Saturday Squandered

It's been a hectic morning already and it's just 11:44. Brian has been to two hours of physical therapy, Kevin has had blood drawn, and Megan and I have wasted the better part of an hour and a half sitting in an orthopedist's office only to prove what google had already led me to discover: the foot is not broken (my initial sense) and the tendon affected is the 'ehl' as per the doctor's frantic dictation into his little dictaphone; which translated to the extensor hallucis longus, or the tendon that controls the big toe. So she will be fine. He gave her a hard shoe to wear around and told her he would give her prescription strength aleve, but he forgot and I left without it, because I think advil will do just as well. My main goal in this $230 waste of half the morning was to prove that the foot was not broken, which I did.

Of course I hate doctors offices. They sent her immediately in for an xray before even consulting the doctor with us, and so of course I half expect there to be some horrible mass that doesn't belong there, having nothing to do with our reason for the visit. Thankfully, this was not the case. Then they stuck us away and left us to rot in a dingy little room that was only dimly lit with aging flourescent lights. Finally when the doctor came in he perhaps spent five minutes with us. Then it took nearly as long as all of that to wait for the receipt to print out, so I can submit this to the insurance. It was grueling, but at least the results were as I had self-diagnosed her anyway.

Yesterday's medical adventure was equally fun. The Doll called at noon and said she had a 3:00 appointment, perfectly inconvenient as that's the time everyone gets home and starts wanting to be taken places. I arrived to get her at 2:40 and found her lurking in her doorway wearing a facemask in the style of Michael Jackson. She does have quite a bit of a cough but the radiology office said they would call with results yesterday and since we haven't heard, I assume she does not have anything requiring immediate treatment. She did say that she was going to call Kevin to run errands for her today, unfortunately we won't be around until much later.

In other news, we are getting ready to go to the party for the students and their families. Megan won't be able to come this time, since she has to go to practice. I would have her skip but I prefer she saves those missed practices for nights before major tests. So we all got home around 11:15 to find E not even out of her bed yet! So now she is rushing around, we have to leave by 12:30, really we should be on the road before then, especially since we have to drop Megan off at the Y first. Tomorrow is a mellow day. The weather is supposed to be bad, so that might inspire me to cook a meal that makes the whole house smell like food. I haven't done that in weeks on a Sunday! Also, still unemployed for the foreseeable future. Yesterday was a bit of a drag again, and I worked with a woman who just hired to the sub list and has been working steadily the past 2-3 weeks while I have been sitting at home watching the crocuses grow.

I stepped in a puddle today ..

well, not really. But this is one of my favorite Dilbert cartoons, where they're all sitting around at a meeting and everyone has all of these horrible things that happened to them, and when it's Dilbert's turn to talk, that's what he says. That's sort of how I feel today. I am in a biorythmic low, I guess!

I went in to work and it was weird. Of course the first thing I did when I signed in was check to see how many subs have been working and there were three who have been in the school over the past two weeks, one of them was the one for whom I was switched out of the class I had originally been assigned to for today, and it's someone who was very mean to me in the past, sort of the PTA bully if there is such a thing. I won't even go into it, but that just depressed me more than not working for two weeks.

The kids were OK, this is one of the classes that is pretty much used to me and knows me, the only problem is that they get chatty every chance they get, but it wasn't too bad. But just the general feeling in the school, I felt sad after such a long absence.

Then there is Megan's foot. After she swam the 1000 on Saturday, she got an odd pain in her toe. I didn't pay much attention because truthfully, who does NOT get pain in their toes? But then somehow, and I can't remember why, I had shoes on in the kitchen and I was cooking something - perhaps it was Sunday and they were 'church shoes', she walked behind me and I stepped square onto the same foot.

So she is now asserting that I have broken the foot. It creaks like squirrels when she moves it, and when she has her foot flat on the ground, she cannot lift the big toe on that foot. A little research on google has led me to suspect the extensor hallucis longis. Its job is basically to extend the big toe. And now I have broken it, apparently. Well, it's a tendon, so I can't break it, but presumably I have broken the bone around it, causing her toe no longer to function.

