A hurricane or a head cold

Its a beautiful day. Hurricane, Tropical Storm, Depression Erika never materialized, even though we were prepared with the best laid plans.

 Instead, and weaker in the planning department, I am fighting  against a school plague of congestion, sore throats, wracking coughs. The beginning of the year has never been so frustrating. Last year, at the start of the season, we lost valuable real estate which bummed the department out, and the year before we had to teach without air conditioning, which totally broke me down. This is different. There is no sense of camaraderie or purpose. I just feel sick. I feel weak. I feel like a loser. I'm stressed about my curricula, about my students behaviors, about the sense of class loyalty that could be lost, about the ground that must be regained, about taking too many of my allotted sick days within the first weeks of school. I'm wondering if I will feel better tomorrow.