It all started the beginning of February when 25% of our school was sick for a couple days and our principal canceled school on that Friday to hopefully prevent any further destruction from the ravenous viral army.  He figured the 3 days would give the wounded time to heal and the strong, well, an extra day to celebrate their triumph over evil.  I self-appointed myself one of the heroes, humbly of course, and declared that I had not been sick all year! (it was true…at the time)  I actually made this statement at least 3 times in the course of 2 days as people were discussing how sick all of the kids were.  Each time I mentioned that ill-fated phrase, I was met with gasps of horror and comments like, “Don’t say that, you’re gonna get sick now” or “Now you’ve done it,” and I even heard a few “Knock on wood!”  Oh, how I wish I had knocked on wood.  Those days begin my downfall.  I won’t get into all of the ins and outs, but let’s just say that I battled hard and I battled long.  There were a couple times where I thought I had that virulent pest cornered.  I was on antibiotics even…nothin…he just looked at me and sneered and plugged up my nose again.  I’ve been blowing my nose for over 3 weeks and Kleenex just called me for an endorsement.  How do I answer that?  Can I get paid even after I stop blowing snot?  Sure…sign me up.  Anyways…last Saturday I had enough energy and clear nasal passages to record an album with a couple buddies.  Except, you’ve heard of the “calm before the storm?”  Well, that’s what Saturday was and boy has it been a storm…  I just finished my second day at home from teaching and still feeling the effects of the crashing waves.  Why oh why didn’t I knock on wood?