Today
was my first day back to work after having Alfred—my Gastric
Neurostimulator—implanted. I've been off for a month recovering at
home and getting used to having a metal device living in my stomach,
no biggie. As I'm typing this, it's only 50 minutes into the first
period of the day and I'm already exhausted! I've had to get on the
cases of several high school children about their attitudes, remind
them that they've had classes with me before and I will give them
what-for if their attitudes don't change (since there was a
substitute), try to figure out my one-on-one's forgotten password (I
wasn't successful), and already explained once what a Gastric
Neurostimulator is—lets see how many times that happens! (The end
total was 3, not bad!) Nothing has changed...it's great to be back in
high school!
There
was a time when I used to INSIST upon taking the stairs to go
make copies—have to work on those buns and thighs, you know—but
that was SO not going to happen today! Me and Mr. Elevator, we
were best friends and I think we will be for a few weeks. And you
know what? That's alright! Today was only my first day! By 2nd
period I had made about 4 trips upstairs to make copies for a
teacher, so Mr. Elevator and I were getting very friendly, but it was
still pooping me out!
Honestly,
the best part of my day, that made my heart very happy, was seeing
the kids again. Having kids yell through the halls “MOM!” (some
of them call me that) or “Ms. Christine!! You're back!” and then
come and give me a hug. And having them tell me that they don't want
me to leave them again and that they missed me, THAT warmed my
heart. You know that you've made an impact on kids when their faces
light up when they see you and HIGH SCHOOL kids run to greet
you. You know that you've made an impact when HIGH SCHOOL kids
say “you're not going to leave us again, are you?!”
By
the time I got home—I think it was about 17 hours later...I lied, I
work 6 ½ hours—Alfred was telling me that he had had enough and
was ready to go to bed! You know that feeling when you run a
marathon? Yeah, me either, just imagine with me...and you get that
pain in your side from lack of oxygen...too much oxygen...your body
saying “Hey you! Why in the world would you PAY money to
RUN!?!?!” You know the feeling I'm talking about now!
Anyhow, it's pretty much firmly planted itself upon my side and I am
practicing my Lamaze breathing techniques for the remainder of the
evening. But you know what? It's okay because it was only my first
day. Things can only get better from here!!
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