It's the day after my birthday, which means it's time for me to start getting sick. I don't know why I'm surprised; this happens almost every year. (Or enough years that it feels like some sort of not-entirely-coincidental curse.) I've been waiting for this anyway, because our whole family has been trapped in this relentless cycle of being a little bit sick for what seems like a very long time. Isaac is battling his second (or third, depending on how you want to look at it; I don't think he ever really got over his second) double ear infection, and Matt has a cold for about the billionth time this year (and he never gets sick, ever), and now it's my turn. Suzannah is getting over a cold as well, although she hasn't had much worse than the sniffles in a long time. Knock on wood.
I spent most of the last week home with Isaac. Again. I'm feeling really a little bit crazy here. You guys, I AM JUST SO TIRED OF RUNNY NOSES AND COUGHS AND POURING MEDICINE DOWN MY CHILDREN'S THROATS, and also, I can pretty much roll with having to arrange for a sub for my classes and be okay with it when I need to be, but still, that is also getting old. And it's not like I have a ton of available days to take off, since "maternity leave" sucks those right up. And now that my own sinuses are acting up, I'm ready to just pour myself a big old glass of self-pity.
On the plus side, once we survive this, Isaac will have an immune system of steel. I keep reminding myself that we went through a similar winter with Suzannah a few years ago, but she really hasn't had much more than the sniffles in a very long time -- since before Isaac was born. Also, having the immediate needs of my sick family to deal with has distracted me -- at least a little bit -- from greater and much more upsetting problems, like this nightmare, and also the horrible absurdity that is Scott Walker. These are things that actually do keep me awake at night sometimes, but right now, tonight, I don't have the energy to write a political rant. I hope that doesn't seem like a cop-out; give me some time to recover. (In the meantime, click the links. They're not brand-new, but I'm behind in my blogging efforts, so they'll have to suffice for now.)
Instead, because I'm grasping for some perspective, I thought this would be a good time to list some things for which I am particularly grateful. I had an absolutely lovely birthday yesterday, but I'm pretty easy to please; I can find a party in a glass of wine and a bubble bath, or an hour to read or write, or a really great dinner. On one of my favorite birthdays in recent memory, I took the day off school and spent it deep-cleaning my kitchen, watching a new DVD, writing for awhile, and reading -- uninterrupted -- for a good chunk of the afternoon. Matt brought me flowers and baked me cookies. It was an absolutely perfect day. This year, despite the lingering crud that has overtaken my house, my birthday was also pretty wonderful. It included sleeping in a bit, coffee and waffles, a phone call from my parents, my lovely and radiant friend Julia's baby shower, a dinner date with Matt while Aaron and Morgan babysat, lots of dessert, a gin-and-tonic, and curling up with The West Wing. Today I had an afternoon nap (all by myself, for nearly two hours), more dessert, and an hour at the gym, which definitely makes up for all the brownies I've eaten in the last couple of days.
So really, things are good. Sniffly, but good.
A little anecdote from today:
There's a wonderful man at our church who makes balloon animals for everyone on their birthdays. Today, he gave me a snowman wearing a birthday hat -- one of those pointy paper party hats. Suzannah, as you can imagine, loves it as much as I do, and she wore the birthday hat home from church and played with it for much of the afternoon. Tonight, when I was soaking in the tub after my workout, she burst into the bathroom (why do I ever imagine I'll have a moment of solitude before my kids are in bed?) and hung the birthday hat upside down over the toilet paper roll.
"There," she said. "It's Birthday toilet paper."
In other news, my plan is to give up meat for Lent. I suppose you could say it's a little experiment. Maybe I'll write more about that later...maybe.
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