Update 2/8/09

Hi friends. Another week already! This week has been a bit more eventful than last. I decided to go back to work 2 days a week, starting last Tues. (Feb. 3). I'm working Tuesdays and Thursdays only, as a way to see how the fatigue situation works out with trying to work again. After one Tues. and one Thurs., so far, so good. I will admit it really exhausted me on Tuesday, but I had a great time. I had so much fun, I came home after work and took a 2 1/2 hr. nap:).

Really, though, it did feel good to get back into the classroom. It is good for my mental health to be doing something normal again, even if it does make me tired. I figure I'll work Tuesdays, sleep Wednesdays, work Thursdays, and sleep Fridays! I didn't get a whole lot done over the weekend, but I'm trying to follow my dr.s advice of pacing myself, and I figure working the 2 days required more resting over the weekend...sounds good, anyway, right?

The children were great...it was so good to see them all. They've grown! Cheryl (my team teacher) and Jocelyn (my sub for the last 4 months) have done such a wonderful job with the kids. I've thought about the class alot while being at home, but I have never once been worried about them---they've been in GREAT hands! Jocelyn is still subbing for me on Mon-Wed-Fri, which is such a comfort to me to have that consistency in the classroom.

On Tues the children asked me if I was still bald (I had a scarf over my head). I told them yes, I was, and would probably be bald for a few more months. Of course, then they asked me to take my scarf off so they could see my head, so I did that, and then I let those who were curious take turns touching my bald head, which cracked them up. That took us about 10 minutes, and then we got on with our day:).

One of my students and her mom bought me a wig, which was so sweet of them (thanks Desirae and Elizabeth!). So I wore my wig on Thurs, and the kids got a kick out of that too. One of them asked me if my hair grew back already. I told them no, that I was wearing "pretend hair" also called a wig. Of course they asked me to take that off too so they could see my bald head again--I think some of them didn't quite know what to make of this "pretend hair". So, anyway, I took my wig off and they thought that was a pretty neat trick--and of course, they cracked up at that as well. Then they took turns touching my bald head again, and the wig too this time, and then we went back to our day again:). So, yes, I'm loving being back with my students--they are good for my heart and soul!

One thing I do have to be careful of during work days is my white blood cell count. It was low all last week, so I wore a mask in the classroom and asked te children to do the same. The lab at Kaiser gave me enough medical masks for all of my students, so we put their names on them and put them in their cubbies. Most of the kids are having fun wearing them--for awhile anyway. They do get hot after awhile. I tell the children that some days my body doesn't have any "germ fighters" and so sometimes we all need to wear our masks to protect me from germs. They seem fine with that and go get their masks on. If they start playing with their masks or take them off and leave them lying around, then they have to put them back into their cubbies. So far it's working pretty well--we're all adjusting to these little changes in the classroom and the kids are being troopers about it.

I want to thank you all again for your continued support and prayers. Shari C--so good to hear from you--hope all is well in L.A. Is J.D. glad to be back at school? Aaron sure is. I bet J.D. is getting excited about graduating. Thank you so much for that great box of wonderful Oxy goodies you sent me! I haven't gotten a proper thank you note to you yet and I apologize for that--but I will get it done soon:).

Take care, everyone. Thank the Lord for both the sunny days and the much needed rain that we've gotten this week.
Love, Stacey