And with a bit of grumpiness…

Those sinus problems I was having a few days ago? They became identifiable as a full-blown sinus infection by Saturday night. By Sunday night, I felt like a big pile of shit, and called in sick to work. I ended up not going to class this morning after a light-headed/feverish spell made me fall in the shower (more embarrassing than painful), and the little sparklies in my vision wouldn’t fade for about five minutes, despite cooler water, putting my head between my knees, etc. I couldn’t get a sub for work tonight, so I went in, sniffled all over the microphone, and left after a half-hour. My temperature about a half-hour ago was just over 102 F, and I can feel this moving into my chest, as I’m developing a cough as I type. Unless I can kick this fever by tomorrow morning, I’ll be missing two days of class, which is not at all zesty, but this dizziness, double-headache (a sinus headache combined with one of those icky neck-aches), blurred vision (which, when combined with the dizziness, makes it difficult to walk through doors without banging up shoulders, and makes for much laughter as I weave down the hallway to the bathroom like a drunkard), spacing out, and ridiculous exhaustion while doing the simplest tasks (like getting dressed, or showering) ain’t gonna cut it. Ugh. My profs were very understanding when I fired off my 07:00 e-mail this morning, though.

I haven’t even been down to get my package, or the pen pal letter I know is waiting on me, dammit. It’s fucking snowing outside, too.

To top it off, I think I got Bridget sick. Poor Theodore.

The trip in was typical. Meaning, bad. Lots of quality car time with the Old Man, who likes to wander into other lanes or off the shoulders of the highway or go ten miles an hour under the fucking speed limit (and that was before the weather got at all bad, and not due to the limitations of Johnny, who does get a bit… “floaty” above 75 miles an hour) or not use turn signals to warn of an abrupt decision to get off the highway (my mother was following us in their car). I wasn’t allowed (!!!) to drive, due to it raining. Not sleeting, or snowing, or even particularly pouring, but raining. Yes, hydroplaning is a threat with my tires (new, but not particularly high traction), but shouldn’t I learn the limits of Johnny now, when I’m with someone that knows about cars, that has a cell phone, that can call for help should the fecal matter hit the rotary impeller, and when we have a second car as backup? Apparently not.

I did, however, get to see my older sister, and my nephew and two nieces. I’m not, by any means, a kid person, but those three are the cutest little kids I’ve been around for a while. If I were of a doting age (or of a doting financial ability), I would definitely dote on them. The oldest (a girl) of the three is only a year older than my younger sister (her aunt), and the youngest (another girl) is about two years old. My brother-in-law, a friendly, talkative guy that seems like he can actually take care of the kids when my sister is working (she’s a night-shift nurse) or sleeping just sold his first art piece to a gallery (or wherever one sells art) for what seems (to an art ignoramus) to be a nice sum of money (for a first piece). It looks like things are taking off for them, or rather, settling down from financial instability, the hectic-ness of having three young children, etc. I’m so happy for them. And I really like her kids. The little boy was so sweet–he never said a word, just kept staring at me with sleepy-sad eyes just like his father’s, then would go off and bring back something to show me, like, you know, his sister’s bicycle (he was about as tall as the handlebars), and put it in front of me, resuming his staring and waiting for my reaction with a sneaky half-smile. Très cute.

Am I completely jaded for my immediate thought of men taking care of children to be distrusting–for thinking that men don’t know how to take care of children, and will feed them shit or not feed them at all, put them off all the time so they won’t interfere with whatever they want to do, etc.? I felt bad for my first thought about my sister’s situation being, “Oh my god, you leave him to take care of the children during the day while you sleep? Geez, they look happy and healthy…” I didn’t say that, of course. That’s probably something I should work on, though.

Disclaimer: Any incoherentness (is that even a damn word?), misspellings, and utter lack of interesting material/links/commentary in this post (and I have been reading interesting things…) is due solely to Typhoid Mary, her boyfriend, and my punk-ass immune system.