<p>It was only a matter of time, but S came home from school today with a fever, very tired, sore throat, etc. He’s had the flu shot so hopefully this will not develop in full blown flu…</p>
<p>So sorry for anyone who/or kid is ill. So far so good here. But we just might die of grey skies and fog. Yesterday we drove to the beach and walked for hours in sweaters. The storms are on the way there as well as here. Tonight I am arguing with H about moving the car up and around the hill so he can get out in the early morn due to black ice. If you walk out and look at our driveway it looks like rain. If you step on it you know it is solid ice. Still, he can get out now but not at 6am.
It really is none of my business except that I Know he will not call in late (as he tells me ) and has cost us $800 plus when he would not listen to me and insisted he could get to work. I have put us on a super duper budget for 8 months until we are done with S’s room and board (monthly) but his tuition is stached away. Then, just a few months later H retires. However he will return part to full time on his terms. He just realized tonight that I do not have the same option. If I leave my practice for 4-6 weeks to travel, well then my practice will diminish and who knows what might happen. Not sure if I am on or off about it.
Well, he left the house so maybe afte 31 years together he knows that I just might be right.</p>
<p>^^ Ha!
Well, after feeling just dreadful for the past few days, I now have pneumonia. I’m exhausted. My intercostals and abs feel like I’ve done a million crunches after coughing so much. Did you hear about the air pollution in Beijing? It’s at insanely dangerous levels and I’m beginning to think that was the start of my problem. S, who refuses to live in CT because of allergies, has no problem in BJ!!</p>
<p>And I am right! He parked the car 5 blocks away, once he was out and understood what my concern is, on the hope that he can walk down to it and get out. We are at about 850 elevation. I found great clamp ons a few years ago and he put them on his hiking boots to try and get down to the car. Thankfully, my first client is not until 2 both because I am a night owl and very intuitive and knew this was soon to arrive. But please, powers of the universe, let us have some light soon.
Woody! so sorry and hope you feel better soon!</p>
<p>Oh no, Woody. H broke ribs from coughing when he had pneumonia a few years ago. I hope you get some relief, and soon.</p>
<p>Oregon – blech on ice storms. The absolute worst one I’ve even been in was in Portland (well, Lake Oswego) in 1983 right after Christmas. Ice thicker than I’ve ever seen before or since, and I live in the Rockies. Wicked cold, and terrible winds. We absolutely froze, and you literally took your life in your hands trying to get out and around. We drove up from sunny So. Cal. to visit friends who had a brand new house, no money, and no food (literally, no food) and very little furniture in the house. Other than the supplies we brought with us, they basically had a can or two of soup. About four days later we finally made it out to Stuart Anderson’s steak house, and I can still remember how unbelievably wonderful it was to sit in a warm room, near a crackling fire, with hot food and plenty of it. I’m pretty sure they had to drag me out by the hair to get me to leave; I would have happily washed dishes in warm water all night long if they’d just have let me stay. Funny what we remember, isn’t it?</p>
<p>Oregon, have you heard about light therapy? It has changed my life.</p>
<p>Woody, hope you get better soon. I did see the report about Beijing’s pollution a couple of days ago. Unbelievable. </p>
<p>SIL has the flu. He and D1 did not get flu shots this year, and both got the flu. “Oh when will they every learn?..”</p>
<p>arabrab–D was born on Dec.9th 1983. We were in The Dalles. A short time after her birth we were without water for weeks. She went to the laundrymat on Christmas eve. This must have been the same front and it must have come from the east. I had 6 weeks of food frozen as I am neurotic and she was a known C-section. But still–no water for weeks? We finally moved (had sold our own house with a plan to move in the summer to Denver and so were renting). Pipes were frozen out in the yard and landlords were idiots.
Glad you survived an Oregon episode. Not often but dramatic always.</p>
<p>D got her flu shot today! After bugging her to get the thing, if she gets sick now we will all surely know whose fault it is!! The team is taking an incredible amount of time, but apparently the other freshman goalie was either suspended or quit today. She doesn’t know for sure, but is hoping that the other freshman will be more welcoming to her. It’s been hard not to be on the same floor and section of the dorm as the rest of the girls in terms of getting to know them outside of practice. </p>
<p>I cleaned H’s entire office while he was out of town. I rearranged the furniture in the way it was bought to fit the room (he rearranged it when we had it painted two years ago and it was unbalanced - bookshelves on the same wall as the built in book case etc). He looks awesome and much less cluttered even though technically I didn’t move one thing out of there. He was definitely not impressed, and of course, couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge he looked 1000% better. </p>
<p>Off to bed. I need to be at the surgicenter at 6:30 am. Found out yesterday that my neighbor had her upper eyes done two years ago. I had no idea except that I always thought she was aging extremely well (she’s about 6 years older than me).</p>
<p>And while I won’t go into the details, I got a note from my sister which started with it not being a thank you note because I hadn’t sent her kids anything for Christmas. Which isn’t even necessarily true. It’s just that we had sent family gifts this year as a way to slim down our budget in what has been a very expensive year and they didn’t get sent on time - which H was furious about. Anyway… I thought her writing was pretty bold and frankly, I didn’t realize we had ever been keeping score. While she is technically right in that I wasn’t very timely in any sense of the word this year, I think the reprimand was a bit overkill. Ugh… will need to respond, but will also need to choose my words carefully.</p>
<p>No one is ever “technically right” to send a non-thank-you note to someone who did not send them a present.</p>
<p>agree with CF.
