where it's at

Well, I've had a good week. I'm now a week out from my last radiation treatment and I'm almost completely weaned off the steroids. So far, the wean has gone smoothly. My head feels funny and I have some brief headaches, but nothing I'm too worried about.

So far I'm enjoying the whole not working thing. My mornings are more relaxed. I get up, have breakfast (and my 'roids), take the dog for a walk and do my project of the day. Red (the dog) and I are clocking between 3 and 4 miles a day. Being on steroids for so long has had some side effects. I have a giant moon face (no wrinkles!), sleeping is sometimes a challenge and there is some loss of muscle in my thighs. The thigh muscle thing is actually pretty crazy. My thighs have totally lost muscle tone. I can still walk just fine, but stairs are hard (dragging groceries up the stairs at our Whole Foods is ridiculous!). So, long story short, Red and I are doing hills and stairs to try to keep in some kind of shape. Tuesday we went up to the top of Mountain View cemetary and today we went up to upper Rockridge and walked up (and down) a bunch of the stair paths up there. The views are just amazing!

I have managed to stay pretty busy really. A lot got done this week; our taxes are finished, my disability paperwork is filed, most of our house got a serious cleaning, my school work is up to date, I had some nice visits with friends and I made some yummy food. I just have to say: I made a red lentil and cauliflower curry from Veganomicon that was outstanding! It's easy and really really yummy! Vegans and meaties will like it!

In other news, I finally have an appointment for a hearing test and the ENT nurse practitioner. Of course, they aren't for a week and a half from now, but I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT (I was referred to the ENT on March 2nd and my appointment is on April 4th). I'm really curious to "hear" what she thinks is going on, but really I'm just hoping there is something to be done about my hearing loss.

My sudden departure from work has resulted in a lot of really sweet emails from students and colleagues alike. Some are so touching- I just don't have words to express how much they mean to me. I always new I loved teaching, but until something like this happens you never really think about it. Teachers rarely hear how they impact their students and this event really inspired kids to tell me. In the end I think what I take away from it is that I got really lucky. I found a career that I love and that I worked hard to do well. Teaching isn't easy- to do a decent job you work HARD, but it can be great fun and incredibly rewarding (and incredibly frustrating... but, a hell of a lot of fun). While I'm comfortable with my decision to stop, I definitely miss going to work everyday. There wasn't a day teaching that someone didn't give me a great laugh!