However, further research suggests that it could be a 'pushing off the wall' injury, as per this quote from emedicine: "Hence, the injury is often called dancer's tendinitis. Such injuries have also been described in association with climbing, soccer, and running in relation to frequent push-off maneuvers of the forefoot in these activities" So, perhaps pushing off a pool wall 39 times in 11 minutes could hav predisposed to this condition.

Anyway, in an effort to clear my good name, I have scheduled an appointment with an orthopedist, which will cause an arm and a ::cough:: foot. They can do the xrays on the spot, so if necessary we won't have any further waits. It will be an out of network expense, but thanks to the errant mole and the acne visit, Megan has just about met her deductible for the year anyway.

And in other news, the Doll now professes to have the flu. I didn't believe her until I heard her cough, and my goodness, she has something. True to form, any ailment causes her gastro ills, and I was dispatched in Kevin's absence to fetch the Dulcolax. He is still not home yet from East Nowhere, but I do expect him any minute, telling his tales of planes that start to land and then change their minds. Tomorrow morning, I have a half day of work. The Doll has been told to go for an xray to rule out pneumonia and to tell the truth, after hearing the cough I think this is not a bad idea. On the other hand, I hope not to be the one to take her because if that is the flu - been there done that, don't want to risk that this is a different bug and catch this one too! Oh, here is Kevin. But one more thing: I found a heads-up penny tonight, so I am optimistic for tomorrow!

Update from the Unemployed

Well, I am getting a bit tired of this leisure. One can be assured that as soon as the mercury begins to climb, so will the teachers last minute calls out. Of course, I have wasted the better part of the last two weeks sitting on the couch, wanting to go out and do something, but feeling the chill just by looking out the window. I have two half days to work this week: tomorrow afternoon and Friday morning. And she called and switched me to another teacher for tomorrow, they're all out at once, so I don't know what that was all about. I don't really care, they are both interchangeable second grade classes, but I'm still baffled as to why the switch. Maybe I'll figure it out tomorrow when I work (of course, because it's going up to 50 degrees - at least we can have outdoor recess and enjoy it).

Anyway, the last week of February is upon us. E is dismayed now that she realizes her time here is drawing short. Despite the many ups and many more downs we have had throughout the year, I think we've reached a good place and will end the year on a positive note. We have a party with the other students scheduled for Saturday afternoon, so I hope that will be fun. Sometimes they can be a little uninspired, and we drive pretty far for them.

March will begin on Sunday and we will be off in a couple of weeks to Pennsylvania for the big Y meet. Brian and E won't come with us, and Megan almost wasn't able to either! A large part of their chemistry grade is based on a science fair project which is being held on Friday the 13th! Of course, that is the day with the most important events Megan will swim the entire weekend - the 200 free, where she stands to place well and get a personal best which could propel her to a better seed position in Florida, and the 1000, in which she has failed to qualify for Nationals yet, and this is her last chance before she leaves. Also a relay for which, I believe, she is qualified to swim on the 'A' team this year.

Either of the other two days' events would have been more dispensable, but this is the most important day. This created some tension yesterday, but her teacher emailed back this morning, saying they would work something out. So that's good. I know he works as a professional referee for big league sports, so I was hoping he would have respect for the committed athlete, and he must have done.

Otherwise things are still chugging along, in the thick of the swim and school season. E is done with basketball but awaiting the start of spring track, which will be a whole new experience for her. The meets are eternal, they start early in the morning and don't end till late afternoon at times. She will definitely be busy for her last few months with us.

In other news, Kevin and Brian both passed their boating course, which, I am shocked to report, means they can both drive boats now! Well, Brian technically can't just yet, but as soon as he turns 16 he will be able to. I don't know if this needs to be renewed or what, but at 16 years of age he can exchange this card for a license, and he can drive a boat! Kevin is still intent on buying one. He thinks they can be had "for a song" nowadays. I wonder what Obama would think of that. He said we have to give up "priorities", did he not?

