FUZZY WEEK

Fighting the Battle
I spent most of my week sleeping, trying to get over the sinus infection/whatever. Things are sort of fuzzy... I did not write in my journal, which I reference for my blog. I pretty much did what I HAD to do, then slept.

I did do Seminary. I would get up, wake Analiese, and we'd go. I'd teach, which at the beginning of the week was a pretty loose word for what probably went down, then we'd go home. No walk. I'd pop right back into my nightgown and hop into bed. No timer or alarm. Usually, if I take a nap, I try to keep the time down to an hour; any more time makes me sluggish. But when I'm sick, all bets are off. Sleep is my greatest ally.

When I was awake and compus mentis, I would study: for Seminary, for VIPKid. Later in the week, feeling somewhat better, I did manage to do some things, like laundry or cooking. But if I could find someone else available to help me, I let them do things. For one, I do not think I had the energy to drive my big ol' vacuum around!

Friday, having completed my Seminary week with a spiritual upbeat (always makes me feel better), I did a little grocery shopping. It only took half an hour, but you would have thought I'd been on a ten-mile hike. I was exhausted. Improving, yes. All the way there, no.

Regardless of my illness
I had a moment of panic on Tuesday: the VIPKid IT people wanted me to update my PC app (versus my iphone app - yes, they are different). I did it and...three teaching appointments disappeared! I hurriedly emailed support because I was supposed to teach on Thursday! By the next day, I'd found that the family had rescheduled for Saturday instead. This ended up being a blessing because on Thursday, my energy and my voice were still flagging.

How did Saturday go? My appointment was at 7:00 a.m. (our time, not Beijing!), so I was up early on a weekend. Ugh, but necessary. Student was an 11-yo boy, either tired or bored or distracted, but I managed to make him smile. He did try very hard and even added on to his sentences. I'm still working on the timing: I run out of it at the end. I think that will come with practice. I am supposed to see him again on Monday morning (no school/no Seminary) for an assessment - the first one I've given. I want to work on our rapport. If he's going to continue with me, I need to "pal up"!

I also attended three workshops this week, two of which were at 9:30 p.m. (on Friday and Saturday with the same person). That seemed really late, but the guy (American) lives in Thailand, so I can understand. But it was worth it because he was excellent. He was teaching about how to build up your business (cuz that's what it is!) and market yourself. Apparently, he only teaches trial classes because he's so good at it he has the highest company sign-up rate! He's used to TV and video and gave us great pointers on how to appeal to our "audience." We're "edu-tainers!" In a class of 65 Saturday evening, he complimented me. We were all muted, so he couldn't hear me, but could see me as I reacted (like the ham I am) to a comment he made. When he noticed that and said something, I mimed something funny back. He said, "What level are you focusing on? Level two (younger kids)?" I gave a thumbs up. He said, 'You'll be perfect!" That made me feel great!

Made it to Church
So, I missed last week. I didn't want to this week. Partially, because it's my month to play the organ and since it was conference last week, I didn't feel guilty about missing. But Ken was working this Sunday (he has every-other Sunday off) and Jonathan has been working from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. in Duncan and other places (hour+ away), so he dragged home and went to bed right after. Analiese and I went by ourselves.

By the time the now two-hours was over, I was tired again. I still had to do some talking: one of my MS's is pregnant and ready to pop - what could I do? I had to sign the missionary dinner calendar - next Saturday. And there was Seminary set up: oh, but those kids did it for me! Brownie points...love ya' guys!  Then....go home and sleep.

SOOOOOO
This is my pathetic week. No pictures. No great, exciting news/adventure/what-not. I usually get one sinus infection (at least) per year and it'll wipe me out for at least a week or two. I'm at the tail end and can function, with a little help from my naps and a whole lot of Kleenex (not a sponsor)!