Sick Day

Today I'm taking my first real sick day, and it does feel nice to lay around the house rather than working at school all day.  I've got this congestion and head cold and fever that is just generally uncomfortable, but not debilitating by any means.  I feel bad enough to know I shouldn't be at work, but not bad enough to feel like I can spend the whole day in bed watching Netflix.  (On a related note, Law and Order is no longer streaming on Netflix as of today, so I'm not even sure what I would binge watch).

So there I was, trying to take a nap, while all these thoughts kept swirling through my head.  I wondered if I left good enough sub plans, then rationalized that it probably didn't make that much of a difference, and that I should try to sleep.  I worried about the lessons I have to plan, the tests I need to grade, and the paperwork I need to complete, but I really wanted to get some rest.  My philosophy is usually that being a healthy and happy teacher is the most important part of teaching, but it is so hard to stay healthy and happy when you can't keep your mind off of the hundreds of things that seem so important and pressing.

I settled for 45 minutes of half-sleep, dozing in intervals just long enough to let my sinuses drain from one side to the other before flipping over and starting the whole process again.  I didn't feel that sick, and I kept thinking of all the wonderful and productive things I could be doing, now that I had the time for it.  On the other hand, I don't want to push myself and prolong my sickness by working too hard too soon.  Sometimes it is really more productive to rest now and take care of business when you are completely well.  However, sometimes you can rest easier when you take care of some tasks that have been looming over you for a while.  I kept going back and forth between the desire to feel productive and the desire to rest.

I settled for a middle ground: blogging!  It's not exactly productive, but not unproductive either.  And it makes me feel better to get my thoughts out on the page.  Writing what I'm thinking makes it seem less complicated.  Once it's laid out there on the page, it really doesn't seem like that big of a problem at all.  When it's swirling around in my head, it seems like some huge conundrum.

I'm sure I'll end up grading some tests, planning some lessons, and dealing with some chores around the house.  When do I have a whole weekday just to spend around the house with nothing to do other than relax?  I wonder what other people (teachers or otherwise) do on their sick days.  Anybody have a hint for a relaxing and ameliorative day?