From The Parents’ Dictionary:
The Christmas Plague: any of the many viruses or bacteria that infect a household right before Christmas. See also: Hanukkah Hack, Valentine’s Day Virus, Independence Day Illness, etc.
Mrs. Unfocused, who is singing a tricky piece in church tomorrow, has taken a vow of silence for the day — last night, her speaking voice started sounding rough. This morning, it hardly sounded at all. She got through her rehearsal, but wants to conserve what she has until the concert is over.
Junior woke up this morning with a truly horrendous sounding cough. It isn’t croup, yet, but I have a feeling that he and I may be taking a trip to the emergency room tonight. He’s just about four years old, so croup is still something to worry about for another year or so. I think that the Unfocused Princess stopped getting it once she turned five.
The Princess and I are fine. But for how long? (Key the creepy music)
I still have hope that everyone will feel better by Christmas Eve. Last year at Christmas, the Mrs. was still recovering from a godawful sinus infection/flu/pneumonia that hung on for a couple of months, including two rounds of antibiotics. Two years ago, the Princess woke up at 4am on Christmas Eve day with a raging ear infection — she and I spent the morning at the Children’s Memorial Hospital urgent care clinic. Three years ago — who can remember three years ago? Probably the fish had the sniffles.
I did manage to write the introduction to the professional article I’m working on. It’s one of the two writing projects I have committed myself to completing before NaNoWriMo starts on November 1 (and yes, one of these days I’ll post without referring to NaNo), and it is probably the easier of the two, since it’s based on a speech I gave over the summer on a subject I know pretty well. I have most of the research done and outlined in my speech materials, so writing the article is mostly filling in around the dry case descriptions in my outline (and livening up the descriptions). I got the writing done by getting up a little before anyone else did, and then by ignoring the kids while they made a mess in the back room while the Mrs. was at rehearsal (easier said than done).
Time to make some lunch for the Princess and the Plague victims. Here’s hoping the Christmas Plague passes over your house this year.
Update at 2:05pm:
Perhaps I spoke too soon. My nose has started to clog, and I’ve got a funny tickle at the back of my throat …
The Unfocused Life 