Monday Madness

And so begins the first full week in three weeks. Everyone got off to school without issue, and I had to subject myself to the rigors of my annual mammography. I noticed that things were done a little differently this year, as I was not sent back to wait for an OK to leave this time. I was almost absolutely certain that I had to do this last year, but the tech told me that no, I had the digital imaging done last year as well. So the difference is that there was no doctor in at the time, so although I escaped the office without incident, my films have also not been viewed by an expert, so I continue to sweat it out for the rest of the day!

Megan and I spent the weekend at her swim meet, getting up at 4:30-5 and leaving by 5:45am. The meet was a pretty slow one, and she was mostly entered in her less competitive events, although she did manage to come in second in the 1000, although she had been seeded first and she swam 12 seconds slower than her seed time. But it was still pretty good considering they're working very hard at practice these days and this meet was just to get them into some racing habits in preparation for the upcoming championships.

This year will be different for us, as Megan qualified alreday for nationals and won't be 'tapered' for States, so it will be hard to judge just how well she's doing. She's always done really well at States, but this year she will be a little more tired, and by the time she is 'tapered' she will have flown on a plane and will be staying in a hotel for over a week. So we'll see how that goes for her! and hope for good weather!

Brian and Kevin are signed up for some kind of boating course tonight, and tomorrow night we have an event at church, and Brian has to be there at 5:00 to help with setting up. I guess we will all go, except for Megan who will have swimming. Our carpool has dwindled down to two on many occasions, so I don't know how I'm going to work that tomorrow...I also hope to work again at some point! I had told the caller that I couldn't today, but if I had realized that I would be released so quickly I probably would have asked for an afternoon assignment just to keep busy! I thought they usually have someone there who will keep you and perhaps do more testing if needed, but I was out the door at 9 from an 8:45 appointment.

In other news, the winds of March are all a-blow outside, already! It looks like a beautiful day but the trees give away the coldness of it all with their constant movement. I have to get out to the grocery store and stock up for the week in the hopes that I will be busy. As I always threaten, if they don't get me working soon, I'll have to seek employment elsewhere! But I don't actually know how to go about doing that, since my hours and days of availability are so limited anyway! And I somehow doubt if my threat is of concern to anyone but myself.

Forsaken

And the entire week has passed with me workless. The trouble is, it creates the feeling that I am a Lady of Leisure, and then when I do have to work, it becomes a hardship! Considering that my annual pay of $7000 did little more than boost us up to a higher income bracket, these days of non-employment may seem financially insignificant. But to an independent bill-payer such as myself, that's $7000 for which I didn't have to hear "the AMEX bill is $XXX this month" or "did you make a withdrawal for $XXX" or my favorite: "bring" (kevin's cell) followed by, "oh, that was a text from AMEX letting me know about the activity on the card."

So with all of this week behind me, I will have to actively seek work for next. I have to have Monday off for my mammogram (the last of the medical hurdles which we have to clear, after I survived the dermatologist, the dentist, the neurologist, and finally the call from the dermatologist that all was benign with Megan's errant mole) but beyond that I am free. Except I think swim team may cause me some troubles with Tuesday and Thursday, which might hurt me with the caller. She likes wide open schedules, apparently. Every time I try to tell her this or that, I don't get a call at all.

This weekend Megan has a long and grueling meet up at Seton Hall, so we'll be there for most of tomorrow, and a good part of Sunday. She may make finals, because they bring back the top 24, but I don't think she has to go back for them. Especially tomorrow, she is swimming two 200's and then the 1000, and finals would be exhausting. Thankfully there are no finals for the 1000, they swim it as a timed finals.

Report cards finally did arrive, and Megan did pretty well although she dropped to a B in history and a B+ in precalc. These are all honors classes, and she did have the flu and a lot of swimming this marking period. But still, in all but chemistry, she should be able to bring them up to A's. Chemistry would be nice, but I find the man to border on insane, so I think a B+ is pretty good in there. E did well also, only one non-A grade, and that was also in the same chemistry class. But she has different teachers and not even the same classes, so the two can't be compared fairly, except for the chemistry grade. Thankfully. They both continue to get college propaganda by the boatload. Perhaps if the colleges didn't waste so much money on these mailers, they wouldn't have to scramble to make money by soliciting every student in the country who took the PSATs!

