#FluWeek2018

This has been my life for the past two weeks.  Tissues for my raging sinuses.  Water bottle and cough drops for my hacking cough.  Heating pad for my sore back. Jockeying with the cat for my fair share of the bed.  Sleeping in the guest room to spare my husband the sniffling and coughing that continue through the night.  Also, not pictured: humidifier, a variety of essential oils, cough syrup, etc, etc, etc.

I'm fairly certain at this point, that if you Google "Hot Mess", my photo will pop up.  I have been one sick, sicky-poo.

And I'm not the only one.  The whole family has been down at some point over the past two weeks.  We take turns being semi-functional so that the kids can still get fed and the trash gets put out on trash day.  I attempted a few hours of work here and there.  Beyond the very basics of existence, we've been pretty much living under a rock.

This would all be sad enough on its own.  But adding insult to injury, just as I was thinking I had kicked this bug in the butt, I relapsed.  I started to feel cruddy the day before we were scheduled to leave on a family vacation to visit our dear friends in Texas.  That night I tossed and turned with clogged sinuses and general yuck.  I tried to convince myself that a 10-hour travel day was doable. And then I imagined the sinus pressure combined with altitude, and the cough combined with dry cabin air, and spending the day trying to hold myself together long enough to get to Texas so I could go to sleep.  Ugh.  Slowly through the night it became clear to me that plane travel wasn't an option. At 5am I had to wake my husband and pull the plug on this trip.  And then at 7am I had to break the news to the kids.

Let's just say there were lots of tears.  And lots of binge-eating of airplane snacks.  And then my eye gooped up and I realized I not only had a sinus infection, but a nice case of pink eye to go with it.

Preparing and purchasing tickets and packing bags for a trip that doesn't happen is about the most heartbreaking start to spring break ever.  And then to be sick and tired and sick and tired of being sick and tired....just generally not a lot of fun to be had.

But, in the midst of chaos and disappointment there are some blessings to be found.

The kids have bounced back and shown a great deal of compassion and sympathy for my sickly self.  In spite of their own disappointment, they rub my back and pray that I will feel better. I have to take this as some kind of assurance that we're raising decent humans.

I've come to appreciate the long stretch of good health that I have enjoyed.  It's been a loooonnnng time since I've been down like this.  I'm not one that does "take it easy" very well. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I was forced to practice.

The cat and I are closer than ever. 

Southwest Airlines has a very forgiving cancellation policy.  So, even though we bailed on this trip at the last minute, we have a good chunk of credit available to make the trip another time.  

Our dear friends in Texas still love us, I think.  We had big plans to rent a house on the Colorado River and enjoy kayaking and BBQ'ing and chatting on the back porch while the kids climbed trees and made memories.  They still went and enjoyed the house, for which I was glad.  And a little sad.  When I asked my friend Tina how it was, she responded as only a true friend would: "It's terrible. You would hate it."

The kids got to enjoy the annual egg hunt at our church, with an unusually low number of participants.  They each came home with approximately 342 candy-filled eggs and big, big smiles.

So, even though #FluWeek2018, actually stretched into #2WeeksOfFluHell, I am thankful to be on the tail end.  With antibiotics working on this sinus mess, and the eye drops slowly reducing the swelling and killing the goop in my eye, and time and rest gradually bringing this cough under control, I'm feeling hopeful that this sickness will come to an end.  Eventually.

This probably won't go down as our happiest Easter ever.  But the promise of Easter shines through, regardless.  First the death, then the waiting, then the rising. Or, as the case may be....first the flu, then the resting then the rising. 

Amen!