Just a Flu-ke?

I got the dreaded call from Carter at school this morning. "Mom, I'm sick." He said he had a stomach ache and he just couldn't make it through the day. So I told him to sit tight and somebody would be there.

Now our emergency plan is this: Call Grandpa and Grandma Austin. They're retired. They're close by. They could at least get him to our house until we get there.

Unfortunately, they weren't home. What good are "emergency contacts" is they're not around in an emergency?! OK, I'm not seriously mad or anything. They do have a life which does not involve waiting for their kids to call with pseudo-emergencies.

It just happens to suck for hubby and me since we work an hour away. Some days it comes down to a coin flip. Today, I had something I could do on the computer (which did not go well, by the way!), so I headed to Grant Elementary and he hitched a ride home with a co-worker who also lives in Rapids.

Of course, we're paranoid about Swine Flu and all that. But Carter honestly seemed fine within an hour or 2 after we got home. I only had him eat soda crackers at lunch but later, he was like, "I'm good now," so he had something more. About 3:45, up it came. You know, Pop Tarts don't look so hot the second time around. (Neither does whatever else came up later!)

So he really is sick -- not trying to get out of anything -- and we don't know if it's the Rockin' Pneumonia or the Boogie Woogie Flu. I guess we'd take that over the Piggy Wiggy Flu any day.

Carter, obviously, would rather have none of it. Right now he just wants to keep the popsicle down and be able to eat some crackers yet tonight. I for one hope he succeeds!

Dateline :: Friday

Raise the Roof: We slept under a new roof last night. No, we didn't go anywhere. Just got a new "cover" on top of our humble abode. Since hubby is editor of a metal roofing magazine, we had to go metal or else! It looks nice. If it ever gets sunny (or just NOT raining), I will get some pictures. I'm looking forward to an energy-efficient home this winter without any leaks when it's icy. Yay!

Rained Out: Speaking of rain.... It rained again all day. Poor Jim had to drive to Chicago and back today for work. He was just glad it wasn't snowing like north of here! Carter was supposed to have soccer practice. We did last time it rained so I booked it home from work only to find out it was called off. I'm secretly glad. (Well, not too secretly.) Not like it would have mattered to me since I would have been one of the wimps in their cars. Tomorrow is his last game so we'll see what the weatherman brings.

School Closings: No matter what happens this weekend, there has already been a decision made to close one of our junior highs on Monday. Our district has a threshold of a 30% absenteeism rate to consider closure. So far, the elementary schools are doing OK with the dreaded Swine Flu. Maybe Carter really did quit kissing the girls. I wonder what's going on at the junior high, though...

Birthday Boy: My dad turned 82 today. Amazing to think of what he has all seen and done in his 8+ decades, isn't it? I still haven't gotten ahold of him so either one of his other generous children (who live closer) is taking him out to eat -- or he found a birthday "treat" at a casino that was irresistible. Hmmm. Kids these days. They don't let anyone know where they are!

Chocolate Cravings: Since Carter just finished the book Charlie and Chocolate Factory this week, I promised him we'd rent the Willy Wonka movie. I didn't want him to watch it before he tested on the book since movies and books don't always jive. I made sure we got the old-school Gene Wilder one instead of the newer one with Johnny Depp. Nothing wrong with spending 2 hours with Johnny Depp, mind you, but you can't beat Gene Wilder's sarcasm in the original. Love it! Of course, now we're both craving chocolate!

At least we'll have sweet dreams.

This Little Piggy...

I am trying to determine if I am over-paranoid (as opposed to just regular paranoid) about Swine Flu these days.

I asked Carter if there were lots of kids missing from school yet and he responded, "Oh yeah, Mom. They're dropping like flies." I hope they are just dropping from the attendance rolls and not permanently out of commission.

The schools -- everywhere around here anyway -- will hold H1N1 vaccination clinics sometime in the coming weeks. But I'm wondering if that'll be too late. I already had a co-worker and his 2 kids get it last week. Now the neighbor boy across the street has it. My girlfriend's kids have strep and they hope that is all.

I am washing my hands every half hour it seems and I find myself pausing to diagnose every feeling. Am I hot? Cold? Is my throat too dry? Is this just a normal stress headache?

I really, really hope this bypasses our household -- mainly for 2 reasons. 1) Who the heck likes to be sick? 2) We've got a busy weekend planned, including scrapbooking all day Saturday and a party Sunday to celebrate my dad's birthday and my nephew's "visit" home from Iraq. I don't want to miss that!

So I'll just ignore these paranoia-based phantom symptoms and hope they'll go away. Now, if I can just get Carter to stop kissing all those girls, we'd be in good shape. For today anyway.