Next Week Will Be Better, Right?

It is almost midnight in the land of destitute abyss. I haven't seen a living soul outside of my family in over 36 hours. And when your family is either A) studying for finals B) hacking up what sounds like a hair ball or C) just getting over pink eye/dripping green ooze from her nose/throwing sleep-deprived tantrums -- it isn't necessarily fun. I actually got a nap in today. Thank you, Cory, for doing the impossible task of putting in a movie, falling asleep on the couch for 4 hours, and letting the kids run rampant so "Mom could have a little rest." I did manage to grab a 45 minute snooze before Claire came in to my darkened bedroom to first, hand me her stuffed dog so I could "sleep better" and next, to hand me her yellow Snow White underwear that she couldn't quite manage to get back on by herself. But, a nap is a nap, so I cannot for the life of me fall asleep right now. I know the consequences of taking more than a 15 minute "power snooze" and, like most Sunday nights, I either stay awake "working" on the computer, watch late night TV, or simply take a Tylenol PM that lulls me into a land of blinking lights and crazy dreams for 8 hours. I don't feel like being drugged up tonight and my last week's experience of watching "Sophie's Choice" (the most depressing of movies I have ever encountered at 2:00 a.m.) has left me wary of Turner Classic Movies. So, I find myself here "working." I don't have the energy to find my camera to download pictures of Nana and Papa's visit last weekend, so you'll have to deal with my rants of this week.

And what a week it has been. The weather was beautiful the week before, really. All you needed was a jacket and to not stand in the shade to be comfortable. But the weather has taken a turn for the worst. I blame all of my family's sickness on our brisk late morning walk to school last Monday. The wind was howling and we had to walk with our heads down and bodies leaning forward into the wind just to get there. I envisioned my little family as pioneers crossing the plains and know for a fact that I would not have made it. I would have made a bee-line for any place warmer and probably settled in the south where they sat on their porches drinking mint-juleps and complaining of the humidity. (I've watched Gone With the Wind.) The Lord certainly knew what he was doing when he made me born in this time period of air-conditioning and heat and portable DVDs. (Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm tired and have no purpose in writing.) Back to the weather.... It's COLD!! I think the weatherman even used the term "blustery" to describe it and there have been reports of snow in the Bay Area. I keep reminding myself that we could be in Michigan or New Hampshire and I say a little prayer of thanks. Well, the snot from Claire started running on Tuesday and then the pink eye was discovered on Wednesday. We were immediately quarantined (okay, I'm exaggerating -- Claire just couldn't play with her friends for a while and we are lucky that the dreadful eye disease did not spread to any other member of the family.) But, just as Claire started to feel better and (maybe the term should be she looked less contagious) Alex starts this hacking thing on Saturday afternoon. Now the only way to describe this cough is to say that it is a steady, unalterable, monotonous tickle that sounds like he has hair caught right in the back of his throat. This isn't a new cough, we just haven't heard it since he got his adenoids taken out 2 years ago. And it is unstoppable. No drug can penetrate it, no amount of steam from the shower can defy it. It just keeps on coming. So, last night we missed the ward Christmas party where Alex was to play a shepherd, we stayed up all night comforting the tired-of-hacking child, and today we missed church. At least 3 of us did. And with the rain coming down, the wind gusting, and no sign of the sun, it feels like a ghost town in our little student housing village. Hence the "destitute abyss." But, with the advice from a friend, we gave Alex some chamomile tea with honey, borrowed a working humidifier, and rubbed him all over with Vicks. He happens to be sleeping at this moment. I don't know if it is the combination of treatments or the fact that the tickle in his throat got as tired as he is, but he's asleep. And things are looking brighter....

Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to venture outside of our 1002 sq ft tomorrow. We're out of toilet paper and eggs, so one way or another I'm going to see a real human being. Maybe the cashier at CostCo would like to join me for a hot dog value meal and a slushie so I can get some adult conversation in....