Apparently i spoke way too soon when i said that we all escaped unscathed from our incident with The Flu. Olivia had a strange and intermediate version of it about a week later, she would have one symptom for a day or so then be fine for a day or so, then next symptom. Very odd. And she definitely has the nagging cough which sidney never had. And she is definitely The Child Most Likely To Infect, so i should have known that it would be olivia, she of no personal space not even in the face of flu germs, that would give me the flu. I’m guessing it was the morning that i rolled over thinking ryan had slept through his alarm only to find olivia had crawled into bed with me, breathing her flu all over me while i slept. Sigh.
So i have spent 6 hellish days in the grips of death. Or so it felt at the time. That is the reason people get flu shots. Right in the thick of it, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to NOT avoid this hell if at all possible. But then it’s hard to have any kind of perspective or reason with a raging fever and an entire body ache. Of course the main symptoms only lasted a couple days, unfortunately the ability to retain any kind of calories escaped me for quite a bit longer. For 5 days literally anything but water went right through me. So i existed on water. And fat stores i guess. And i slept and was cold and dizzy a lot. Oh yeah, don’t forget the part where i’m still nursing a baby all of the time. So if you think any of those fat store calories were going to me, think again. By sunday night i’m not even sure there were many going to the baby who was also sleeping a lot, and running a low temperature of all things. Like me….cold and tired…..and calorie starved. I wonder just how long you can nurse a baby without taking in any calories anyway? Thankfully monday became the day i started eating again. Slowly. Cautiously. And now, on wed, i almost feel like i human again. And hey, it’s not all terrible….i bet i lost at least 5 pounds, it’s the pre-holidays swine flu crash diet.
Except i also lost a week. A week i couldn’t really afford to loose. Now i’m not sure i’ll get all of my knitting done in time. And the mountain of laundry is truly daunting. Laundry is daunting around here all of the time. I do at least one load every sinlge day. So imagine after one week what kind of back load i’m looking at. Ryan did his very best to step in while i spent most of the last week in bed. He cooked, he “cleaned” ( as only men can, really, what is the deal with that? It’s another entry all together ) but he doesn’t do laundry, so it’s really really behind. Plus i planned to be putting up decorations this weekend. How can i do that when the house is a mess?
Ahh the mess. While i was sick, ryan got a more realistic insight into the life of the stay at home mom, and safe to say, one thing we are both 150% fed up with is constant mess. I can’t live in mess. I know some people can. I can’t and i won’t. And if my kids won’t start picking up after themselves, then i have told them i will get rid of every thing…..all off it. Because we have talked to them about it more times then i can count, it just never seems to make an impact, so I’ll leave them with one doll each and books. No toys no mess. I am so sick of toys strewn about constantly. Too many toys. No respect for any of it. I am having serious purge urges. I WANT to get rid of it all. I want to see if it would even make a difference to them. Would they then learn to appreciate all that they have? Bah, i doubt it. But we’ll find out because i am so not kidding around this time. We already started the first bag last night. Anything not picked up after it’s played with gets put in a garbage bag then put in the basement for me to decide it’s fate from there.
Oh, and thanks to the perfect tidbit of info from the always lovely ashley ( the fact that i could do the book layout on my own computer was the clincher ) i did download the program from blurb ( it took a whopping 3 hours…..hahahaha ) and i did put together the book, i hope it looks as good in person. Now i just have to get it saved to my memory stick and into my friends place to upload it, hopefully tomorrow.
i’m still dizzy sometimes, and yesterday i thought i’d lay down for an hour and woke up 3 hours later. so i have to take it easy. but today is knitting and laundry.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Oh yuck! This sounds horrible. Poor you.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I’m glad you’re past the worst of it. Ugh!
I’d be interested to know the reaction your girls have to your removing the toys if they’re not put away. I always thought that would be what I would do in the future. Except I have a feeling mess doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers you…BUT that might be because were in a small apartment and there really isn’t a place for everything. Stuff is just piled where Rain can’t reach it, with no other storage options.
November 27th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
We live in mess. I HATE it. Every time I get something clean, the next day it is a disaster. I also have a strong urge to purge. I took 10 giant garbage bags to the Sally Ann recently, and I could take 10 more at least.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I always figured since you live out in the country on a working farm the kids would have way more fun playing outside than indoors with store-bought toys.
November 30th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
leah – oh i’m a clean freak for sure, but it’s a lot easier when there is only one kid making a mess, believe me 3 kids can tear apart a house in about 8 seconds flat. and it’s not just about it being cleaned up, if it was i’d do it myself and do a way better job, it’s more about learning that you can’t just tear through leaving a swath of destruction in your path with no consequences. that when you’re done with something it goes away somewhere and is not just to be tossed aside where ever you happen to loose interest in it…..
ahsley – i hear you, i spend a good part of every day it seems picking up and tidying up, and that isn’t even the actual cleaning like vacuuming and bathrooms. and even then nothing stays clean for more then 5 minutes…….so frustrating. there is some definite purge in our near future
angela – sure, in theory that’s all fine and good, and yeah, they like playing outside….. but they’re kids, so they also like toys. and the math is a little staggering…..birthdays + christmas x 3 kids ( now 4 ) x 3 sets of grandparents, 2 aunts and parents = a shit ton of toys