Vultures and Chocolate

At least twice a week, someone stops in my office and offers to buy any textbooks that I don't want anymore. Today, two different people came by looking to buy books. I told Ed, who has the office next to mine, that they are like vultures. They seem to swoop in, hoping to beat the next guy to whatever treasures I might be hoarding. I didn't realize there was such a market for old textbooks. Apparently, because publishers will often send professors a copy of a new text with the hope that we might adopt it for our class, we are likely to have various extra unwanted copies of texts on our shelves.

Yesterday, Maria was struggling health-wise. We're not sure what the cause was, but it probably was some combination of having done too much over the long weekend (biking, swimming, playing with friends), the warm weather, and being ready for the next treatment (which she had today). We "drugged her up" and she managed to go off to school. The teacher did e-mail me to let me know Maria wasn't her usual self, but she held it together until lunch time. Then I got a call from the nurse that perhaps Maria needed to go home. Unfortunately, I had a class starting in just 5 minutes so I couldn't come get her right then. Instead, the nurse gave her some Tylenol and Maria took a nap in the nurse's office. When I called after class ended, she had just returned to her classroom and was able to get through the rest of the day.

It all turned out okay and I think Maria was glad she was able to stay in school (that girl really hates to miss school), but I still felt badly that I hadn't been able to be there for her. I shared with Ed that I felt sad that I hadn't been able to help her. Having his office next to mine means that Ed gets to answer all my endless questions and listen to all my crazy comments. He never seems to mind and always greets me with a smile when I pop over with yet another question. This morning, when I got to my office, I found there a delightfully encouraging card taped to a box of yummy chocolates. Both were from Ed. Another blessing.