getting sick; randoseru shopping + playdate
remember that cold i got in my last post? well, it sure did kick my butt hard! i ended up getting so sick that i actually took time off of work!! i have a mental rule where if i can still talk, i can still teach/work. however, i also didn't anticipate me breaking down with a fever of 38.0+ C and getting all the wind taken out of my sails, ykwim?
so, the cold started out with a sore throat at the beginning of October, and then just got worse, but bearable, through that week. i actually felt a bit better on the 6th (Sunday), but i couldn't help myself from coughing something up and talking really softly. then on the 8th, which was a typhoon day for me so no work, i went through a DVD marathon of watching Jack the Giant Slayer, Paranoman, and Wreck it Ralph. by the end of that third DVD, i feel really tired and took my temperature. i was at a whopping 38.3 C, and that fever just stuck with me through the whooooole week. i went through two days of roughing it with some OTC cold meds we brought back from Taipei. it was the only thing keeping my fever down enough for me to function properly, but every 4 hours, my symptoms would start creeping back and i'd be dead tired again after the 6th hour and dying for another pill to keep me going through the day :(
the biggest thing that i experienced this time around getting sick is that my energy was totally zapped away! i was like a zombie in my classes, just going through actions and not really being able to control the kids, and basically not even caring if they had fun or not or learned anything. i was the worst teacher that Wednesday and Thursday ~_~;; then after i'd get home, either for my lunch break or after work, all i'd do is curl up on my futon or chair and sleep. there was one night where i was so tired and burning up from a fever that i didn't even bother to take a shower. i just brushed my teeth, washed my face and went straight to bed. i also wasn't eating much either which wasn't helping at all. :(
then on the 11th, i had the morning free because my elementary school kids were on a field trip that day. i still had a fever and was feeling like crap, so i finally got time to go to the doctor's that morning. he calmed my worries and told me that it was NOT the flu and just a regular bad cold, prescribed some antibiotics and other meds for me, and sent me back home. i slept for the rest of the time i had off, but once it was time for my afternoon shift to begin, i still had a fever of 37.3 and 0 energy. so, i bit the bullet and called in sick ~_~;; i kind of died a little inside because my inner drill sergeant was calling me all the synonyms for "weak" in the dictionary when i got off the phone :P sigh...
however later that night after i started taking the meds, they kicked in right away and i was feeling toooons better before bed, so i knew that Saturday classes wouldn't be a problem for me. i finally got a good night's sleep that Friday night after three nights of restless sleep from being all feverish. honestly, it was like i was an oven during those nights! >_< even ice pillows didn't help much. in fact, i ended up getting sore muscles and a headache when i used them :(
gah.... that was something i don't want to repeat again now that i'm pretty much all better.
i think the biggest reason why this cold hit me so hard, and i actually got a fever was because the timing was awful: right before my monthly visit from Aunt Flo. i am super duper weak before it comes, so i guess the cold hit me when my immune system was at its weakest, which just made things escalate quickly... :P
anyhoo, i'm glad that's pretty much over and my prayers were answered in that i was totally back to my healthy self for this Monday's get together with some of my mamatomo!
like i said last time, we need to look for a randoseru for Kay. since other moms here are also shopping around, i decided to ask if they wanted to make it an outing for the kids. they thought it was a great idea, so we ended up having 5 moms and their kids shopping at Aeon and this other furniture store for randoserus. ^_^;; we were pretty rowdy, but fortunately, it was early in the morning, so there weren't that many people around. i figured out what Kay liked, and jotted some brands, prices and product numbers down to go home and research about later.
after a quick lunch at McD's, we all went to one of the moms' house and all played there for the rest of the afternoon. the kids were playing quite nicely on the first floor, while us moms just chilled and talked on the second floor where they had their kitchen and dining area. i was very surprised and relieved to know that everyone there understood English and could communicate more or less with English, so i did a lot of the talking mostly. things kind of simmered down and the kids got a bit tired after 3:30. we were starting to run out of topics to talk about, so i thought that it might be good for Kay and i to leave at around 4:00. the other moms thought it was probably time for them to get home too, so everyone thanked the host for her hospitality and left at around 4:15.