In other news, the high winds have returned. Hopefully we can hold onto our garbage cans and roofing tiles and tree branches. After this perhaps the weather will begin to turn? I know that yesterday at the neurologist I was thinking that in other years, we've been there in snowstorms, and we always go around this time of year. It seems late in the season, but really there is a good month remaining! And then we will go to Florida :-) Otherwise not much is new. Brian is about to pick up guitar lessons, he was going to start next week but I realized that I have to change that because he has a church obligation to help out at a dinner that raises money for the trip to England, on which he still says he doesn't want to go. So we will see, I guess I can just bump it to the following week. And now that my mind is free of medical worries until I have to face the water balloon squasher on Monday, I am off to the showers.

Hump Day

So the first two workable days of the week have passed me by without a sub call. It's OK, after the hectic week last week and then the somewhat draining three-day weekend, full of drama, I can use a couple of days to catch up on laundry and reading. Which is what I did yesterday, I guess I can do more of it today.

On Monday, I took Megan to the dermatologist and he removed her mole because it was in an out of the way spot, and put her on a vitamin that he uses for acne. So we'll see how that goes. It did look better last night, but it seems to cycle anyway. The problem is the redness and inflammation. He said she needs something to treat it from within. The vitamin sounded ok, but the other alternatives are alarming, like constant antibiotics (one of which she is allergic to, I saw from his list) and birth control pills. Tomorrow we see the neurologist in the afternoon. I can't wait to have that visit behind me, hopefully all positive.

Over the weekend, in talking to E, I mentioned that there are just four months left, and with this being February, that number is rapidly dwindling to three. It's hard to believe that although at times it seemed to drag, in a couple of weeks there are just going to be three months left. And with the trip to Florida in the midst, it will be down to two before we know it. I don't know if we will do this again. Most likely not next year, and definitely not the year after - I doubt if it is a good idea when Megan is a senior. I'm thinking of a boy the next time, if there is a next time (Kevin swears not) because obviously the girl/girl thing has been tough. But if we do it again after Megan has left for college (!) it might be something to consider.

I also haven't really made up my mind about the Fresh Air Fund this year. I had spoken to some people about possibly being a volunteer, but then I dropped the ball on calling them and they never got back to me, and things got busy. I don't know if they filled the slot with someone else, or if they're all just waiting for some more time to pass before turning their attention back to this year. But mainly I don't know what we should do. Last year's experience certainly could have been better, but C was a fundamentally good kid. So we have the choice to take him again, to take someone else, or not to do it. This year we are planning a vacation, perhaps to Europe, for Megan's 16th birthday. Brian will be getting ready to start high school, and I'm hoping Megan will find some sort of paying job. She'll probably get certified as a lifeguard in the spring. She doesn't want to work at a beach, but there are plenty of pool jobs around. So I don't know how much time there is for other things. But we'll see. They haven't sent out their information with dates yet.

Sad news from New York, where a 10 year old girl has died, presumably of the flu. The more I read coverage of the flu in our area, particularly New Jersey, the more certain I am that this was the Great Sick. The doctors on the news all day that symptom severity varies, and we certainly had all the symptoms they list. We didn't really have the sudden onset, but we did all end up with fevers and chills. And Brian, of course, seemed to develop that secondary infection. The main discomfort I remember, aside from the aching shoulders and legs, was the burning in the eyes, lips, and cheeks. I'll have to think a little harder about flu shots next year!

And in other news, the cleaning people are coming tomorrow, and not a moment too soon. Of course, I wish I had realized this when I made an 8:30 dental appointment, my thinking was just to get it over with, but now Kevin is staying home to work, and it will be difficult to get all of the rest of us out of the house by 8. And then when I'm done, I will want to come home, but they will be here and I will be underfoot. High school report cards didn't come yesterday, so I expect them in the mail today. That will be interesting. I am hoping for no surprises. Not much else of note is going on. Kevin and Brian are going to take some sort of boating safety course on Monday night, that is required by the state for anyone of any age who wants to get a boat operator's license. I guess that's what they're planning on doing.

