In sickness, and more sickness

We've lucked out for the most part this year.  Other than a brief bout with walking pneumonia, our household has been pretty healthy this winter. That was, up until this week.

Normally we get the sniffles around the end of November, and they stay until the beginning of May.  As happy as I have been to not have the constant sniffles, this week has made up for it and then some!

Sunday evening M started to get the dreaded sniffles.  I ran out to the grocery store, got some oranges and Kleenex, and hoped for the best.  Tim was off work Monday, so I gave him instructions to take it easy and went off to school.  By the time I got home, sniffles had turned into full out snot grenades and soon my vibrant, full of energy daughter was struggling just to get off the couch.  Add to that Tim was now reporting his stomach just didn't feel right.  Oh, yeah, and he had been called back to work; luckily, he wasn't going back until Wednesday.

Tuesday morning things didn't look any better.  M was up half the night coughing and blowing her nose and Tim's stomach was still "not right."  I came home Tuesday afternoon and both were on the couch.  M had a fever, and was beginning to get the Bob Costas red-eye effect.  I was feeling quite achy myself and decided Wednesday needed to be a day to rest and took the day off.

Wednesday night was miserable.  Tim up with stomach troubles, M was up coughing, blowing her nose, or complaining her eyes hurt.  I got maybe 3 hours at best, so much for rest.  Tim headed off to work Wednesday morning, I called the doctor.  M woke up with her eyes crusted shut, a fever, and a cough that could pass as the world's best seal impression.  Luckily they could fit her in.  As time passed, my house was slowly being taken over by used tissues and glasses of OJ.

Even this sick, she still wanted her picture taken.

It took the doctor 30 seconds to recognize there was a lot going on.  Five minutes later, we were told that M had a dreadful combination of a double ear infection. strep throat, and pink eye in both eyes, yikes!  We made the trek up to Wegman's to pick up her prescription.  The poor girl could barely keep her eyes open as we picked up a few essentials while waiting for them to fill the prescription and flavor it (bubble gum!).  Meanwhile, mommy was still achy and feeling less than stellar.  We got home, plopped onto the couch, put on Netflix and in 5 minutes we were both asleep. 

When daddy got home, he reported stomach issues all day, and joined us.  

Luckily, Thursday and Friday offered some much needed R&R time for M.  I headed back to work, but kept the exercising and extracurriculars to a minimum.  Now it is the weekend and although we aren't 100%, we are getting there (I'd say we are about 85% right now). 

If anything, this week has taught me that life sometimes throws some curve balls.  Just because we were sick didn't mean that dishes didn't need cleaned or work didn't need done.  Still, I will say that I almost enjoyed the way it made us all slow down.  We got to focus on each other, and for a brief moment many of our usual distractors were gone.  It helped us refocus on those things that were most important: health, wellness, and family.  

Did I say I thrived off of stress?

One of the things I've always said about myself is that I thrive off stress.  I think it went back to college when they were starting to train us for job interviews.  "Turn a negative into a positive," they told me.  So I did.  Instead of saying I was a huge procrastinator who waited till the last minute, I came up with some mumbo jumbo about thriving under adverse conditions.  Now in my defense, it's true.  I've always liked my plate full.  I don't do "down time" well.  Normally too much free time in my schedule leaves me cranky and unpleasant to be around.  That's typically when I either start yelling at people or go shopping.  I'm not sure which one Tim dislikes more.

So, in typical me fashion, I have once again piled it on.  Work has been requiring an increasing amount of my time as my caseload seems to be growing exponentially.  Luckily I work with some pretty awesome people who help out.  Still, being me, I insist on doing most of it myself.  

The new semester has also started in graduate school world.  This should be my last semester in school for at least a year or so (until I get bored and go back).  Instead of spreading out my last class and internship into two separate semesters,  I decided to do them both at the same time.  What was I thinking?  I've been going to school for 25 years straight (even longer if you count preschool).  You'd think I would have this whole classwork thing down to a science by now.  Still, with each class being so unique, I never know what to expect.  Keep piling it on!

Add in the detox and many upcoming events such as Tough Mudder and a half marathon to train for, and I would say my plate is pretty full right now.  Tim thinks I'm crazy, but I'm enjoying staying busy.  I've never been one to enjoying sitting in front of the TV all day without doing anything.  Even if I stay home, I try and find something to keep me occupied.  I like the feeling like I've accomplished something at the end of the day. I think that is why I keep my planner.  There is no better feeling than crossing something off when you've finished it. (And yes, I am one of those people who will write it on my list after I finished it just so I can cross it off)

It used to be when I overloaded my plate things got pretty nasty around here.  I would be moody and unpleasant, and poor Tim took most of the brunt of it.  It's a miracle I made it through student teaching without scaring him away.  But I think this time things are a lot different.  Sure I've got a lot to do and I'm stressed, but I'm not moody or angry.  Why?  I've found a new way of relieving my stress that doesn't require me yelling at those I love. 

So what have I been doing to alleviate stress?  Running as much as I can, although with a knee injury that wasn't much.  Still if I wasn't running, I was at least making it to a few Team Adrenaline workouts each week.

It's almost as if I sweat out some of the stress.

We also took a Sunday morning jaunt across the frozen bay.  I'm a self proclaimed wuss, so this isn't an activity I would choose to do on my own.  With the bay sitting with a good 10 inches of ice, the four mile walk across and back was quite interesting.

True, it's been cold, but I can't let that get me down.  Instead, we've just added more layers and the occasional face mask to keep the frostbite at bay.

Luckily I have some pretty amazing people who help relieve stress with humor or just an ear to listen.  I think that is what makes the biggest difference.  I find that when I'm able to escape from the stress, even if it is just for an hour, I come back feeling refreshed.  I know it's going to be a long couple of months and things aren't always going to be pretty; but at least I know that I can find a few ways to forget about it for a bit.