It had to happen. I've been fighting a cold for a week, tired every night but not really worse than the day before. So today when Snuggly Girl woke up with a headache and a low fever I wasn't shocked.
The good news is that she was really sad that she couldn't go to school.
The bad news is that a set of books she desperately wants to re-read (for the umpteenth time) is sitting on the library hold shelf and we can't get there to pick them up. I was gonna take her, but My Love talked me out of it, and when her fever went up to 102 this afternoon I was glad we didn't go merrily spreading germs around town, even if I don't think it's the Flu. But 102 this afternoon means no school tomorrow either. Hmph.
And I'm feeling moderately crappy myself. Tea and chicken noodle soup, pixies. Would you like some?
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Aw Madeleine, so sorry about SG and Teh Bleh. SO many people are sick with either cold or flu around here too, and it's nasty stuff. I hope you don't catch it any more than moderately. The soup will help.
Whine: All. I. Wanted. Was. Lunch. Holy carp. I walked across the street to the grocery store because I had to work in the office over lunch hour, and I ran into Cranky Church Person of the Year. She pecked at me like a bunch of hungry ducks for a half hour until I finally said, "It's been lovely speaking with you, but I really do need to get back to the church."
Irony Alert: One of her complaints (apparently I am the Complaints Department today) was that "no one is ever at the church".
*thud* That was my head knocking against the brick wall in my office.
Really. They bitch when I'm in the office TOO MUCH and they bitch when I'm out doing ministry TOO MUCH.
Perhaps I could make a living raising ducks. I know a lot about them now. They like to slowly peck things to death.
ANti-whine: I am outta here. I've finished what I had to get done today and I'm heading to the gym.
Poor Sue! My MIL was a school principal for many years, and she had a terrible commute, but she never wanted to live near her school for exactly that reason -- teh grocery store harangue.
Am dealing with a case of the Bleh myself. Not really sick anymore, and nothing bad happening at school. I just don't wanna get up and face the day, and I don't feel like being very adult about it. Still, a six-foot tall fat lady having a tantrum isn't what one expects to see or have to deal with, so Plan A is out the window.
Plan B would be resting up when I have the time, but I'm not likely to have time until after Thanksgiving. *sigh*
Sue -- you should have an "off duty" sign, like a cab. People should not be bothering you while you're in the store, or during "off time", but I know they will continue to do so, and I can see all the doctors, lawyers, and teachers in the mythical WW audience vigorously shaking their heads in agreement.
Sorry for all the bleh around.
Antiwhine: brother's big celebration went well. And the Sweet Baboo was sooo cute with her (only 7 mo. younger) cousin. Hugs, kisses, tickling, following each other around, saying each others' names. Cute, cute, cute.
Whine: Withdrawal pains from said cute cousin, and the rest of the family. We are still at my parents', so the grandparent withdrawal will be later in the week. Watch for more whining.
sorry for all the bleh everyone. You're right KLee, it's a workplace hazard for a lot of people. That old "never off the job" thing goes with the territory, and I know that. It's just that some days it's pleasant and other days, well, not so much.
esperanza - so glad that everything went well over the weekend. Sorry about the pending whines of grandparent withdrawl.
Great news! Now I have two patients. Snuggly Girl is feeling a bit better this morning (fingers crossed) but My Love walked in the door last night and announced he was sick. He was supposed to be leaving on a jet plane today, but he's canceled that. He seems to have a real flu, while SG and I are just mildly crabby. Everyone went to bed really early but woke up multiple times overnight. ML got up and had tea in the middle of the night apparently. He is not a happy sick person.
Oh no Madeleine!! How awful for all of you. Have lots of fluids and sleep and feel better soon!
Anti-whine: Remembrance Day here in Canada today. Office Admin and I will head over to the cenotaph around 10:30 for the wreath-laying, prayers and fly-past. It's cold, but whenever I start to shiver at the Remembrance Day ceremony, I think about the months on end that soldiers lived in fields and fox-holes in both world wars. What they managed to endure for months at a time, surely I can do for an hour and a half.
