Serendipities and Vicissitudes

Yes, of course, the climactic followup of my last post: Hubby’s long trip to Houston with his dream team culminated in an improbable, impossible, yet absolutely definitive win, and he got to call it.

I witnessed this miraculous comeback (and career highlight) from our yogurt-stained, crumb-filled, Lego-littered sofa, by myself (unless you count the cats). We were under quarantine most of the weekend: Babygirl had had her twenty-four hour fever, and Babyboy and I were coming down with the same thing. Chills, aches, fever, cough: A mini-flu epidemic.

Even so, I threw myself into the game with everything I had: I swore and cursed and threw things when it looked like an inevitable loss, then cheered and whooped and jumped up and down when Hubby declared “It’s a touchdown! And a title!“

Babygirl woke up and called out and insisted on coming down to see what all the fuss was about. She sat cuddled in my lap in her footie pajamas, and we watched the confetti and the speeches, until she fell back asleep.

But Monday morning is relentless, and I got everyone cleaned up and fed and dressed and out the door: Babygirl (who was reasonably healthy by then) to school and Babyboy (who was miserable) to Nana’s and myself (who was REALLY miserable) to work.

A cocktail of Aleve, phenylephrine, dextromethorphan, albuterol, various steroids, and a face mask got me through a thankfully light clinic afternoon. But Hubby’s flight was later than I had planned for, and no one would be home for the ridiculously huge grocery delivery I had ordered.

Nana to the rescue, as always: she scooped up the kids and swooped to our house in time to not only let the grocery guy in, but tip him, too. (Yes, we know, we owe Nana.)

I made it home, thanked Nana profusely, fed and watered the kids, got them upstairs and into the bath…. and all my drugs wore off. The chills, the aches, the fever, the cough… especially chills. Like a zombie, I went through the motions, pulling together whatever to get us through bedtime and into the next day….

Then Hubby walked in the door. I almost collapsed, with relief, with happiness… and illness. “I’m done!” I announced. “I’m done, I need to go to bed…” Which I did, and thankfully, the kids did as well, thrilled to have Daddy read the bedtime stories.

There’s been more ups and downs since:

Painful politics: Many of the political events of this week hit me hard, a sad/mad feeling that’s been fairly constant since, oh, November. The only good thing? A motivating, activating cadre of friends and colleagues who feel the same way.

The Parade: Hubby took Babygirl on the team’s Duckboat victory parade, with me checking the live feed on my exam room computer between patients, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Babyboy was sick, but luckily, he hates parades, and so he didn’t seem to mind when Babygirl came home glowing and gloating about The Bestest Day Ever.

Endless Illness: My fever’s down, but the horrible hacking cough I had JUST beat last week is back and then some. I’m back on max inhalers (and praying on the train).

Blizzard: I thought a snow day would bring us the quiet time we needed to re-bond as a family, but we spent most of the day either trying to ignore or dealing with the fallout of multiple sibling dustups. Babyboy now has a gouge down his left cheek, and Babygirl needs her nails filed.

Family Crisis: Word came today that my cousin, a very experienced outdoorsman, has been missing in the Maine woods for some days. Today and tonight, with the snow and wind, we’ve said many prayers hoping that he’s holed up somewhere safe, and will march out when the sun’s up tomorrow.

Tomorrow: Hubby has spent most of this late evening shoveling and clearing the cars so I can leave extra-early and get to work on time. Very thankful! It’s supposed to be below zero around dawn. Not looking forward to it, but thankful nonetheless.