phlegm and sadness; wiggles

I so very nearly called in sick this morning. I've been fighting sickness for I don't know how long now, and though I am no longer real achy, there's soreness and ticklishness about the chest and throat that are a nuisance, and other such things. Pain. Over the weekend, instead of staying in my apartment babying myself and making sure I got work done, I went to Portland and overstayed there, and was out in the cold, and smoked a lot (really a lot) because I felt awkward and bored, and I didn't drink enough water or juice. No, I did not.
I woke up today with phlegm and sadness, soreness and also I was sweaty. I don't leave on the heater that actually works, overnight, because it is noisy-- I took my temperature, and hooee, 99.1! Call in sick! Call the doctor(that you don't have)! These were my first reactions. But then I thought about my supervising teacher's likely reaction, after she was already weird about me taking a professional leave day for the conference in Portland last Friday. And though for me 99.1 is not usual, it's still not actually a fever. I guess.

But I hated today. I so should have stayed home. And I have so much to do this week. Tonight I need to put together valentines for the kids, because if I don't I'm a horrible person? Also I have to put together plans for my next full day of teaching on Thursday, at which, thankfully, my supervising teacher will be absent. She has an appointment somewhere! I can mess up in privacy! But I have to show her the plans tomorrow.
I cannot plan anything, it seems. I don't know what one does with 1st graders. I thought it would come to me, but no, not as of yet.

I wanted to show you the valentines I got for the kids. It was a tough decision. At first I thought Batman, but EVERYONE will do Batman, and his captions aren't that funny. Then my attention turned to The Wiggles valentines. Now, I don't know who these Wiggles's are, but you will not find a more hilarious group of Valentine cards. I really should have gotten them, except for the fact the kids would have thought I was retarded.
Here are some sample Wiggles images that will show you what I mean!


The finger guns!



Look closely: we've got a yellow-spotted...dinosaur; an octopus, wearing pajamas; a giant dog; four nerdy, kind of..well, at the Wiggly Concert at least, there's the apperance of ass-grabbing; and then the pirate. Do not forget the pirate. I don't know why he and the octopus were not on the party invites, but they were certainly on the Valentines.
But the Wiggles seem to be for little kids, so that might be insulting to the 1st graders. I settled for another child entertainment phenomenon heretofor unfamiliar to me: The Koala Brothers!



They seem to live in a claymation approximation of 1930s aviation history. And they have cute crocodile, turtle, and....yellow koala friends. I don't know what's going on with the yellow koalas. Giant mice? Tentative exploration of 1930s era racial tensions?
Are they in Australia? Turtles live in Australia?
Anyway, everyone likes koalas at age 7 I bet.
I don't know why I'm typing this entry when I should be doing work or sleeping or crying.