2013 before we knew it

Well, it's been months.  Work has kept me ridiculously busy, I leave between 7:15 and 7:30 every morning and don't get home until 6 or 6:30, rarely take lunch and almost always feel like the things that are happening are always one step ahead of me. Yesterday I had a brief break in the insanity and was able to regroup and focus on some of the things I've been doing; then it began to pick back up again and I left feeling frazzled for the fifth day in a row.

Next week will be worse as I have a meeting Monday, for which I'll have to take and transcribe and post minutes AND watch a speaker that will keep me out until after 9.  Tuesday (my BIRTHDAY for crying out loud) I am forced to remain at work for an extra hour for a phone call because nobody could make it work during regular business hours.  Yesterday I calculated my hourly wage and it's becoming more paltry as I take on more harried tasks.

Then, on Wednesday, we have the dreaded semi-annual neurology appointment with B, and this is the one where we find out what the MRI showed back in August. We have called a few times and have only been told that we would have heard if there were a problem, so I'm going to assume that this is the case. Still a total stressor, especially as B is banking on this to be his bon voyage visit at this doctor's office, or at least the end of the six month follow-ups, and, hopefully MRIs unless as needed. Although he probably should have one at least every few years to check on his syrinx, curse its sausagey self.

So - the flu. Of course I can't write a blog post under the present events without addressing one of my usual paranoias - the flu.  B has been very ill with flulike symptoms both of the last two years and I thought to myself that we'd get him the vaccine this year. He had it twice - once the year he was diagnosed with chiari and had the surgery (the healthiest winter of his life, virus-wise) and the following year, when he contracted bronchitis and developed subsequent serum sickness from the antibiotic. After that I became fearful of foreign substances and he never got the vaccine again. Also if he's had the flu two years in a row, surely he should be spared a third? Although he tested negative both times in the rapid test. But I don't believe it - only the flu could possibly have rendered him so useless for so long.

After weighing the pros and cons, I called the pediatrician only to be told they had run out. They called me yesterday and offered him a few options (which I can't make, because of the above events of this upcoming week) and he now has an appointment for Thursday at 9:30. I will have to go in late to work and he will have to leave school and go back.  The good news is that I have time to think it over.  If only I could be sure he wasn't going to get sick again! Then I could spare him the chemicals and possible adverse effects of who-knows-what is in that shot for a 60% effectiveness. And is it going to help or make it worse, if he gets it as the season begins to wind down?

Otherwise, M is settling in with her new job, although she has just been overwhelmed with work and practice. She has to be at the pool at 6 and at the car to meet the girls she drives at 6:50, to work at 7:30 and then back to the pool in the afternoons. For the first three weeks, she has mandatory restraint training at work which conflicts with the evening practices. And all of this as the flu rages through Boston (she was too sick to get the shot when they offered them, with her own mini-flu in October/November) and the team is trying to wrap up their season.  We are headed to watch her swim in PA today.

Finally, in other news, the college search is on for B. He's been accepted to only one school so far, and has to hear from nine. I'm reasonably sure that they are all waiting to see his midterm grades and won't send decisions until March or so. But one had promised a decision by January 15, so maybe that will happen next week.  Something else to add to the list.  And Kevin continues his recovery from the shoulder surgery that ruled his thoughts for the better part of the fall. He's in PT twice a week and scares the animals by raising and lowering an umbrella as he lies in bed every night and every morning. Onward and upward!