Tuesday, November 24, 2009

"You Uncultured Swine"

"It" really is as bad as they say. The temperature. The aches. The nausea. The pure delusion which stems from being in so much discomfort.

"It" is the H1N1 - or, as my brother says, H1NoFun. Perhaps I am using this as an excuse not to write for over a month. I wish I could erase the months of October and November 2009 away completely. Except for maybe the ten pounds that I lost from being so sick.

That was a nice side benefit. (It's true R. Sniff sniff). Another nice benefit: quality time with my parents, or rather, my mother. She barricaded me in my bedroom and when my dad lingered outside the door to see if I was still alive, she shooed him out.

Me: Aren't you afraid of getting it?
Mom: No. I'm immune to the flu.
Me: I guess ten children will do that to you.
Mom: Yup.
Me: And taking inordinate amounts of aspirin daily, eh?

I also have to thank my sister, R, for being "on call" for that entire month. Whenever there was a medicine I wasn't sure I could take, I called her. She'd flip open her prescription bible and let me know the side effects. I did appreciate her constant disclosure of "You know, I'm STILL in nursing school. You CAN call a doctor. You know. With a degree."

Meh.

But all is better now - it was the worst of times. Now I'm gearing up for the best of times. Which includes "enjoying" my older sister, E's, children. Yesterday, her young son ran around the house with a Barbie umbrella for the better part of an hour. I happened to glance over and he was on the floor, laying on top of the open umbrella, gazing up at the ceiling.

I was wondering if he was waiting for it to rain.