Outbreak

Well, it was a pretty good Thanksgiving break, barring the (ahem) gastrointestinal troubles that plagued me on the first weekend. These troubles resulted in a trip to the hospital to rehydrate after a sleepless night spent in the bathroom, and unfortunately we missed the second half of Avenue Q. My blood pressure was 88/66 when Derek brought me in, and we found out that 5:30 AM on a Sunday is a good time to visit an emergency room--no waiting! I had thought it was food poisoning, but on returning to school, I found out that three or four other teachers had very similar symptoms the first weekend of break. Sounds like a case of a student infecting all of us at around the same time. I seem to have infected D as well, although he held up better than I did and is in the process of recovering now.

After we made it to CO (a day late), it was a good visit. A shopping highlight for me was visiting 3 thrift stores and finding 13 articles of clothing for under $100, most of which were very good quality brands like Eddie Bauer, Ann Taylor, Talbots, etc. My mom is a great thrift-store shopping partner and she joins me in appreciating a good bargain. She is also good at spotting both things that will look good on me and defects. I also found a brown corduroy jacket at Sears, an item for which I have been searching long and hard. I hardly ever shop except when I'm visiting there, so I consider the trip a great success in terms of my wardrobe. D likes it too since I spend less money at the thrift stores. I also like the feeling that I am contributing to recycling this clothing--I'm helping it get its full use before getting to a landfill. New clothing requires waste and pollution to make, while buying used clothing does not require extra waste or pollution. When I'm done with it, it will probably re-enter the thrift store market to be repurchased by someone else. Hooray for recycling and cheap (but sturdy) clothes!