NOVID-19

We left off last week with a very sick little Hakan. He had been at his worst Saturday, and by the time I posted on Sunday, he had been throwing up his food for 24 hours. Fortunately, he very quickly recovered after my post, and ate a normal lunch and then a full dinner that night. Although he looked pretty bad with sunken, bloodshot eyes, he was acting much more normal. He talked a lot, as if getting out all of his thoughts he'd had since feeling bad, and his energy was coming back as indicated by his pacing around and climbing on furniture again.

Even with his improvement, we'd already scheduled him for a test of Covid, and we would need the results before they would allow him back to school. Kira took him in on Monday morning, and we were nervous that the nostril swabbing would be very uncomfortable, but it turned out to be just fine. Naturally, his test for covid came back negative on Wednesday, and so he returned to school on Thursday.

The stupid thing is that almost all of the rest of us came down with some of his symptoms by the end of the week. Merritt mostly had a stuffy nose, and had some rough nights of sleep. We were so thankful that he did not have the sick tummy that Hakan had. Carver had a sore throat, but that seemed to be the worst of his (aside from some low energy). Kira got the headache along with the sore throat and runny nose, and it was really rough on her trying to keep up with the kids' remote learning while I tried to keep up with my work holed up in our bedroom. I taught all of my courses over video from our room, which worked out pretty well, but it was rough not having the focus and quiet of my office to get everything else done. Of course, as soon as Kira felt better, my mild sore throat became a runny nose and drained energy, so I was fairly useless for a couple of days.

At this point, Avey never got any symptoms (probably because she spends so much time in her room, cut off from us disease-ridden vermin). I am finally feeling much better after a good night's rest last night, so I think I'll be ok soon.

After the other boys developed symptoms, that meant that Carver could not go to school and neither could Avey because she'd been exposed to them. We had to get them tested for Covid, so we got them set up for that, and Kira scheduled herself, too. We got the results Saturday morning - all negative. Now everyone is planning to go to school on Monday, which should make this a much easier week.

Anyway, after Kira told all of her clients of the symptoms going around the house, a couple of her clients postponed appointments on Monday, so she had a little bit easier afternoon, but still came home late. Hannah came over for some TV with Avey and me. Merritt was especially heartbroken that Kira was leaving. He is very much a creature of routine, and generally dislikes when his beloved mother is not there, but he took it especially hard this time. When she warned him that she would be away at bed time to go to work, he protested, saying, "No! I want you to stay here, and Daddy to go to work." As has been the case with all of our children, I seem to be the fun one, and Kira is the source of comfort, which we all needed this week.

Merritt was rough while sick. It was his turn to say the family prayer at bedtime, so he told Kira that he wanted help with what to say. When she made a suggestion, he rejected it outright, and then told her what he wanted her to suggest he say in the prayer. I'm still dizzy from that power move. What was especially funny is that he got into the prayer about halfway, and Kira suggested that he ask for divine help to all get along with each other. He never said that part, seeming to completely space out, as if such a concept were so foreign to his young mind that he simply could not grasp the meaning of the words.

Guess the Temperature!

In another funny conversation, Hakan said to Avey that he thinks most ninjas "are in the place where they speak Spanish." Probably, dude. Probably.

It seems like there was not a lot else going on this week aside from dealing with the illness. I helped Hannah go pick up a futon frame on Wednesday night and move it into her place. She's really getting that place nice, and probably glad to have moved out and gotten her flu shot before the sickness bomb went off in our house. Hannah's had some work drama going on with the buses where they are supposed to clean their buses thoroughly, but people borrow her bus and don't clean it, and then she has to clean the replacement bus that has clearly not been cleaned. People are the worst.

Friday, Hannah was over to bake some cookie dough and we finished up the second season of Cobra Kai, left on a cliffhanger that's got us excited for season 3. We then watched an old Disney classic that I'd not seen in probably 25 years. We do that about once a week, and that's been a lot of fun for me to feel the nostalgia.

Saturday, I was operating at about 50%. The kids were all invited to a neighbor's birthday party. This is the house kitty corner from us, with a boy and a girl. The boy was turning 7, and he apparently said to his stepmother how excited he was for the Rickses to come to his party, but they had just been planning on having family over. Anyway, she invited us with just a few hours notice, and said not to worry about a gift or anything. Everybody went over except for me. There was a lot of traffic, though: Merritt came home just a few minutes later after being hit in the face with a soccer ball. Kira brought him a cupcake that he somehow got smeared all over his elbow, and he just stayed home for the rest of the party.

The neighbor boy got a new bike, and so they offered us his old one. It's a pretty good size for Hakan, and in great shape, so we'll see if that will get him interested in riding again.

We also did haircuts on Saturday, though nobody was quite in the mood. I may have gone a little too short on Carver - his hair lays down so well, it's hard to remember just how long it actually is.

He looks fine, it's just a little dramatic a difference.

In any case, we made it through the week, so that's worth something. Last night was my best sleep in several days, so I finally feel like I might just make it. I am planning on returning to campus Tuesday, and the kids should be able to focus better at school. They are still far behind in their remote learning tasks from their missed days, as they did not feel well, and were especially sick (pun fully intended) of doing remote learning.

This week is Hannah's birthday, so she's still deciding exactly what she wants to do about it. In any case, this really should be a better week than the past one...