Keeping the Beast at Bay

It seems like a whole bunch of my students, as well as several of my good friends, have been sick lately. I had heard on the radio a few weeks ago that flu season had already hit its peak, although I'm not sure if everyone who's been out has actually had the flu. All I know is that a lot of people have been out from lessons and ensembles, and a couple of my friends were sick for a week apiece (and on top of all that, poor Coop got food poisoning from his dorm cafeteria and subsequently blogged about it). So far, at least *knocks wood*, I've managed to avoid whatever is going around, and the twice-a-year sickness/allergy troubles (which I've nicknamed the Beast) have yet to make an appearance either.

I thought that the good streak almost ended last night. I was exhausted during big band, and, although I made it through The Walk™ after dinner with no problems, I was pretty much toast by bedtime, which happened a bit earlier than usual. I felt the blah's coming on, so I hoped for the best.

Sure enough, when I woke up (squeezing out the maximum amount of snooze alarms out of the morning), I felt...normal. Crisis averted, for now. Although I can never really afford to be sick, since I only get paid when I work, that goes double for this week with several big events this weekend and next week's San Antonio trip on the horizon. Thanks to a few more students being out sick, this day wasn't the beating that it could have been; I even got a real lunch break today. (That's right--their being sick helped me stay well...weird.) Sure, I'm pretty drained now and am in fact headed to bed before eleven (anyone who knows me, especially my AIM buddies, is aware that this is a hell-freezes-over moment most of the time), but the hardest part of the week is over.

And to the rest of my friends who've avoided the Beast so far: Good luck, and keep up the good fight.

Reviews you can use: As of last night, I've now eaten at every restaurant in Firewheel Center and Firewheel Market except for Cybertown Pizza, which I'll get to soon enough (air hockey, anyone?). I think I'll give each place a second visit before posting a set of review-blurbs, but that will be on its way pretty soon. I was starting to get burned out on the same three places to eat every week, so the variety offered by all the new stuff has been very nice.

Cool gadget of the day: The Inflatable Home Cinema System. Turn your backyard--yes, yours, since mine's too small--into a drive-in at the push of a button.