Got a Lip Fungus They Ain't Identified Yet

About four weeks ago, I woke up with a horrible headache. It felt like my brain muscles were all tensed up, and I couldn't relax them. I thought it was a hormone-induced migraine, except it lasted too long. For four or five days, it felt like my brain was being squeezed. Just when I was ready to schedule an MRI, it suddenly went away.

For about three days I felt okay, then I slowly got a cold. I spent most of Thanksgiving weekend blowing my nose and wishing I could just lie in bed with my eyes closed. Instead of getting better, it got worse. According to Chip (and Web MD), I developed a sinus infection. I was considering visiting the doctor for some antibiotics until Chip (and Web MD) decided that Sudafed was the answer. And boy was it. I took generic Sudafed every four hours for five days, and finally started feeling like a normal person. Then Friday I had the stamina to shop. Saturday I had the energy to run after the kids. And today I got on a treadmill before my work day started. I feel like a new woman! Or possibly just like the old woman I used to be, before a month of illness wiped out my (considerable!) spark.

Chloe sensed our house was about to be free of illness, so she decided to step up her slightly runny nose and make it into a real cold. Her nose is now running like a faucet, and her voice is down to a croak. However, she doesn't know she's sick. In true Chloe fashion, she is all smiles and charm and finds her new voice hilarious. This morning I asked her how she felt, and she replied, "Good!" and then dissolved in a fit of giggles because she sounded more like a frog than a "big girl." She sat at the breakfast table and took requests from her brother. "Say 'Connor!' Now say 'waffles' again! Hahahahahaaa!"

I guess she already takes after me- I didn't take any sick days off of work while fighting my various illnesses, and she doesn't seem willing to give in either. As she gets older, I'll have to teach her the magic power of laryngitis. There is no better time to call in sick than when you sound like a frog- I would have let her call Brenda for me this morning if she had been willing. But she soldiered on, willing to take on a cold and rainy Monday as long as it meant she got to go to school and entertain her classmates with her "crooked" voice.

The boys have managed to avoid all this, which is great. (Knock on wood.) For our next trick, we will try with all our might to avoid the stomach flu that is going around my office. We were able to avoid the strep throat, but I can't imagine we'd get that lucky twice. At least I've got some sick days saved up, just in case.