eddi–light therapy is a great thing but I have tried many and I get serious dry eyes no matter which and doc told me not to. Totally believe in them though.
Planning to meet up with D in New Orleans in March. Her BF lives there and he will be in classes most of the days so she and I will have time alone. I have never been there so am looking forward to it. Some guilt as this is not including H but sometimes it is fun to have an adventure without him.</p>
<p>Good morning! Woody, Egads, please take good care and know I’m sending you the light.
EddieO, are you using a hone light for therapy? What kind/brand if so?
Moda, goof luck on the surgery and hugs re sis. This would be a great opportunity to change that whole gift expectation pattern. In truth, gift-giving gets kind of unneccessary after a point. One of my girlfriends, for example, has started donations in lieu/honor as Xmas gifts. This year, unbeknownst to me, I bought a maternity/birth bed for a medical center in a third world country 
it was quite nice of me! My friend sends a picture of the gift and tells the background story of the beneficiary organization. It was a lovely gift and truly, there’s not a thing I need.
I suspect your sister’s family is difficult to buy for. So it might be a good opportunity to change things up. At any rate, sunshine in, clouds out ;)</p>
<p>Oregon, I don’t have your elevation to deal with but my drive is a big enough hill that if unsealed one will literally slide down onto a rural but busy enough road, I have discovered though salt only works to a certain temp. The first time h salted it, of course he slipped and fell on the ice. I have those trax ice grippers but he didn’t think to use them. We have a plough guy but he only comes after two inches. If there’s very little snow but a sudden freeze, the ice is a pita! Hope you get some sun soon.</p>
<p>I was able to sleep through the night again so I’m beginning to resemble a human after all…four weeks post plague!</p>
<p>Take care, oregon in my experience I would take a foot or two of snow over ice any day.And I hope that you get some sunshine soon. We could use some here, too.</p>
<p>Moda - sending you the good vibes, etc. I hope that your experience is as good as mine was. Very rude of your sister, IMHO. I just don’t get keeping score over gifts.</p>
<p>woody, I hope that you feel better soon.</p>
<p>Regarding light therapy, it really makes a difference for me too. But oregon, if you can not sit under the light, at least get some full spectrum lamps in your home. I installed full spectrum fluorescent tubes in my kitchen. </p>
<p>Wishing you all a return to health. I am hoping we have already had our illnesses here. It has been a less than productive winter so far.</p>
<p>I hate ice; snow I can handle, but ice is a non-starter for me. We have an short but steep driveway that ends in a busier residential street; if there’s ice, I usually don’t even try. </p>
<p>Moda, hope things go well today; woody, take good care of yourself! KMC, glad you’re on the road to recovery. </p>
<p>Wet, gray and chilly today, but happily no sleet or ice.</p>
<p>moda - I know you won’t read this till after the surgery but good luck and I hope it all works out beautifully.
PS I can’t believe your S! Nothing like the Christmas spirit to bring the venom out… I think kmc’s idea of this being a great opportunity to change the gift dynamic is a wonderful one. In our family, the ‘adults’ do a name exchange at Christmas. The kids all get some hefty cash gifts from the adults…which was all well and good when the kids were college age and could appreciate the $. Now, however, most are adults in their 30s! So we took the opportunity for change last year when one of them got married. Now upon marriage, the newlyweds are entered in the name exchange. Unfortunately, the rest of them are just living together with no thought of getting married. So perhaps not the most dynamic of sea changes but we’ll see… Ha!</p>
<p>Woody, please take care of yourself and feel better soon. </p>
<p>I’m sort of panicky, because I have so much to do at work and a new client that I was trying to impress. Now everything is so late it’s past that, now just trying to not lose said new client. And icy roads this morning. </p>
<p>Moda, thinking about you. Like hearing about the person who had her eyes done that looked so natural.</p>
<p>MP I take it you are feeling better??</p>
<p>Looking forward to hearing that Moda is home and doing ok.
Feeling any better yet Woody?</p>
<p>MP – hang in there.</p>
<p>I’m feeling a lot better, but not 100%. So I’m behind on my work but don’t have the energy to put in long days to get caught up.</p>
<p>Thanks for you concern.</p>