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The Sick Hits the Fan
I know. Surprise, surprise – the Rickses are sick again. How on earth could six people sharing the same space get sick? Two of us regularly leave the house to get exposed to illnesses from other people, and then the youngest 3 do not practice very good hygiene when it comes to germs, and the oldest two of us have compromised immunity what with our lack of regular sleep and all.
Kira was the first to catch this illness earlier in the week. She’s had clogged sinuses, which has led to headaches and ear aches. She’s arguably had it the worst of all of us. Hakan and Merritt both came down with the stuffy nose as well, but do not seem to have it quite as bad as Kira. Avey, Carver, and I have sore throats, but nothing too debilitating. Merritt made sure to let us know how bad he felt on Thursday night, waking up about every 20 to 90 minutes, crying like he’d just learned that [spoiler alert] Dumbledore dies. He’s been making up for it in naps since then, at least.
One thing that hasn’t helped reduce the headaches in the house is that Merritt is into a screaming game recently. Carver or Avey will play hide-and-seek with him in our kitchen, where one can run around in a circle around one wall. They surprise him at one of the doorways, and he will scream at the top of his lungs in delight, surprised every time. It’s adorable, but so loud.
Thankfully, the weather remains mild, so that the kids can enjoy the outdoors together rather than murder each other…at least for a while. They’ve been playing games together outside, usually where Avey comes up with a scenario, deciding who is which character, and then basically walking the boys through their roles. Carver is usually perfectly compliant, and Hakan will at least stick around to enjoy all of the fun. Merritt just seems to like the new place to explore, complete with leaves and dirt to taste-test.
I’ve been in a pretty good place for the last week. This is the last full week of classes, and I am nearly all caught up. I have a doctoral student who is about to propose her dissertation, and so that will take off a little pressure to have done. I submitted a manuscript for review after working on it for the whole semester, and I’m getting set up for my summer courses. I’m also very much looking forward to the summer – my sister is coming to visit in about 4 weeks, and now that we won’t have a brand new baby, maybe we will get the chance to enjoy the outdoors a little more than last year!
We commemorated my younger brother’s passing yesterday. It was harder on me than most years, and I’m not sure why. I think it has something to do with the few minutes I had to dedicate to thinking about Jesse; they were when my kids were outside playing blissfully. I couldn’t stop thinking how my two youngest were born after Jesse left us, and how he would have loved to get to know them. The older two have come such a long way since his passing, that I’m sure they would be great friends, too.
Kira and I will celebrate our twelfth anniversary this week, although the plans are still a bit up-in-the-air. It’s simultaneously hard to believe it’s been so long, and hard to believe it’s been so short with all that we’ve experienced! We have a lot to reflect upon, and a lot to which we can look forward.