President's Day Reprieve

So tomorrow is a holiday. I still maintain that four day weeks take longer to pass by than five day weeks, because I expect them to fly by and they never do. But that doesn't mean I'm not glad to have the day off! I've been neglecting the blog, either because of the migraines and flu, or because there isn't much that I have to say that I can print in this public venue! But things have been chugging along.

Brian's report card arrived yesterday and he got three A's and four B+'s, which brought him within two points of high honor roll, which is his goal. He made high honor roll only once in middle school, when he was grounded for a month in sixth grade. But these past two marking periods have yielded the best grades he has gotten since, so that is a positive thing. The high school reports haven't arrived, but I already know that Megan's won't be the straight A's we have been used to. She has apparently dropped to B in history, of all things, and also a B+ in chemistry, plus a C+ on that midterm. The rest remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

I think it's a combination of the intense swimming, the hard classes, and the fact that she took the midterms with the flu-like illness that struck us at that inopportune time. So we'll see how time affects those grades over the next couple or marking periods. Thank goodness she doesn't have to miss school for Y nationals this year, only one day, and I'm not crazy about that either. She also has to miss one for Y States.

Kevin is back safely from Sweden, landing on the same day as the plane crash in Buffalo, so that was a bit rattling to hear when the alarm clock went off in the morning. I hate to fly as it is, and now I will be thinking of this on our flights in April. At least if it's ice on the wings that isn't likely to happen on a NJ-Florida flight in April, but that doesn't mean I won't panic anyway!

I saw my doctor on Friday and he was not impressed with my white throat, so that's good, I guess. He also gave me a sample migraine medication so if I start to feel like they are getting out of hand, at least I have some rescue/relief. The problem is that you have to take the medicine at the first sign, and at that point you still feel OK, and can't predict how bad it's going to get. The medicine itself has possible scary side effects so I would rather not take it unless I think it's really necessary.

Anyway, in other news, this is it. The dreaded February week of the neurology visit. So keep us in mind on this one. I hate going. And to add insult to injury, THIS year I'm having a cavity filled that morning!!! Then Megan has some meet this weekend, and I have to go for another favorite, the annual mammogram, on Monday. On that note, I think I'll turn in. This laptop is starting to burn my lap!

Stop the Insanity!

This is one of those crazy weeks where I don't know if I'm coming or going. Fortunately ::knock wood:: the migraine attack has let up on me for some reason, just as unknown as the reason for which it came on in the first place. I have worked two full days with equally full dockets at night, particularly yesterday. Megan had a meet at 8:00, and I brought the Doll to watch, and Megan got beaten in the 100 free but ended up winning, because the other girl moved on the block and got disqualified.

Brian has been going to PT and swimming, he will finish swimming next week for now, and PT will probably wind down to once a week, and eventually they'll want him on home exercises. I'm just so happy that they approved and paid for it at all. We see the neurologist on Thursday (next) so I hope we will get a good report. Remember to put in the good word with the powers that be. I have no reason to expect otherwise, based on the PT reports, but I never let my guard down, after that first visit. And the guy wonders why I hate to come and see him!

So the strangest thing has started to happen: colleges are sending Megan their brochures! E had mentioned she has been getting emails, but these are full color brochures coming in the USPS for Megan! She got one from University of Tampa today and two or three others, all in the same box. I can't even look at them yet; it's just way too soon. Why do they waste their money? At least E is registered as a junior. Megan is a sophomore! One was some sort of 'early college' where you drop out of high school to go to college when you're in 10th grade! Who would want to do that?!

