Crazy Cat Lady Chapter 4 - The Aftermath

SusieT

I would be tempted to tell he class that approximately 1/4 of them are going to pass, the other 3/4 are currently on a fail due too them being too lazy and uninterested to give you any evidence that they have learned anything at all from the work you gave them through the online lessons. I am not as nice as you and would scare the pants off them  

tjp70

I hope all is well CCL. 

apple_muncher

Hope you are coping with all the extra school work. Hugs.

f0xh0les

Hey @crazy_cat_lady !!  Have you discovered the new love of your life and eloped or something?  Where are you???

crazy_cat_lady

Eeeps! I owe you lot a massive apology.
I wish it had been that exciting f0xh0les but it really hasn't. I was very busy, then I got sick and couldn't be busy any more but nobody else did the work and now I'm finally starting to feel better I have more work than my brain can cope with. I can't believe that I've been gone over a month. Sorry
So, what has been happening? As I say, it's not that exciting. I was busy trying to juggle school stuff and the extra exam stuff I'd been offered whilst under more stress than I remember for a while and my finances just not working out as I'd hoped they would (I had too much month and nowhere near enough money) so I was getting myself in a bit of a state about that and not being able to make ends meet. Then I got sick. Don't know what happened. Went into work one Friday morning, and had a migraine that made me feel very sick by about 10am. Took my meds and the headache cleared a bit but I still felt awful and I knew I had loads to do both at work and at home, so I got on then left work as soon as I could after 3pm because I had a teams meeting at 4pm. Survived the teams meeting with the help of a can of red bull (other energy drinks are available) and left knowing I had at least 16 hours of weekend work to do but the headache was back and then I started to go downhill very quickly. I started shaking and was freezing cold and then I thought that I had overdone the caffeine and was so angry with myself. I couldn't get warm, then started feeling really awfully sick and stomach crampy again. At one point I had to make the awful decision as to whether to sit on the toilet or be sick in the toilet (made the right decision because it was just dry retching) and by 7pm Friday I was in bed with fleecy pyjamas and socks, just going between there and the toilet, shaking uncontrollably. So I got dd to google the half life of caffeine and she told me 9 hours so I figured I'd sleep it off and be ok to go by the morning. Then suddenly got boiling hot and had to take everything off and lie on top of my covers while still shaking. Could sleep a couple of hours at a time but had to keep getting up to go to the toilet, and by 8am the next morning I realised it couldn't possibly be the caffeine any more. I had awful cramps in my legs and couldn't even keep water down, never mind thinking about food. So I spent the day in bed trying to sip water, sleep and not be too hot or too cold. By Sunday I could manage sips of water and sips of disgusting sports drinks to try and replace electrolytes but still just stayed between bed and the loo. My poor kids - thank god that they are old enough to fend for themselves. Monday I ended up on the phone to 111 who told me to try and eat bananas and not worry unless I still had diarrhoea after a week (!) so I ate bananas and some really salty crackers and managed to keep them down. By Tuesday the diarrhoea had stopped as long as I didn't eat anything except bananas and crackers but I was absolutely wiped. Managed to get back to work the next Friday because my Year 11 were doing their final assessment. I kind of wished I hadn't because when I got in from work that Friday I went straight to bed and slept for 14 hours. 
Which takes me to last weekend. I got up Saturday morning after 14 hours of sleep, had some bananas and porridge and then went to look at a car with my stepdad and dd. I was out of the house for 2 hours in total and then slept for 4 hours in the afternoon. Got up and finally managed a small amount of housework on Saturday evening thinking I was starting to get a bit better. Then slept all night Saturday and felt the most normal last Sunday that I'd felt in ages. We went back to buy the car (for dd) and I drove it home from Newcastle. Managed a bit of food at my mam's house that was bland but not bananas or crackers and then knew I was feeling better because I started fretting about how much work I'd had to do and how none of it was done.
So the past week, although I'm just about back to normal apart from a very bland diet, I've been working. Really working. I have had meetings after school every night to sort teacher grades for the Year 11s (which I still maintain should have been done by the exam boards regardless) and then working 3-4 hours on exam stuff when I get home. And trying to catch up on stuff like washing dishes, cleaning the house etc. I'm still very tired, but more to do with work now rather than illness - not enough hours in the day. I worked all day yesterday and need to work today as well but really wanted to get on here and say hello before I did anything else.
I would normally get the kids to help more but dd is up the walls about her GCSEs - she only has one week of school left and has been doing assessments for about the past 7 weeks so is completely stressed out about everything and working every evening. DS has been visited by the puberty hormone monster and is just unpleasant a lot of the time and I haven't had the strength to fight with him about anything. But hopefully once dd is done at school there will be more help and nagging at home.
So what else has happened? As I mentioned we (me and my mam and stepdad) bought dd a car. She's not 17 yet but the car she had her heart set on doesn't come up for sale in our price range very often so when we saw one that looked good we went for it. I'm going to use it one day a week for work and over weekends, just to keep it running etc - she's 17 in a couple of months and has been saving to learn to drive, so not long to wait. She's been working hard and looking for a job for the summer so I really hope that all works out for her.
Cancelled my foreign holiday for this year (carried over from last year) and have instead arranged for a week away in Scotland. It's been years since I've been up there and I used to love it. It's my ex's favourite place to run to as well, so has been kind of spoilt for me the past couple of years - but I'm ready to claim it back as a place I love now. And our Ally on here has been absolutely amazing at helping me to organise it and giving me all of the insider knowledge. We even found an Air bnb with cats!!! Like fate, I've booked the accommodation but the rest will have to wait until work is less hectic.
Think that's about it. Apart from somehow still being on the wrong tax code and not being able to sort it - but it is on the list still.
I'm off to catch up for an hour until the work guilt gets the better of me. I promise I will be a better CCL from now on.

f0xh0les

Just glad you are ok.  We were getting worried.

peb

So pleased to see you back, sorry you haven't been well.

Honeysucklelou2

Glad you have a Scottish holiday to look forward to. Hope DD has a positive last week at school.

foxgloves

Oh my goodness, CCL, that was a horrible gastric bug. Glad you are feeling better now. Scotland is a lovely idea. It will do you all good to have a break & you'll be able to do some different walks while you're there & just chill out.
F

Baileys_Babe

Great to hear from you @crazy_cat_lady Sorry you have been so unwell.
Enjoy your holiday in Scotland, it is a beautiful place and I am looking forward to when we are next able to go.