Sick Days

Rarely am I sick. In fact, sometimes I hope I get an illness so that I can use up some sick days at work. To put it in perspective I have around 714 hours of sick time. We stop accruing hours somewhere around 720. In my mind, that is when I start losing hours since I cannot earn any more. Hence my issue. My sick days are pretty much planned out weeks, or months, in advance. Its very deliberate and usually for a "good" reason that I justify as a "mental health day". Hey, I work in the mental health field, and let me tell you, mental health days are very real. Tomorrow was (is) supposed to be my sick day. I have it highlighted on my calendar in blue so that I remember. Calling in sick tomorrow would give me 6 glorious days off in a row, something that seldom happens for me anymore. With all of this planning comes incredible guilt and it gives me the anxieties to even think of making that call with my garbled voice and stuffy nose....something I can fake pretty darn well. One coworker gave me a tip and told me that it really helps if you lay over the edge of your bed upside down when you make the fake ill call. It stretches out your voice so you sound under the weather. I don't need shenanigans like that; I just ad lib. All of my energy today is being used on gearing myself up to pick up the phone and dial the 7 numbers and say I am ill. Maybe I'll need that sick day afterall to regain all this spent energy. Cough Cough.