So today I'm proud of our Canadian war history and the Peace Keeping duties that we share with other nations all around the world. And I am thinking of my nephew who is on board a Canadian ship in an undisclosed location protecting merchant ships from pirates.
Canadians, as a rule, are mostly self-effacing types and are inclined to down-play even what we do well. Except on Remembrance Day. When the high-school kids at the cenotaph applaud and cheer for the war veterans, I cry every time. It's beautiful.
sue, what lovely thoughts. it is veteran's day here, too.
hope you don't mind my snickering at the absurdity of being cornered in the market, and complained upon because you aren't at the church every moment the complainer wants you to be. also, pecking ducks = excellent.
hope that everyone with sickness is feeling better soon! and that the blehs make a swift departure, too. the time change, she is cruel.
esperanza, what a lovely family celebration! the cousins sound too cute for words.
AW: finished something big yesterday, and will get an accompanying something out this morning. whew.
W: thought we got through the funeral extravaganza without collateral damage from family dynamics, but no. i had a few photos from the funeral reception and burial, and put them on a private unsearchable family website. whereupon i got massively flamed by my evil sister, who apparently found one photo unflattering and accused me of sneaking around trying to take bad pictures of her so i could post them on the internet. (it was the only photo i had of the old family friend who performed the service.) i. give. up.
kathy a. I think you should repost the photo with either a black bar obscuring evil sister's eyes or one of those blurry circles over her faces. :-) (I'm eeeevillllll!)
Sue ... maybe pick up your cell phone and call someone while you are walking. Then you will be obviously busy and those Cranky Church People won't want to interrupt you. Bonus points if the phone conversation is about cranky church people who insist on ruining your lunch.
~snort~ emily!
Oooh, JenR! Good suggestion! :)
Ahhhh, the good old Wednesday whine. So nice to see all the pixies again; I admit to having lurked and infrequently posted and then drifted but suddenly felt the need for a good WW and am so glad to be back.
Madeleine: Not that you asked, but I suggest mixing a dollop of honey, half a squeezed lemon, and a crushed chunk of ginger in a mug of boiled water. It is my belief that this cures everything...and if it doesn't, it sure tastes healthy, so you can trick your mind into feeling better.
Sue: I have distinct memories of the war veterans who were "adopted" by our high school, given honourary diplomas since they were deployed when they would have graduated, welcomed by students every year at out Nov 11th ceremonies and who inspired me to pursue archival studies. It was a very sad day when we learned of the death of Pte. Archie as we called him, but I am ashamed to admit I do not know the fate of the other three wonderful gentlemen. In short, veterans are awesome. Must find out what the kids' school ceremonies were like today.
Kathy: Depending on the audience, you might also consider pasting a celeb face on the photo - along the lines of "Names changed to protect the innocent."
AW: Major work project final accomplished. Time available to blog! Time available to whine!
W: Extended! Family! Christmas! Celebration!, complete with white elephant gift exchange to occur on the Saturday evening prior to my Monday morning dissertation defense. Have no ideas for exchange or willingness to shop.
AW: Kids' school no longer closed due to The Swine so everyone is out of the house today.
welcome back, days! doesn't a white elephant exchange mean you can just find the tackiest thing in your house [or elsewhere], wrap it, and lob it off on an unsuspecting relative?
the photo suggestions really make me laugh! sadly, the only possible solution is to delete, photo and comment both. any response only inspires ugly rambling late-night emails; if she is lubricated enough, these might be copied [or blind-copied!] to random persons. i generally do my best, these days, to don an invisibility cloak and wait for her to be distracted by something else.
Oh kathy a - my sympathies on nasty family dynamics. Bleh. Emily's idea is perfect!
JenR - the cell phone! Excellent. I'm going to leave it on my desk next time so I don't forget it - what a great way to avoid the ducks. Thanks!
*waving* Hi Days! I'm sorry about the Family! Celebration! being so close to your dissertation. Too bad no one in your family thought to plan the event for sometime AFTER that Monday. Don't feel like shopping? Two words: Gift. Card.
