I don’t know that I was feeling particularly gung-ho about 2018. After the year that was 2017, I was feeling pretty content to take things as they came, instead of constantly feeling like a deadline was looming.

Still, though. I had great hopes to blog more, write more in general, and have more time to be creative with my kids.

And then we got sick.

Y’all.

We don’t get sick like we’ve been sick for the past two weeks. We don’t get sick at all, really.

But the flu this year has been rough, and we can attest to that fact firsthand, sadly.
I know it’s not just our neck of the woods, but Tyler–the closest city of any size to us–is apparently number 1 in the nation for cases of flu (according to Walgreen’s data). Great for the makers of Tamiflu, Elderberry syrup, and Occicilium. Bad for…every last one of the rest of us.

Our first victim (Simon) started heading downhill a little over 2 weeks ago, and that nasty virus systematically worked its way through every last one of us…except sweet Honor. Even as I sit here, typing, sniffing constantly, and trying to ignore my super raw nose and raspy chest, I am still so, so grateful for the mercy of the baby’s not getting sick.

Not that it probably would have knocked him back too much. The littlest ones definitely had the mildest cases, suffering mostly from a day of fever and a few more of general blahness and low energy. Shaun and I didn’t get it for a few days after the first few fell, but once it hit, it knocked us out for a good (actually, scratch that: BAD) 5-6 days, and I’m STILL not well. It’s gone from flu to head + chest cold to sinus infection + chest cold to…just all around mild misery.

I have sipped every Elderberry concoction and slathered and huffed every applicable essential oil. I have swallowed garlic until I created a raw spot in my esophagus and guzzled hot raw honey, lemon, and water. Far from trying to imply that none of them have worked, I firmly believe that I would be in much worse shape without them (I could definitely feel the healing effects as the Lord has hauled me, bit by bit, back out of this sickness hole). But I can’t quite seem to shake the last little bits, so if you think to pray for complete healing, that would be great.

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Don’t be fooled. Those are 6-day-old braids, and even that wan smile is a total fake. 

Today kind of marked our official re-entry into the real world. It was a typical Monday for me. And it’s a legit MONDAY. I teach a BODYPUMP class at 5:45 AM, then race home to get myself ready + help the kids finish getting ready for home school co-op (although, they have come SO far since the first couple of weeks we started going when they pretty much could have written the manual for how to wander cluelessly from room to room without getting anything done for 45 straight minutes; they’re actually impressively efficient these days), head to co-op, where my day looks like: teach, grade, grade, eat while grading, teach, teach. THEN, we hauled it to the grocery story and shoveled all of the essentials into a basket, hustled through the line, and made a beeline for dance class. Let me assure you that, at the end of a day like this, nothing thrills my heart more than wedging 3 little girls into tights and leotards and tap shoes. But they love it. So, what can you do? (Try not to stick one of their at-once-dog-paw-esque-while-still-claw-like little feet through the foot of the tights, that’s what #somanyruinedpairs).

There is this unspoken understanding that all good dance moms should stay on the premises until their daughter’s dance class is over, buuuuuutttt…I have 4 males under 12 with me. And ain’t nobody need me bringing them to hang out in the hallway for 45 minutes. So, I always thumb my nose at good dance mom protocol and run errands instead. Usually, it’s the grocery store at lightning speeds, but since we’d already accomplished that particular feat today, we headed to Goodwill where I rarely (sadly) go anymore but which I still love to hit up for a blitz session every now and then (I came away with good clothes for the boys, including GAP jeans that are actually long enough for my older boys’ constantly growing limbs {for now} + the world’s cutest lion costume for Honor…just because).

If you’re wondering what one feeds 7 children at the end of such a day, the answer is usually something that I’ve prepped on Sunday afternoon. But not today. Today, we went the super classy route of not one but 2 bags o’ burgers from Braum’s (10 burgers, $10, BABY…and not one ounce of real meat among them, I’m sure #meforpresident).

ANYWAY, I have digressed rather impressively by indulging in a play-by-play of our Monday, but I do get asked regularly what a day-in-the-life looks for us, so there’s a typical Monday. Yes, they are all that busy. Yes, I dread them with every fiber of my being. But then, they’re happening, and it’s fine.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, we did manage to achieve a few milestones, intentional or not, during our own personal Flu-mageddon.

1. It snowed. Obviously, that would be one of the ones we can’t take credit for. It very rarely snows in East Texas (maybe 5 times, briefly, in the last 10 years), and this was no exception, since this is all we ever got…

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…and it only stayed that way for about 24 hours. But it was still fun to distract ourselves from our coughs and bedraggled, snotty existences to spend 30 minutes donning “snow gear” (sad little instantly drenched Dollar Store gloves + scarves + hats) only to come running back inside after 15 minutes.

2. I introduced the girls to Pride and Prejudice (the BBC/A&E version, thankyouverymuch), and they LOVED it. That one I take full credit for. Although, I probably would have delayed their induction into Jane Austen hall of fame if not for the fact that all any of us wanted to do was lie on the floor and moan.

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In which we finally got some sun, and Honor showed his appreciation for our constant supply of Kleenex

3. Honor turned 1. And looked incredibly cute doing it. (But then, he generally does…I’ll have to snap a picture of him in his lion suit for you guys).

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He is a CONSTANT source of joy and stress relief in our house. We are all legit obsessed with him, and he doesn’t seem to mind a smidge.

His first word? (at 8 1/2 months, no less?) “STAHP.” And yes, he uses it both appropriately and liberally. He’s also standing, and Shaun tricked him into taking what miiiiiight be construed as his first step before leaving on a work trip (so that he wouldn’t do it while Shaun was gone, obviously), so he’s practically walking. Ha.

And now, you may consider yourself sufficiently bored to death caught up on our lives.

As always, if you’re interested in the day-by-day play-by-play, you need to be hooked up with my Instagram page, where I find it much easier to bang out a post and throw up a pic than I do to vomit up a behemoth of a 1,500 word post (as I am so wont to do when I actually blog these days…need.to.edit).

What about you guys? Any flu (or otherwise) stories to tell?

8 Comments

  1. Pride and Prejudice is probably the best movie of all time, and has been our go-to binge when we’re sick, for as long as I can remember (my mother raised me right :p ). I’m sorry you guys all got so sick, but it sounds like you at least had a great consolation movie!

  2. Abbie, sorry you have been sick. That’s horrible. Praying for you all. Your house is coming along beautifully. Just absolutely beautiful.

  3. Glad y’all are on the mend! This flu is rough, and so much other nasty junk going around too. My 14 year old came down with it the day before “the snow storm” lol. The dr gave me an RX for tamiflu for ALL family members, minus the 7 week old. Praise the Lord no one else got sick!….the snow day was awesome, it took the kids about five minutes out in it to figure out we just aren’t made for the cold!

    1. You can ask, but my answer is not going to do you much good. The brand is Restoration Hardware, but I got it second-hand for cheap. 🙂

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