Month: January 2010

I am gonna make it through this year…

So, how’s your year going? I know mine could be better. The shame is, for the crap storm that December turned out to be, 2009 actually ended on a pretty solid note. That has a lot to do with a 2 week holiday which gave me some much needed bonding time with a particular little human that wanders around my house screaming “Huggie Mommy!” on a daily basis. Being there all day long for once seemed to convince Kayleigh that I could be a suitable substitute for the bringer of all things milk. And then the virus hit…

To be honest, this particular illness wasn’t that bad. I had a few moments when the fever and body aches skyrocketed and completely knocked me out, but it didn’t even compare to the constant bathroom breaks that accompanied my gastroenteritis in Santa Fe. Still, the lingering feelings of crappiness that continue even a week later coupled with the total isolation of being stuck in the bedroom with little contact all those days were enough to drive me a little batty.

And thus I’ve been stuck with some general malaise that made me not even want to face the new year and instead dwell upon the sense of freedom lost to dwindling finances and a demanding toddler. Ugh, how lame is that? Just forgive me these trespasses as I try to get my proverbial rear in gear to prevent this trapped feeling from blossoming into a full blown case of early-to-mid-life crisis. Isn’t it amazing how difficult us middle-class, white suburbanites make life for ourselves?

Anyway, after I finish a small project for my Dad, hopefully I can stop talking about things and actually get back to working on my own hobbies rather than wallowing in the typical blogger meltdown…

Quarantine

No, I’m not talking about that crappy horror remake (and yes, the trailer and cover art basically “ruin” the last 15 minutes), I’m talking about my own quarantine. Some sort of flu-type thing has invaded my body and knocked me on my proverbial and real asses. Yesterday afternoon there was hope that it was one of those 24 hour things, but the evening revealed that to be unlikely. Now it’s day 2 of being trapped in the bedroom.

I don’t know about you, but sick days were a lot more fun when I was a kid. Maybe that’s because there was a lot more faking involved, but even the real sick days were typically spent curled up on couch watching too much TV while my Mom took care of me. To some extent this is still a similar experience, albeit with The Woman playing the role of my Mom, but as stupid things like adulthood and maturity get in the way a certain amount of guilt creeps in.

Only a couple years ago colds and flus didn’t really bother me. Lay down, rest, drink lots of water… whatever. Now there’s this whole little person running around that house that strikes fear into my heart at the thought of getting her sick, too. While previous illnesses often didn’t result in any form of quarantine, now we’re all sleeping separately to avoid becoming one of those households in which everyone just keeps exchanging different germs. On the one hand this means I can’t help out at a time when Kayleigh seems to be going through some major separation anxiety crap and on the other hand… I miss her.

It may seem silly, but walking down the stairs and seeing her so excited to see me yet not being able to pick her up nearly broke my heart. And I can only imagine the havoc that two straight weeks of nonstop Daddy-time followed by two days of zero interaction is playing with her. Back when I was a kid, stretching sick days out for as long as possible was awesome. Now I think another day of this will drive me (and the rest of the family) bonkers. Who knows, maybe this thing is finally clearing up in time to be labeled a “48-hour bug”. Or maybe that’s just the drugs kicking in…