AW: It's my birthday and I've been getting lots of nice notes on Facebook and elsewhere. I don't have work, but the boys do have school, so I got to go to yoga and veg without feeling like I'm a bad mommy for wanting them to go away.
W: Grey and rainy
AW: Good excuse to stay inside and drink tea.
W: cramps again. My periods are getting quite unpleasant, but when I complain to the OB/GYN their primary suggestion is that I should go back on birth control pills. Feh.
AW? Probably only have about 10 years of this left. I don't know -- if you start your period on the late side, does that mean you're likely to reach menopause late as well?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, elizabeth! yay for a bonus free day!
wish i had answers about the menopause thing, but advice seems to run along the lines of "everybody's different." i started really ugly periods at 37. now i'm 52, and still waiting for the end. my sister [not the evil one] is 5 years younger, and it sounds like we're in a race. feh.
Happy Birthday Elizabeth!
My whine of being thrown under the bus. "Health Care for All" my Aunt Fanny. It's Heath Care for All Men, No Women Covered.
"Still, a six-foot tall fat lady having a tantrum isn't what one expects to see or have to deal with, so Plan A is out the window."
Shoot, KLee, that was my big plan for the week. Now it's ruined. :)
My whine is an extra whiney one about having to stay late on my one short day just to be an unpaid lackey for large-egoed clinicians. As much as I love making copies/spinning blood samples/ filing/ shaving dogs/ running around, well, I don't. At all.
AW: We took Xmas/family photos with a local semi-professional (master's student) photographer last Saturday, which was a ton of fun. Tonight, he came over and showed us the pictures and they are SO AWESOME!!! Yes! I didn't even know it was possible to get a picture where all three of us look good, but he managed to get a bunch. Woohoo!
aunt fanny award to liz, style and substance.
Happy birthday Elizabeth!
the work i was relieved to get out? double-header bad. a person i'm working with rejected an important chunk without even reading it. and i just found out that the big deadline that should have been february is now 4 weeks away. friends, despite the insomnia, i do not and cannot do all-nighters any more.
Biggest antiwhine ever; I got to LEAVE the hospital today and to go home and get reacquainted with these young adults who think they're my children.
Within virtual seconds after I arrived I was already screaming bloody murder at my son who hasn't washed a dish in weeks, thus creating a cloud of fruitflies the size of one you might see in a third world outdoor market. I was so not pleased and I let him have it but good. He cried, we talked, we listened and "most" of the4 dishes were washed. He would not do the counters or stovetop.
W: Things broken while I was being held hostage: front hall la,p. diningroom chair.
AW: Things that miraculously got repaired: front porch light that has never worked, bathroom light with similar track record.
W: Chequespierre. Hamlet. OMG, have you thought about that play once in your life since high school. Daughter has a huge paper that was due last Friday on Hamlet. I had to read whole play to help her because, let's face it, a kid with NVLD isn't gonna get the Bard's prose. Great play, BTW, but SOOOOOO frustrating to work with her. She does not "get it" and everything has to be repeated about a million times. Murder, Suicide, Afterlife... how hard is that?
My daughter, who is 5, has an imaginary rock band called Balloons. This week we had some unseasonably warm temps in Michigan, and that meant that she got to wear sandals to school, which she will tell you she never ever ever gets to do! [stomp!]
In honor of this occasion, we made up a new song for her band, to the tune of "I Want Candy."
I love sandals!
I love sandals!
I have some shoes that are super cool.
When it's warm, I wear them to school.
I love sandals!
I love sandals!
They're so comfy on my feet,
with flowers on my toes, they can't be beat!
I love sandals!
I love sandals!
..
In whines this week: I'm tired of all the fireplacing drama from my lovely girl. Tired! Of! It!
In anti-whines: I went to my very first parent-teacher conference this week, and teh Drama? She saves it for home. Thank Any and All Applicable Deities.
Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!
Definite Aunt Fanny award for Liz - Grrrr....
Welcome home Margalit. Sorry about the ick of dishes and *shudders* flies.
