Two Wed. evenings ago I didn’t feel so great.  Two Wed. nights ago I felt like I’d been run over by a truck.  Fever, chills, EVERY muscle hurt, even my SKIN hurt (!), joint pain, headache, cough, massive chest congestion, swollen lymph glands (at least in my neck), difficulty breathing, sore throat,  absolutely zero energy, and when I coughed I could taste the infected mucus coming up.  Blech.  I know — sorry.  But I really felt hideous.  Went to the dr. Thurs convinced it was Influenza and secondary bacterial infection.  No flu.  But BAD upper respiratory infection.  Now, 10 days after the beginning of this, I feel worse.  Well, not entirely.  The fever and aches lasted 3 days.  So at least that’s gone.  But the cough and infection taste, breathing problems, etc. HAD been improving.  Then last night it suddenly got worse than it had been before.  So annoying.  Back to the dr. today to AT LEAST get some narcotics so I can sleep through the night.  (Bless the soul who discovered codeine!)  Probably will also start a 2nd round of antibiotics tomorrow if I’m still feeling like trash.  (Bless Alexander Fleming, and those who came after him!)

Okay — so on to the “discoveries” part of this post!  I have discovered that when you are THIS messed up, you should be very proud of yourself for crawling out of bed, throwing something edible in the kid(s) lunchbox(es), getting said child(ren) off to school, and getting yourself back home without crashing the car.  If it is a non-Mother’s Day Out day, you should also be proud of using Hulu ALL DAY to keep yourself awake, so you can be aware of the 4 year-old’s whereabouts at most times.  And it’s okay to be pleased that the 4 yo didn’t finish his lunch from the day before, so when he’s hungry you can just say (in a very excited-for-you voice), “Oh you know what!?  There is some PBJ in a baggie in the fridge just. for. YOU!  And there are some orange slices, AAANNNDDD your milk sippy cup!  And guess what!?  You are so big, I’m just going to let you go get it all by yourself!”

I’ve also discovered (by watching Hulu for hours on end) that even though the show “Sliders” (from the ’90′s) wasn’t nearly as good as “Quantum Leap,” when you’re REALLY sick it can be fun to watch.  If you fade in and out, it’s okay.  You’ll catch up.  Plus, Jerry O’Connell is always fun to watch; and John Rhys-Davies is a hoot too.  Although, now I can’t see him in anything without also seeing him wielding an axe and wiping out Orcs along-side Legolas.  But that’s okay.

And my biggest discovery was: MARS REALLY DOES NEED MOMS.

I may not be proud of my housekeeping skills.  No, that’s understating things.  I AM NOT proud of my housekeeping skills.  I certainly could improve, and have goals in that direction.  AND I really want to give a big THANK YOU to my darling husband for just taking over the instant he got home, no complaints, and even coming home early to do so.  He fed people (granted, with lots of help from Wendy’s, McD’s, Panda Express, and who knows who else — but he still did it!), he got them in bed, he kept them mostly away from me.  He even did some dishes and laundry along the way.  Not to mention that Saturday was the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby for our pack, and the car needed some adjustments to qualify.  So he did that too, as well as taking them to the derby and all that entails.  He was great.  But when I came downstairs Saturday morning because I was tired of being in bed, and I wanted some tea, I was a tad dismayed by the condition of the dining area alone!

THIS WAS LEFTOVER FROM THE PREVIOUS NIGHT — SOME FROM TWO NIGHTS BEFORE.

Oh. Dear.

When I saw this white towel stained with chocolate milk I suddenly remembered the little one rousing me from a half-sleep the previous night, asking my advice on a milk spill downstairs.  I must have said, “Get a towel.”  So he did.  And there it sat the next morning.  Next to two open milk containers, each with about 1/3 of the contents still in said containers.  Notice the uneaten bun and apples?  Under the towel were some more uneaten apple chunks.

In this picture of the floor, can you spot the partially eaten hamburger patty?  That milk bottle on the floor was, I believe, from two nights previous.  And most of the wet wipes were still damp; so I’m going to guess they were only opened the night before.  Oma, see with what disregard these heathens treat the lovely place mats you slaved over?

Floor on the child side of the table

After gasping when I saw this carnage, I blurted out in my pathetic scratchy voice, “For Pete’s sake!  Mars really DOES need MOMS!!!  Will you people please get up here and at least pick up the trash and nasty uneaten food OFF OF THE FLOOR?”  They came up to the dining level, and both busted out laughing!  But they did clean it up.  The table too.  After I documented it.

Every time I think about what must have gone on without me, it mostly just makes me laugh.  I love their daddy.  He takes good care of all of us.  And I love these sweet little heathens.   I do NOT, however, love being sick.  Here’s hoping for a better next 10 days!