Enough Already

Air Supply
Originally uploaded by Cheryl Rollman.

We decided to go out to see Mrs. A's sister and her family after all. We really like going out there but our illness was keeping us from thinking we were actually going.

Some time late Friday night or early Saturday morning we bit the bullet and packed the kids and drove out. It wasn't a bad drive, but it was long. Sitting in a car for almost four hours while you're sick makes it seem twice as long. You can't get comfortable and the task of keeping two young kids in check and happy is draining.

But we made it and it was a fairly good time. I didn't get nearly as drunk as I wanted. It was Mrs. A's birthday weekend so they had a cake and we had lots of wine and beer. The kids played like unleashed banshees. And there was a puppy involved.

The low point for me came early in the reverie. I was sent on run to the convenience store shortly after we arrived. I started coughing a bit on the way over, then more as I was checking out, then really bad back in the car. I had such a coughing fit that I threw up all over myself. I hadn't been drinking, I wasn't nauseated, I had just coughed so hard my gullet couldn't handle it. That was fun. I had to go back and change clothes and explain what happened. Even though I wasn't sick before, afterward my stomach was touch and go. I couldn't drink any alcohol and even food was a problem. Plus I think I have a tumor behind my right eyebrow or just a very problematic sinus cavity and it flared up nicely.

Mrs. A didn't have any problems. She was having a blast. There was a dogpile involving her, three small kids and a puppy. She wore some kind of Seussian antlers and she had to blow out trick candles. She took a lot of pictures, laughed, danced and just enjoyed being around her people.

And as always we were stupid and decided to drive home at 2am. Every time we go see her sister, we always get out there late and end up not staying as long as we should. It makes them feel bad and us feel worse. I think ideally we'd like to drive out first thing Saturday morning or even Friday night and then either get a cheap close hotel or just crash at their place until Sunday evening. This time, however, we just weren't feeling well enough to prolong the fun. We'd tried to have all the kids go to bed on palettes, but they outlasted our attempts and dug deep into reserves of childhood energy. The eldest girl actually slept for a couple hours and was really upset when she woke back up and found out we were leaving. She's totally cool, they all are.

As of this writing, both Mrs. A and I are still unwillingly clinging to our varied and persistent symptoms. We got home about 5 am and she and Lil Miss Austin slept till almost 11. G-Man tried to wake up at 7 and I had to march him, bleary-eyed and grumbling (me not him) back to his bed. We each got a couple more hours of fitful sleep but then he was up for good by 9.

Everyone tried to nap off an on during the day and the sniffles returned and the coughing returned and the headaches and painful joints returned. The kids seem fine, but Mrs. A and I have resentful adult bodies that just seem happier when they are only half-assed fighting an infection. We're so loaded up on medicine it's a wonder we're able to drive.

My ribs hurt from coughing.

We're going back out to Houston in a couple weeks I'm sure to try again. I seriously hope we're done with this gunk by then. My friend Len over at Jawbone knows what I'm talking about. He's been dealing with the "tail end" of a cold for about three months.

FUN!

Carry on.