Anti-whine: I'm meeting my sisters for coffee on Saturday. The Overpriced Foamy Coffee Place is attached to my favourite book store!
Whine: My mother-in-law's sister died yesterday in Newfoundland. MIL is too sick to attend the funeral. I feel really sad for her. She comes from a large family, and this was the sister she was the closest to out of the whole bunch.
Amy for Style!
hot cold hot cold hot
this flu is miserable
and we all smell bad
Don't know when I'll muster teh oomph to write up awards. Might as well continue to whine. I know I'm mighty whiney.
~clap clap clap~ amy! love the W/AW combo, too; amazing how they save the drama for home.
sue, i'm so sorry about the loss of your aunt-in-law, and particularly for the pain her sister must be feeling. is it possible to have a family remembrance with her? there is such comfort in sharing the loss, and sharing and laughing over all the memories.
Sue, can you video your mom to send to the memorial and ask those at the memorial to video the speakers?
madeleine, such a stylish ode to the bug. hope for a swift recovery.
question for the pixies: my beloved's birthday is monday, and i am short on ideas for a present. what he really wants is a puppy, and that's right out. he likes bicycles, but buys all the stuff he needs; same for the electronics hobby. would an ipod be a stupid gift for someone who likes music and commutes via train, even if he's never expressed an interest?
liz, that is a sweet idea.
Thanks kathy a. and Liz - great ideas! I'm not sure if the recording of the service would work out, but it's worth exploring. The service will take place in an itty bitty church in Northern Newfoundland, so they may not have the technology. A lot of those wee old churches don't even have microphones. On the other hand, another family member could take their own video recorder...
Amy for style!
So sorry Madeleine for the Mighty Whineage.
sue, another idea is a memory book, with writings and photos contributed by many. we have done something like that for tributes on special occasions, or after losing a loved one. it is a fairly low-tech venture; even kids can say something or make a drawing, and adults might have photos, memories they can write out, etc. you could go fancy, with pages in a nice album; and/or share copies broadly via color photocopies or electronic photos.
setting up the pages might be a scrap-booky project for someone so inclined. it need not be anything very fancy, though, to be meaningful.
Oooo........another good idea! thanks kathy a.!!!
waaa! furnace is out. can't call repair person until after the road work, due to tow-away signs. think i'm coming down with Some Bug. feeling frantic about the deadline pressures. need to just pound something out and then fix it up. fretting: part of the process. bleah.
Wow. nominating kathy a. for the Morton Salt Award. (When it rains, it pours.) Competition for this one is steep, of course, with Sue and margalit in the running, too.
Lots of great candidates for Light Bulbs (good ideas), including KLee for the Off-Duty sign. (I rather think a tantrum is in order in your case this week, quite frankly. I think it could work for you! Wonder if it would work for me...)
Oh. My. Goodness.
Our chair of Finance sent out a flare (email) today letting all the Board members know what our present status is, in prep for our meeting on Sunday.
It is mid-November and we are at 55% of our budget goal. This time last year we were at 75% and feeling the panic. This morning's note was more like RED ALERT, CODE RED, HOLY CRAP!!! (he worded it a bit more diplomatically).
Ah, the irony - the guy who sent the email - same guy who said that moving me to 3/4 time instead of full time would make our church look "weak and desperate." I disagreed and said it would make us look fiscally responsible, but then, why listen to me, right?
Who's weak and desperate now dude? Just sayin...
~ off to touch up resume ~
I may just need it....
Sue, publicly volunteer (via reply-all) to go to 3/4 time to save money?
oh, i'm not in the running for morton salt. just extra-whiny, with a large side of healthy procrastination. also, i forgot the anti-whine of 3 lovely new tops, the best one on sale, which arrived much earlier than expected. so i'm gorgeous, healthy, and have kind of a plan.
sue, teh irony. i like liz's suggestion, and also nominate Finance Dude for a visit by the cluestick posse.
* healthy in my mind. but the suspected bug has calmed down, too.
