The Winter Blues

The last couple days have been a bit unpleasant in our household due to various bugs and illnesses.

I've been fighting with some unknown thing that is causing me to wake up with excruciating headaches every single morning for the about the last 10 days. It's not a migraine headache - I know what those feel like - and at first I thought it was my sinuses but the pain isn't in my face. (Keep the jokes to yourself, please.) It starts at the base of my skull and radiates over the top of my head, and every little movement sends a new wave of dizzying pain crashing over me. So I went to the chiropractor yesterday, thinking it was my neck out of whack. And she did say that my neck was a bit "congested" and got some good cracks in, but I still woke up with the same sick headache this morning. So once again, I spent the first hour of my wakefulness with an ice pack around my neck. That seems to help. It's just wierd because Sudafed helps some too, plus I'm sneezing and having some post-nasal drip (sorry, gross I know) so I think there's several things contributing. Allergies, neck mal-alignment...whatever it is, I want it to STOP. This totally sucks. Not that I've ever been a hop-out-of-bed-greet-the-day-with-a-song kind of person, but this is taking my morning misery to a whole other level. And NOBODY is enjoying it, let me tell ya.

To top that off, my poor Sam has had some kind of stomach bug and has thrown up several times over the last couple days and nights. Yesterday he was pretty droopy and tired, having woken up sick during the night, so I kept him home from school and we all kind of just lazed around. He fell asleep at 5:00pm and slept until 3:00am, when he started dry heaving. The poor little fellar didn't have anything left in his stomach to get up. There's just nothing sadder than watching your kids in misery, knowing there's nothing you can do. I just hate it. So I was up with him for a while, getting him ice chips, sips of water and cold rags. He's such a brave little sick person too. He always reassures me (and probably himself) that "I'm okay, Mom", usually post heave as he's still hunkered over the toilet. He's feeling a bit better today, no vomiting at least, and actually ate a pancake for breakfast although he's turned down cookies and potato chips. Boy, he MUST be sick. Anyway, hopefully he's on the mend and the rest of us won't get that particular bug.

I'm heading to work today, not feeling great. Residual headache pain along with a stomach that's been a bit "rumbly" in the southern hemisphere for a few days have me longing for my bed and an afternoon nap. But, alas, it's not to be. I just hope that things stay under control and I can work my shift. We'll see how tomorrow pans out. Hopefully both Sam and I will have made great strides in returning to our old selves and Josh and Zoe will remain unscathed.

Can I just say that I hate winter. I LOATHE winter. The days are annoyingly short and dark, the weather is cold and wet, and it seems to be the time of year when all the bugs attack us. I hate winter. Is it spring yet??