Kay had a lot of fun today, but it didn't overtire her, so i was grateful for that. :)
oh, and forgot to mention that on Saturday, Kay and hubs climbed the Fukuoka Tower! it's an event that happens every few months, where they open the stairwell on the side of the Tower, and let you climb all the way to the top :) it's kind of like a marathon, and you can clock how fast you get up there :) here are some pics from that day:
so, the cold started out with a sore throat at the beginning of October, and then just got worse, but bearable, through that week. i actually felt a bit better on the 6th (Sunday), but i couldn't help myself from coughing something up and talking really softly. then on the 8th, which was a typhoon day for me so no work, i went through a DVD marathon of watching Jack the Giant Slayer, Paranoman, and Wreck it Ralph. by the end of that third DVD, i feel really tired and took my temperature. i was at a whopping 38.3 C, and that fever just stuck with me through the whooooole week. i went through two days of roughing it with some OTC cold meds we brought back from Taipei. it was the only thing keeping my fever down enough for me to function properly, but every 4 hours, my symptoms would start creeping back and i'd be dead tired again after the 6th hour and dying for another pill to keep me going through the day :(
the biggest thing that i experienced this time around getting sick is that my energy was totally zapped away! i was like a zombie in my classes, just going through actions and not really being able to control the kids, and basically not even caring if they had fun or not or learned anything. i was the worst teacher that Wednesday and Thursday ~_~;; then after i'd get home, either for my lunch break or after work, all i'd do is curl up on my futon or chair and sleep. there was one night where i was so tired and burning up from a fever that i didn't even bother to take a shower. i just brushed my teeth, washed my face and went straight to bed. i also wasn't eating much either which wasn't helping at all. :(
then on the 11th, i had the morning free because my elementary school kids were on a field trip that day. i still had a fever and was feeling like crap, so i finally got time to go to the doctor's that morning. he calmed my worries and told me that it was NOT the flu and just a regular bad cold, prescribed some antibiotics and other meds for me, and sent me back home. i slept for the rest of the time i had off, but once it was time for my afternoon shift to begin, i still had a fever of 37.3 and 0 energy. so, i bit the bullet and called in sick ~_~;; i kind of died a little inside because my inner drill sergeant was calling me all the synonyms for "weak" in the dictionary when i got off the phone :P sigh...
however later that night after i started taking the meds, they kicked in right away and i was feeling toooons better before bed, so i knew that Saturday classes wouldn't be a problem for me. i finally got a good night's sleep that Friday night after three nights of restless sleep from being all feverish. honestly, it was like i was an oven during those nights! >_< even ice pillows didn't help much. in fact, i ended up getting sore muscles and a headache when i used them :(
gah.... that was something i don't want to repeat again now that i'm pretty much all better.
i think the biggest reason why this cold hit me so hard, and i actually got a fever was because the timing was awful: right before my monthly visit from Aunt Flo. i am super duper weak before it comes, so i guess the cold hit me when my immune system was at its weakest, which just made things escalate quickly... :P
anyhoo, i'm glad that's pretty much over and my prayers were answered in that i was totally back to my healthy self for this Monday's get together with some of my mamatomo!
like i said last time, we need to look for a randoseru for Kay. since other moms here are also shopping around, i decided to ask if they wanted to make it an outing for the kids. they thought it was a great idea, so we ended up having 5 moms and their kids shopping at Aeon and this other furniture store for randoserus. ^_^;; we were pretty rowdy, but fortunately, it was early in the morning, so there weren't that many people around. i figured out what Kay liked, and jotted some brands, prices and product numbers down to go home and research about later.
after a quick lunch at McD's, we all went to one of the moms' house and all played there for the rest of the afternoon. the kids were playing quite nicely on the first floor, while us moms just chilled and talked on the second floor where they had their kitchen and dining area. i was very surprised and relieved to know that everyone there understood English and could communicate more or less with English, so i did a lot of the talking mostly. things kind of simmered down and the kids got a bit tired after 3:30. we were starting to run out of topics to talk about, so i thought that it might be good for Kay and i to leave at around 4:00. the other moms thought it was probably time for them to get home too, so everyone thanked the host for her hospitality and left at around 4:15.
Kay had a lot of fun today, but it didn't overtire her, so i was grateful for that. :)
oh, and forgot to mention that on Saturday, Kay and hubs climbed the Fukuoka Tower! it's an event that happens every few months, where they open the stairwell on the side of the Tower, and let you climb all the way to the top :) it's kind of like a marathon, and you can clock how fast you get up there :) here are some pics from that day:
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