Trouble in His Brain

My cold got bad enough that I took yesterday off. I slept in, read a few books, took care of a few house-buying tasks, and enjoyed not being in charge for a few hours.

When I got back to school today, one of the aides followed me into my room and told me that she had covered one of my classes yesterday.

"Oh, really?" I said as I put my stuff down on my desk. "Did the sub not show up?"

"No, he came," Melodee said. "He just went... well, he went a little crazy."

Melodee went on to explain that the sub apparently went a bit nuts during first period, including swearing at the kids, waving a large stick around at them, and chasing one of them down the hall when Junior ran to the office to get help.

See the kinds of things I miss when I'm out sick?

On the bright side, I am feeling better today (evidenced by the fact that I taught a full day and then worked tech for the film festival, and I'm still awake!). Tomorrow I get to do some psychological clean-up in my first period class, squelch the rumors in the other classes, and work an elementary school concert in the evening. I'd like to complain about the fact that the front office schedules these kinds of events in the auditorium without considering the fact that I always have to work them, but honestly, I'm glad for the money right now. Buying a house is expensive!

My cold has made me turn to comfort food lately - I made creamed tuna on toast for dinner last night and goulash tonight. I was craving magic bars yesterday, too, but found no graham crackers in the pantry. Taking a page from Grandma Cook's cookbook, I substituted Nilla wafers and a few butter cookies I found instead. They weren't the same, but they will do.

I'm deliberately not watching "American Idol" right now. I've never actually watched the show for more than a few minutes; that's about all I can tolerate of it. But it's more important now because this week I'm a Nielson Family! Yup, they offered me $30 to track what I watch on TV. Here for you for free is a run-down of shows I typically watch:

- The Daily Show
- The Colbert Report
- House
- Ugly Betty
- How I Met Your Mother
- The Office
- 30 Rock
- Scrubs
- My Name is Earl
- Gray's Anatomy

Unlike America, I typically eschew reality TV. I think I will watch "So You Think You Can Dance" this summer, though, given how much I enjoyed the MTV marathon this weekend.

I'm curious to hear the report from my 1A tomorrow. The thing is, they're a good class. Yeah, it's a bigger class (40 usually), but they're good kids. I chalk it up to the usual crazies I attract because the district lists the sub job opening under "drama".