Can I Take A Sick Day From My Life??

The last few weeks have been tough. I've written quite a bit lately about my sister, Jessica. Sadly, the news on that front hasn't changed much. Just about 2 weeks ago, I thought there was a brief window of opportunity. The boyfriend told her to get out of his life, stay away from him and that he never wanted to see or hear from her again. She came to my house, I called my other sister, Sarah. Three painful hours later, she decided to go back to the abusive boyfriend, the dying man she's caring for, his drug addicted wife and the bedroom door that is locked whenever he(the boyfriend) is not there to supervise her use of it. School has been busy. I've had 3 professional development days in the last 2 weeks. Only one of them was a district wide day. So I missed 2 days of school with my kids. It's always hard to be out of the building. It takes twice as much work to prepare lessons for a sub, and 3 times as long to get caught up afterward because the sub didn't follow the lesson plan correctly if at all. Although, I can say... By about May... I am looking for any opportunity possible to get out of the building :) Speaking of school... Thursday, in the middle of third period a cell phone beeped. One of my student's piped up "some one got a text message!" I was just about to go into yelling-screaming teacher mode, gearing up for interrogation, search and confiscation... My co-teacher caught my eye and said... "I don't think it was one of theirs... It came from over by the door...." For those of you unfamiliar with the set up of my classroom, my desk was in the general direction she was alluding to. Now, I very rarely get calls and texts on my cell phone. Very few people have the number. I got the phone for emergency purposes and the occasional call to friends from college who live out of state (courtesy of unlimited nights and weekends). For some reason, I hadn't remembered to take it out of my purse and leave it in my car. And obviously, hadn't even thought to silence it. As it turns out, it was a good thing I'd forgotten about the phone. My brother, Dan, had sent me a message saying that someone I'd worked with several years ago had died. My immediate thought was of the 3 packs of cigarettes and 64 ounces of coffee he would drink during an 8 hour shift. I sent a message back asking what had happened. As it turns out, my former co-worker had stolen a gun and killed himself. He was only 38. I hadn't seen him in almost 4 years, but there's still a sense of sadness at his death. On a lighter note... I've been painting a bathroom at my parent's house all weekend and at the moment feel completely drained... It's a very good thing that I do not have to work tomorrow as I fully intend to sleep in before heading to mom and dad's to put another coat of paint on the trim. So... Boring as it is, that's what's been happening in my life lately.