Waiting and Watching

Punky is on the right side of the couch, peacefully asleep for now.

I'm on vomit watch for the next few hours.

In round one she managed to get the carpet in one long, nasty streak from the living room, up the hallway, and into the bathroom.  After dozing off for about an hour, she soaked the left side of the couch in round two, right through the towels I stockpiled under her.

So, I suppose I have some time to kill while I enjoy my Lysol high and wait for the inevitable round three.  And for the washer full of puke towels to stop so I can get them into the dryer.

I'm always whining that I never have time to write, so I may as well take this opportunity to bombard you with random tidbits of shit I would've written about in the last few weeks if I had the tiniest ounce of self-discipline and determination.

Let's see, where to start?

The election?  Meh.  Politics aren't usually my thing but what the hell.

Truth is, I really don't have many positive things to say about either candidate.  One is a financial disaster, the other a social disaster.  In my opinion, the lesser of the two evils won in the end.  As I explained it to Punky, my uterus is happy but my piggy bank is scared.

All I know is this: if we stand any chance at fixing this country and healing all that ails it, politicians need to spend less time worrying about gay marriage and what women do with their reproductive systems.  Their beliefs on such issues are rooted in the teachings of their religions and therefore have no place for debate in a country that was founded on the very principle of separation of church and state.  And one way or another, everyone deserves to have health insurance.  Period.

Sandy?  Wow.  She packed quite a punch.  We weren't really affected here, aside from some strong winds and rain for a few days, but the devastation on the coast is horrific.  While I am in no way, shape, or form a beach person, I do love the boardwalks of the Jersey coast, especially Atlantic City. My sister inherited my mom's taste for a nightly glass of wine; I inherited her love of an occasional jaunt to a casino.  In the last few years I haven't really had the time or the finances to indulge much, but I have some great memories of the yearly trips we used to make to AC on Black Friday.  We gambled while the rest of the country shopped.  It was our thing and I really miss those trips.  I wish all the devastated areas a speedy recovery.

My weight?  Holding steady.  I bounce between 133 and 138 and haven't really had any issues with maintenance.  I try to stay on the lower end of calorie intake during the week, and then eat what I want on the weekends. So, the scale reading tends to be the highest on Monday morning, and the lowest on Friday.  It's a great balance and really works for me.

My back?  On the whole, much better.  But it's still not quite right.  I haven't returned to the chiropractor since that last painful rib-muscle-stretching visit. I was sore for weeks afterward.  I haven't started working out again, and I've decided to wait until after the holidays.  I'm thinking the beginning of February.  It will give my back a bit more time to heal but still leave me plenty of time to get in shape for summer.

Finances?  Yuck.  A sore topic around here.  The switch in Punky's dad's schedule has impacted us just like I thought it would.  Things are tight, but we are getting by and making ends meet for the most part.  This Christmas will pale in comparison to last year, that's for sure.  Since my whole family is in the same boat, we've agreed to focus on the kids and skip the gift exchange between the adults.  I've already finished my niece and nephew, and we're about 90% done with Punky.  I even wrapped about half of what I've bought thus far.  So, I think we'll weather the holidays okay.  The most important thing is that the kids have a great Christmas.  But it's going to get even uglier come January.

Unfortunately Punky's dad is facing a massive layoff after the holidays. Company wide, the "safe" date has been rolled back to a hire date in 1984. It's very likely he'll be off for an extended period of time, and we'll be forced to make some extremely hard decisions.  Should we sell the camper we only used twice and enjoyed so very much this summer?  Should we break our contract and pull Punky out of school?  There's no way we'll afford it with him on unemployment, but it will be a great disservice to Punky.  She's so smart, so advanced, and she absolutely loves school in the pre-K class this year. Should one or both of us look into picking up a second job now instead of waiting until we we hit rock bottom?  We're rolling with the punches for now. My stomach turns just thinking about it.

There, the washer has stopped and the puke towels are clean and in the dryer.

This week was rough for Punky in terms of illness.  We've really been luck this fall, so I guess we were due for some shit.  She woke up with a low fever on Saturday, and as the day progressed it climbed higher and took her cranky meter with it.  After eating a banana as a snack before bed, she told me her throat hurt when she swallowed.  I grabbed a flashlight and was horrified by the puss bubbles lining the back of her throat.

Thankfully our pedi office has weekend hours in case of emergency.  I was convinced she had strep so we made a Sunday morning jaunt to the doctor. The rapid strep test came back negative and she told us that most of the puss-filled sore throats they've been seeing are viral in nature and it simply needed to run its course.  She was still too sick to go to school on Monday, so her dad stayed with her in the morning and then I came home after lunch so he could go to work.

She was still slightly feverish on Tuesday but otherwise fine so we sent her to school.  Come Wednesday I missed another half day of work because they decided to close the daycare at one o'clock.  All the teachers were sick and they didn't legally have enough available staff left to stay open.  When I took her to school this morning, the daycare director told me most of the teachers had respiratory things, possibly even the flu, but she had the stomach flu and spent twenty-four hours with diarrhea and vomiting.

Guess which one Punky picked up?  I suppose it's the better of the possibilities.  It's the messier one, that's for sure, but it's over relatively quickly with very little chance of major complications or hospitalization.

I am so relieved that I already have a vacation day scheduled for tomorrow because otherwise I'd be calling off again, but the reason I'm off is because we are headed down state for my nephew's birthday party this weekend. Punky and I both have an appointment for desperately needed haircuts tomorrow evening, so were were planning on hitting the road relatively early tomorrow morning.

All I can do now is wait to see how she is tomorrow.  There's no way I'm making a two and a half our drive with a pukey kid who has the potential for explosive diarrhea at any moment.  She's still asleep and I don't dare move her.  I'm not stirring up her remaining stomach contents, if there's even anything left in her tiny belly.  I guess I'm looking at a night spent sleeping on the living room floor.  My back won't appreciate it, but I won't leave her alone in case she vomits in her sleep again like last round.

It's been over two hours since that last bout and I suppose I should try to get some rest while the getting is good.  Here's to hoping her dad and I escape catching this crap, and that this is the end of pukefest 2012.