can't think of a cute title for this one

Now everyone in the family has been sick except one - my daughter. It's just a matter of time now. She's such a show off with her excellent immune system! That little stinker.

It has been a rough week with all the sickness, but we are making it through.

Do you ever have useful quotes come to your mind when you really need them? (Oh, just me?) The quotes that kept coming to my mind this week were:

"be kinder than necessary - everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."
(from the signature line someone used in one of my business networking groups..it kept coming up and reminding me that there are TONS of people worse off, no matter how bad I feel)

"it's always darkest right before the dawn."
(that came from somewhere wayyy back in my psyche)

"put on your 'big girl' panties and DEAL WITH IT!"
(I saw that one in a gift item catalog of all things, it makes me laugh and keeps me from whining)

But what has cheered me up this week came from an unlikely place. I received an email from someone wanting me to promote their new product on my blog.
The email called me an "influential blogger." Yes, it was really sent to me, it wasn't an error.
Are you laughing as hard as I am?

Tell you what, if I am influencing you, please email me.
. . . . . and send money by PayPal.

my annual croup blog post

I awoke at 4 am today, my toddler son (Little Guy, shown finger painting in yesterday's photo) was barking like a seal with the classic cough of Croup.

I ran into the bathroom and got the shower going with the hottest water I could. I got the bathroom all steamy. Then I went to get Little Guy and I held him on my lap in the steam for about 15 minutes. That has seemed to help. He would not stop hugging his large, stuffed Winnie the Pooh bear for anything in the world. I know stuffed animals aren't the best thing for kids with croup to be hugging (allergies, etc) but I think the psychological benefits of Pooh outweigh any harm the stuffed animal could do.

I took his older brother (age 4) to pediatric emergency care the other night, because his Croup seemed very severe and it scared me. The American Academy of Pediatrics book (we've nicknamed it Momma's Big Book of Worries) says that kids usually outgrow Croup by age 3.
The pediatric doctor said oh no - they can get it to age five.

Well, thank goodness for insurance. That's an expensive nighttime visit to the doctor just to find out there's nothing to be done about it other than treat it like a cold, encourage drinking a lot of fluids, use a cool-mist humidifier in the child's room, and the steamy bathroom treatment. All the stuff I was already doing. I know when the co-payment bill arrives in the mail, I'll open it and say to myself, "here's my bill for being stupid!"

So that's why I'm up at 5:30 am blogging.

drug madness

I went to the doctor on Wednesday because of terrible head congestion that was causing migraine headaches. I ended up with prescriptions for antibiotics, decongestant/expectorant, and steroids.

When I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions, I couldn't get the decongestant because the doctor's prescription was wrong (they don't make that decongestant in the strength she prescribed). Ugh!

So I asked the pharmacist what Robitussin he would recommend. I had been taking Robitussin but it just wasn't strong enough. I told him I have to have something to get rid of this so I can get rid of the migraines! He recommended Mucinex-D. I had to fill out a Drug Enforcement Agency form and show my driver's license. They keep this medicine behind the counter and you have to sign for it because people use it to make Methanphetamine.

I took the two pills of the decongestant as prescribed at 4 pm, and at 8 pm, I took 2 more pills. Later on, I felt jumpy so I re-read the box...and it wasn't to take 2 every 4 hours, it was to take 2 every 12 hours! I am so used to taking sinus medications, and they're usually every 4 hours, I did it like a dunce without thinking about it. Even though I had read the box at the time of the first dose, I guess the congestion and headaches had made my thinking cloudy and I was a space-case.

No wonder I slept only about 15 minutes out of each hour that night...I was all hepped up on drugs! I finally gave up on trying to sleep at about 3:30 am. I cleaned the kitchen and did laundry, and I think I could have re-roofed the house and repaved the driveway. LOL. I thought about working on some portraits, but I felt just too edgy to do that.

I kept drinking a lot of water to get it the meds out of my system. Later in the day I talked to the pharmacist and asked him about it. He told me it's okay if I did that once, but it's when people do it over and over that it harms them. He said, "Now you know what it would be like if you took Crystal Meth." He said that people who take Meth like it for how it gives them extra energy and that they feel that it heightens their awareness.

I guess I can see that, but I definitely don't want to feel like that again. It taught me a good lesson to read and then re-read all medication instructions before taking, especially when I'm sick.

still fighting it

Well, I'm still alive. Thanks to Robitussin. Our 16 month old is a little sick now, but he seems really active (pulled all the canned goods and pots and pans out of the cabinets in the kitchen) so I think he'll be fine. I've told myself to not stress about work I need to do today, and that includes artwork. It is Sunday after all. I did lots of laundry...it was Mount Washmore again.

Norman Rockwell never had to do laundry, his wife Mary did it. Grumble grumble - I gonna get me a wife. LOL! Yeah, it's bad when I start getting jealous of dead, more talented artists. I'm off to take more Robitussin. It makes me gag, but it really helps once it kicks in! My daughter swears by applesauce - she says it's the key to her good immune system...so I guess I'll have some of that too.

incubus of viral plague

We're sick over here. One kid missed school today.

It's just the general cold/flu/fever/runny nose/sneezing/body ache/earache thing.
Nothing major...LOL

So the orange juice can of concentrate is defrosting a bit on the counter so I can make some fresh squeezed orange juice (fresh squeezed outta the can!)

We have a new ear thermometer. It says I'm dying with a 101-102 fever, but the underarm thermometer says I'll live at 99-100 degrees. The worst thing is the sore throat! This is the worst sore throat I've had in awhile. So bad that I'm not talking much. The whole family is really appreciative.

I just love the makers of Tylenol. Thank you thank you good people, and keep up the good work you are doing.