Anyway, other than the insanity, there isn't a whole lot else going on. In other news, Kevin is still in Sweden, he will be back on Friday. I decided I would make a doctor's appointment for myself to get these recurrent white spots on my tonsils checked out - I think they are some awful malady called 'tonsil stones' but I don't like the one I have now, it's been there for a week or more and looks like a big fuzzy cauliflower clinging to my tonsil. I thought I might as well confirm the diagnosis. A part of it fell off last week, but then came back :-( and I'm tired of the unfortunate events that occur as a result of my self-treatment, like the other night when I accidentally swallowed some hydrogen peroxide while gargling, and thought I was going to blow up from a build-up of gas in my stomach and esophagus.

Fortunately, I survived, but unfortunately, so did my cauliflower tonsil. Anyway, I figured as long as I'm there, may as well ask for a prescription for some migraine meds, just in case. And I'll get a blood pressure check, although with the cycle of life lately, I don't know if that's a good idea! On the other hand, if this confounded thing will resolve itself before then, I will be thrilled to cancel the appointment!

Meet Report

Argh! Should have skipped this one this year! Just a quick update. The meet was long; Megan did not swim her best. They did correct the error with the seeding, so she was the top seed in the 200 free, but she ended up coming in third. The senior with whom she had traded wins was really strong at the meet, and she ran away with the win. Then another girl from the other county just touched Megan out, but her time was two seconds off from the county meet. In the 500, a similar scenario happened: the same girl ran away with it, but another girl went neck and neck with Megan until Megan ran out of steam. So she came away with two bronze medals. She seems to swim much better at the county meets for high school, based on this year and last, than she does at the conference meet. Her 'flu' and missed practices didn't help, I'm sure.

So that is the main report from our house. E did not come to the meet, she had some schoolwork to get done, I guess. Brian did, and he has gotten pretty good about tolerating these long drawn-out meets. There are a lot of exciting races aside from Megan's, but you have to sit through about six heats for every one that is exciting to watch. We stopped for dinner at Applebees on the way home, and didn't get back till after 9. But at least my car battery didn't die this time!

So tomorrow is a welcome school holiday. I have to go to the dentist in the morning (blah)and then Kevin will leave for Sweden in the early afternoon. Megan will have swim practice, and E has a basketball game, a makeup for the day we had all the snow and they cancelled afterschool activities. Aside from that, I guess we will just unwind from today and prepare for the week, which may be a little bit crazy.

In other news, the snow is almost all melted from the lawns as well as the driveways, and I am starting to wonder how the spring plants will look when they start to come alive. Our neighbor informed us that he will be having almost all of the trees in his backyard taken down, so his kids can play back there. I was sad to hear that, but what can I say? They're his trees. Otherwise, that's about it. I say with some anxious caution that I have broken that cycle ::knock wood:: and staved off additional migraines. But I did risk a glass of wine tonight, so hopefully that will sit well for the evening!

February Friday

Well, I have been absent a few days. Two nights ago, I fell to a migraine after playing wii fit and then driving Brian to the orthodontist. I recovered quickly, but on my way up to bed, got another. Then the next day I worked in the morning, and drove Brian to the Y, only to get another and another later that night. And yesterday morning, I woke up to another! So I stayed lying around all day yesterday, taking advil and drinking coke and gulping sudafed. I made it through the night, but I still feel like I'm fighting one off, so I'm trying not to look at computer screens. I'm also in the middle of reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, and I can't really read it now because of issues I'm having with glare on the page. But I really want to see how it turns out!

Anyway, lots of life is going on. The girls just finished their midterms (well, except for the ones E didn't take yet because she stayed home sick on Monday) and Brian has closed out the second marking period as well. Report cards are due in a week or two, so I'm a little nervous about that! Megan knows that she got As in Spanish, Language Arts and Geometry, and she knows she got a B+ on the precalc midterm but she doesn't know her course grade for the marking period. And chemistry is always a great unknown. Apparently they had to curve it further to bring the grades from the other high school in line with where the district wanted them. That was probably a function of Megan's teacher's input on the test!

