Down for the count

In the spring of 2001, and again in 2002, I got pneumonia. I remember a lot of breathing treatments, a lot of laying around, and one doctor that was really pissed at me for not rushing to the hospital sooner (I was out of the country when I lost the ability to breathe. Seemed easier to wait till we got home than to figure out the Dutch word for oxygen.)

After I got it the second spring in a row, one inspired PA gave me a vaccination to help prevent it happening every freaking year. That was in 2002. This is 2011. Maybe time for a booster?

Yep. The same bug that made Joe and Jonas cough and blow their noses for 48 hours gave me “walking pneumonia” (What does that mean? Walking? It seems a lot more like “No please don’t make Mommy get off the couch pneumonia” from here.)  Also a double ear infection. Because just getting sick for two days is no fun at all. You really want to milk these things for all they’re worth, people. Get your money’s worth.

Turns out there is a big difference between sleeping off the steroids with no kids then there is in attempting to sleep off the steroids with two terrorists in the house. I am soo freaking grateful for that PA who kept me from doing this during the baby/toddler years. I’m pretty sure it would not have worked. Someone would not have made it. Probably me. But even with one at school and the other *supposedly* old enough to entertain himself, this has not been a fun week.

For dinners this week, the family had 1) make your own PBJs, 2) bowls of Cheerios, 3) scrambled eggs and muffins (I was feeling fairly peppy that night.) , 4) quesadillas and edamame.  (Joe had a turkey sandwich instead. Somehow, he’s not as excited by edamame as the kids. Weirdo.)

The current state of the house makes its normal state look ready for a House Beautiful photo shoot. And if you have ever, EVER been in my house, you understand that that is really saying something. Toys and clothes and books and papers oh MY! Fuzzies all over the freaking floor because I snoozed through the vacuuming/swiffering this week and I have two cats and two wool rugs and that is four fuzzy things too many for a house with wood floors.

The kids, particularly the boy child, are starting to get a little wild. Not enough attention this week. Too much “Please just go play the Wii. Watch as much Bill Nye as you want. Maybe you could read a book? Somewhere else?” while I napped on the couch. He’s been asking me all week to play board games, only to be rebuffed. Poor, sad kid has mastered playing Trouble against a stuffed animal (especially pathetic when he loses to the dog.) He’s started acting out (more than usual! I know! Who could have guessed there was another level of this?) for attention, and I can’t say I blame him. I do resent the hell out of it, though, as the guilt is making it hard to enjoy all this napping.  (It’s not making it hard to have crazy weird dreams, though. Yesterday I dreamed Aaron, Suz, and I were flying in a biplane over the Everglades. Despite the facts that A) none of us can fly and B) I’m pretty sure it’s called a BIplane because only two people fit in it. I’ve clearly heard too many “flying the airplane over the Everglades” adventure stories in my time.)

(Aaron was the pilot. Suz and I spent most of the dream yelling. Good stuff.)

I had to admit to Joe the other night, it’s almost gratifying to watch everything fall apart because I took the week off. I’ve never been great at keeping things together, the house is plenty messy when I’m 100%, we eat breakfast for dinner more than your average family, Jonas probably gets too much Wii time for his developing mind, etc. But without me? Just look! Havoc! Chaos! Turns out, I’m doing something around here after all!

Just not today. The couch is calling my name. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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