Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald weather + mild stomach bug = a good day to stay home

I don't enjoy missing class for any reason. However, since Thing Two brought home a mild stomach bug late last week (I say mild because at least I'm not throwing up), I've been couch-ridden since Sunday. I managed to get up yesterday and get both kids off to school, and once on campus I realized that there was no way I could stand in front of my class to lead discussion; I drove myself back home and slept for 5 hours. For more than 24 hours I'd had nothing to eat but Nilla wafers and darjeeling tea. Made Bob's Red Mill Vegi soup w/ some organic chicken broth I found in the pantry, and warmed up some French dinner rolls; managed to eat that without getting sick, and I thought I was better.


Fat chance.

On the way to drop off Thing One, 5 minutes before we get to school, she says "My tummy hurts and so does my head." Oh good. So I decide to keep her with me today--our faculty lounge has a couple of comfy chairs and a tiny TV. We drop Thing Two at his daycare, and head to campus. As I got out of the car, another wave of pain hit my abdomen. Great. Luckily today involved a viewing of the documentary King Corn, so I trudged to the library, got the DVD, and begged my office neighbor to start it for my two classes today. We packed back up, picked up Thing Two, and came home. 

Lucky for me, we have cable internet and I have a new netbook, so I can grade online discussions and have "virtual" office hours while ensconced on the couch and the kids watch The Little Mermaid  for the umpteenth time.

The clouds are gorgeous--multiple levels all racing like maddened horses as the wind tears out of the south. Another front is approaching from Minnesota, bringing cold air--which is why we're under a tornado watch in October. High winds are expected to continue through tomorrow (we're talking 50-70 mph, sustained). The same weather pattern a bit later in the year would have dumped snow by the foot, so I'll be content to watch the sun sneak out in between sheets of driving rain.