This is the weekend of the conference swim championships. Megan should be seeded first in the 200 and second in the 500, but instead, she is seeded 8th and 9th. Apparently her coach dumped the wrong time file when she sent in the entries, so Megan lost her position. At least in the 200, she'll race in the correct heat, but in the 500 she has to swim the race alone, and then sit and watch as the next heat goes off without her. I guess chalk this one up to 'it's all in fun' ... fortunately she isn't going for records or anything like that ... this will give her a chance to show everyone what she can do under adversity, if she wants to! Still, it's very frustrating. She was going in to see the coach this morning, but I doubt there's anything that can be done two days before the meet. It isn't just Megan's times, although she fell the farthest of them all.

So that is the greatest controversy of the week. In other news, Brian continues his slow recovery from The Great Sick. He looks like a fish out of water when he goes to swim practice, like he can barely move his arms and legs independently, let alone all at the same time. He swims this way for the entire hour. I can't bear to watch, but I also can't bring myself to leave and pretend it isn't happening. In two weeks he will be done with practice, so we have to suffer through it. I keep saying to myself how good this is for him physically. Kevin stayed home today because our dishwasher broke, and then the back door key broke off in the lock, meaning we can't open the door at all from the garage. That was my last key, so now the lock must be changed. Kevin is leaving Monday for Sweden, and he also wanted to get the oil changed in his truck. I guess having him home for four straight days will probably help me not to feel so stressed that he is going to be gone for four afterwards!

And the Sick Goes On ...

Yep, the girls have it. E came home with it on Friday, spent hours locked in her room, I didn't know she was sick until the next morning, and Megan started sniffling and coughing yesterday, then woke up with a 101 fever this morning. They're both just flopping around the house, alternating television with walking around, and they have midterms tomorrow, should they be well enough to go; even if not (I have a sneaking suspicion one of them is going to use this to keep from going in ...) they still have to take them eventually.

So it turns out to be a good thing that Megan didn't go on this Sweet Sixteen weekend she was invited to this week, they were taking a party bus up to the water park in the poconos and spending time there and snow tubing. Sounded like really a lot of fun, but with this being midterm weekend, we didn't think it was a good idea, and she didn't argue too much. Initially I had offered to drive up for one day, but now it turns out to be a good thing I didn't, today would have been that day. She has two math midterms tomorrow, and also a swim meet and also a night practice. She obviously missed her practice this morning, but wants to go tomorrow.

I think we'll see. I had a good 3-4 days of fever, I don't know that it's a good idea to go back so soon for a tough workout. She might be able to attend the school meet, but I don't think she should swim, or at least not the 500. But we'll see how she is in the evening, and then again in the morning. They're supposed to stay home if they have had a fever within 24 hours, but tomorrow they only go in for the two midterms, which are two hours long apiece.

Brian and I are fairly well improved, which leaves only Kevin to not have been stricken with fever. Either he was the initial carrier, or he is just tougher than the rest of us (heh). He did have the flu several years ago, maybe that built up some immunity. I wish I knew if this really IS the flu. I looked it up and it certainly fits the bill. The 3-4 days of fever, the painful cough, stuffy nose, headache, and loss of appetite, chills and night sweats ... the only thing was that the fever wasn't sky-high, and the exhaustion wasn't unmanageable. But it may have just been a mild strain. Whatever it was, it wasn't fun, and Brian is still feeling the effects, since he's the one stuck on the antibiotic! I've been spraying lysol and wiping down everything with clorox wipes; not that there is anyone else left to protect.

In other news, we are happy to have some balmy temperatures, even if we can't take advantage of them to their fullest. I'm trying to get caught up on laundry and Kevin's out banging around in the garage somewhere. I wanted to try to figure out what to do to make my exercise bike more comfortable to ride but I'm not physically up to the challenge of an uphill bike workout, which is what a simple pedalling on that thing is at this point. I wanted to stop in Sears and ride the floor sample for comparison, but we had to get home to bring food to the sickly. Kevin has promised to make us nachos, ribs, and salad for super bowl dinner tonight. Too bad we aren't invited to a big super bowl party (or even a small one, heh heh). That would have been a good thing for E to experience, although she probably wouldn't be up for it anyway.