That is what we call "irony"...

Last year, when I went home for Christmas, I got what I thought was a cold as soon as I got on the plane. It lasted the whole two weeks that I was in Ohio. The morning I was supposed to leave to start on my journey back to Shishmaref, it hit me. In fact, I had Swine Flu. No fun. I had to change my plane tickets around and it cost me an extra $400. I also took my first sick day as a teacher, because I didn't make it back for the first day of school in January. It was no fun!

Over the summer, while I was in Ohio, after four major "attacks", I had my gall bladder removed. I spent a lot of time before and after the surgery just laying around recovering. I missed two weddings that I really wanted to go to, and couldn't be involved with the swim team as much as I wanted to be. It was terrible, but actually, it was good that I was in Ohio for it all. My parents, my grandma, and my cousin took care of me while I was sick and recovering. Had I been up here, I would've been in Anchorage all by myself and I would've had to use all of my sick days for my recovery. It was not fun, but to be honest, I do feel a lot better.

This year at Christmas time, it was my third trip home. I had told everyone, "If I get sick this time, I am never coming back to Ohio!" The two weeks came and went and I stayed healthy! I arrived back to Shishmaref on Monday morning (school didn't start until Tuesday), and everything was good. I went to school, where other people were getting prepared for the week and I was bragging to everyone about how I didn't get sick this time! Can you say "jinx"? Well, I was out in my classroom, and around 3:45, I started feeling funny. I headed home around 4:00 and crawled into bed, thinking it was just lack of sleep from traveling. I couldn't sleep because my stomach hurt so bad. By 6:20, I was vomiting. I fell asleep by 7:00PM, and then got up around 7:00AM in the morning. I had set an alarm so that I could see how I felt. It was not good. So, after a few phone calls, I was back in bed by 7:20 and then slept until a little after 1 in the afternoon. I guess I was tired! I just kind of laid around the rest of the day and started to feel a little better. I made it to school Wednesday, but still felt funny until about 4:00. It's like it lasted 48 hours exactly! So, I felt weird missing the first day back again, but better than giving the flu to all of my students and co-workers!

I guess I won't brag about being healthy again!