Closure

CBC is reporting what we've known around the chateau for a bit - Nakasuk school is closed until at least Monday. As this also happens to be Cathy's school, she's going slightly out of her mind.

It's been a bit of a rough start to 2008. A problem with frozen pipes and now there's an air quality problem which is causing a pretty awful smell in the school. For the first time in her professional career, Cathy had to walk out of work yesterday. She went in early to get caught up on some work and called about 15 minutes after she left the apartment. I could already hear her wheezing. Whatever is going on in the school is not reacting well with her lungs.

It's a side of Cathy I don't see all that often. She's struggled with allergies most of her life. But she has them so well under control, and we've tweaked our lifestyle ever so subtly that we rarely have problems. Even she's gotten used to the being healthy all the time and not dwelling too much on her allergies. So this was one of these jarring moments. She didn't particularly like the reminder of what her life used to be like until her meds got straightened out about a decade ago. It's not everyone who can say they've died twice and are still around, and yet Cathy is one of them.

Plus, she just wants to get in and teach. There's enough teachers lurking around this blog to know this much…you have limited windows to get work done with your kids. There are all kinds of distractions during the school year. There are weeks and months where it is almost impossible to get anything done (December and June come to mind). But January is one of the months where you can get lots done and because of the disruptions, that's not happening. It's driving her nuts. There's still five months left in the school year, but she's going to be hard pressed to get everything done with the recent disruptions and the days sure to be lost when we get a couple of blizzards.

For the next couple of days she's going to be at the local parish hall working on some other things. I'm glad for that much. I'm sure most people like an unexpected day off or two. Cathy's not an exception to that rule, but she's been climbing the walls. It's not been a couple of days. We're 13 school days into the new semester and she's taught five of them. I think even Boo is going to be glad to see her get out of the house.

Here's hoping the school gets straightened out. Not just for the sake of my wife's sanity, but also for parents around town. I imagine most of them are anxious to get their kids out of the house and back into school as well.

Last Five
1. Down to the river to pray - Allison Krauss and Union Station*
2. Flight attendant - John Rouse
3. Alien sex fiend - Garbage
4. Gilligan's Island Theme - Bowling For Soup
5. Manifest - The Weakerthans