Liz - I thought about reminding all of them of the offer I made last spring to go to 3/4 time, but I wondered if that might just add salt to the wound for them all. If they had requested the change in my terms of call (employment) back in the spring, then we might not have
However, because they said no to my request, they have put themselves in a very uncomfortable place in the Presbytery (district) because the process of changing those terms is quite a long and drawn out one.
Basically, that train has left the station, and we are now WAY down the priority list in terms of requesting a Presbytery team to come and assess our ministry needs and financial viability. They are stuck with their decision until at least 2011 b/c we cannot get a Pres committee to work with us until then. (I know, it's complicated...)
I wonder what happens if they just can't pay me? I honestly don't know, but unfortunately, I may find out. Gulp.
In the first paragraph, that should say "we might not have to wait so long for Presbytery action"
So obviously the finance guy and the committee all need a generous cluesticking.
Hmm...I wonder if there's money in the budget for that.
if no white knight committee from above can intervene officially, would it not help in the meantime to offer a reduction in time/money? maybe you could make that offer to finance guy just quietly -- no "i told you so," no dissing him or the crowd -- see what he does with it? actually, it is possible that might bubble up first from the other board members, given the crisis. maybe you can afford to wait, and be agreeable when someone else makes the proposal.
Whine: At my volunteer thing last night, we had a discussion from which I had to recuse myself. I hate that we had to have the discussion. I hate that I couldn't speak to it. I hate the outcome that may result.
Most importantly, I hate that the group I volunteer for is starving for funds. STARVING. And that it will only get worse. And that we serve the most vulnerable people in the county and have less than 5% of the school system's budget.
AW: I am hopeful that my connections to the budget bigwigs may make a difference to the budget priorities this year.
I think I'll see what comes out of Sunday's meeting. I have a feeling someone might mention it, which would begin a whole new discussion about the issue.
We may need some kind of special permission from the Presbytery to make any changes without a full process completed. We're not allowed to just make a staffing change on the QT (ie without permission from Presbytery) - that would get us in BIG trouble.
Can you contact someone in the Presbytery to sound them out about whether it can be done at all? That way if it gets brought up, you can say that you've looked into it and here's what X told me about the chances to excellerate that process.
W: not breathing so well
AW: doctor agreed to squeeze me in
AW: My Love well enough to drive me there so I don't have to try it
AW: Going to the Doctor inspired showers for all. Now less smelly!
W: probably a bit of a lung infection
AW: Meds! "I could send you for an x-ray and wait for the results, but I might not get them before the weekend, so here's a prescription for anti-biotics and an inhaler." I love my doctor.
W: meds not having any immediate effect, as expected. Still not breathing so good. Sitting in car with SG, she said something I would normally argue with her about, but I realized I simple don't have the breath to argue.
AW: maybe keeping my mouth shut isn't a terrible thing.
W: Really don't feel good.
(((( madeleine)))) oh, not good, except the meds. hopefully the antibiotics will kick in by morning. breathing moisture usually helps: tea, showers, humidifier, sitting over a pot of hot water. i hope the inhaler is something fast-acting, like albuterol.
Oh Madeleine, how awful. Feel better soon...
Hugs to all the pixies. We had a nice vacation, during which AJ had a minimal number of meltdowns over things like germs, and only one or two easily-mollified questions about poison (yay MSDS info!). She also wrote several poems about how much she loves her family and we love her. Very nice.
Came home last night, and ended up spending about 30 minutes dealing with the meltdown and "I can't stand it any longer, I'm running away, don't try to stop me" note followed by the "you are horrible parents who don't love me and want to make my life miserable" accusations, topped with the "I'm the ONLY one who EVER does any work around here and why do I have to do EVERYTHING; I should never have to do anything I don't want to do" chorus.
The trigger: being asked to help pick up some toys on the floor, while the rest of the family was also busily working on trying to rescue the house from looking like a tornado hit it.
AW: AJ meets the new therapist on Monday.
Hugs to you, too, PK. I'm glad you had a good vacation. Hoping for a brighter next week for AJ.
((( PK ))) glad the vacation was good! and i'm so sorry about the return. hoping things go well with the new therapist.
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