Parisā€”the people, the idiosyncraciesā€”reminded me of living in Montreal and also in Ireland. Must say though that after reading it, Paris has dropped from my top 3 cities to visit in the next couple of years to nearer to 10th or so. 

We (husband and I) continue to debate house vs travel. I am getting the itch to go somewhere in April-May. I know, I said I was tired of traveling. I was. But I am now getting the itch to spend a week in Quebec City or two weeks on another one of those Virgin Vacations, this time in Italy. Whether this is a product of my cold-ridden brain that wants some different stimulation or whether it will last, well, we shall see.

I am still wearing my hearing aids for 6-8 hours a day. It is a little uncomfortable with my head cold but not terrible. I texted my hairdresser yesterday and said I needed my hair cut around my ears because it was interfering with my hearing aids. She laughed and said we would work with it.

In the meantime, I have slipped deeper into the Toastmasters mode. The woman who first enticed me in, Toni, is spearheading a coordination between our Toastmasters club and some 5th and 6th graders at one of the charter schools in our town. She asked for volunteers to go along and help out and I found myself saying ā€œI will.ā€ Again, could be a product of the cold medicine but now that I have volunteered I will see it through :)

Weather continues to be lovely here. It starts off at about 40 degrees F at 6-7:00 a.m. but by noon it is in the 60s. They do say it is unseasonably warm so despite our Presidentā€™s protests to the contrary, global warming seems to be happening. I had a second grader on Friday who answered a question, related to a paragraph that explained how polar bears are faring in the Arctic, writing (I think, had to do a lot of sounding out the letters he had written) that polar bears are endangered because of their long, sharp teeth. This despite the paragraph he was supposed to have read about how global warming is melting the ice, and the polar bears walk on the ice, etc., etc.... I felt like asking him if he were a Trump fan.

I have three other books on the go now. I have almost finished ā€œFind the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer.ā€ A Stuart McLean kind of book about a small town in Alaska. Sweet. Not so sweet is "The Trespasser" by Tana French. I like Frenchā€™s writing except for the swearing. I know from experience that that is what a lot of the Irish doā€”swearā€”but I still donā€™t like it in every other paragraph. And I have also started (since Trespasser is a ā€˜realā€™ book and I donā€™t always have it on hand) "The Woman in the Windowā€ which is touted to be another Girl on the Train. I have only read the first two chapters but, yes, the writing is similar and does draw me in. 

So with that, substitute teaching, Toastmasters, our Sunday night Self Reliance class (which, if the class doesnā€™t start responding soon may be drawing to a swift close),  I am happily busy. Husband? He is okay. He finally caved in yesterday and bought the $225 dog door. And I finally was able to sleep until 5:00 a.m. this morning. Bliss!


Sunshine, a comfy chair and a good book. Bliss!

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