After two and a half weeks of being the primary caregiver in this family it is only fitting that I come down with one Mother (pardon the pun) of a head cold! The day S returned to work (wednesday) I awoke with a sore throat and no energy - and no-one to stay home and take care of me!
It's the weekend now so you would think that with S back home I would relish the thought of just lazing around all day... ARE YOU KIDDING? I've been STUCK here for three weeks now with only an occassional foray into the real world. The absolute LAST thing I want to do is spend any more time here; not reading, not watching tv, not cleaning, not sewing (a project for Liam's school - a whole other story), not staring into space, not again, not any more. Not. Absolutely.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Where Have YOU Been?
It has been quite a couple of weeks.
It all started with a perfectly formed "dewdrop on a rose petal" on Liam's side. There was only one but it heralded a change in daily life as we know it like the crystal clear ring of a bell.
Shortly after I called Steve to inform him of the Pox on our house he called me back with the news that a long awaited day-surgery (not a vasectomy - why does everyone assume he had a vasectomy?) appointment had been made for the following Wednesday. This, I thought, will help break up my stay-at-home purgatory just when it will start getting to me. Steve will be home, recovering for a couple of days, and I can get out of the house...
I should have paid closer attention to that bell tolling.
Steve's surgery, although it was 'minor' and went well, has resulted in him being in constant and excruciating pain for a week now. His 'couple of days to recover' suddenly morphed into a two-week at-home recovery with a regimen of pills that required a spread sheet to keep track of (I'm not kidding, I actually made a spreadsheet). So just as Liam was getting better I acquired a new patient who spent most of his very few waking hours stoned and basically immobile. As I described his situation to one friend last week (after I spent his first day home from surgery calling my mom for childcare and running around picking up various prescriptions, including painkillers, they FORGOT to tell me about at the hospital probably in part due to his BAD reaction to the codeine they had given him) "He’s currently barely conscious, incoherent when he does speak, and ‘handsy’ - so basically a dirty old man in a 36 yr old body..."
She responded with gifts for the poxy boy and a very large bottle of fortified beer for me (aptly named Amnesiac) - some people just get it! (not that I have been able to drink it...)
Steve is almost out of painkillers and we have been rationing him the last couple of days (it's much nicer having my actual husband here for parts of the day) but the (2nd) experimental night-with-only-Extra-Strength-Tylenol was a complete failure. At least I'm still clinging to stable physical health, even if my mental health has taken a beating. While Steve has been shut into a world of pain and hallucinations, I have been trapped into a non-stop single-parenting/nursing role and both of us are losing the sense of who we are.
So, of course, today the inevitable finally happened and Zoe woke up with the pox. They don't call them childhood diseases for nothing. She is three, so inspite of her cold-like symptoms - which give her a cute husky little voice - and fever, she has more energy than Steve and I combined. As Liam and I were setting off in the pouring rain, school-bound on foot and bike, Steve was drawing a bath for the newly spotted girl (My mom claims a warm bath will draw the spots out faster and they suffer less. Whatever - Zoe loves baths). Upon my return, Steve informed me that Zoe, critisizing his bathside manner, had some precious words of wisdom for us;
"Dad, you are NOT a very good Mommy"
"You are a really GREAT Daddy though"
And with that I heard the bell ring again.
This time it helped to clear the fog that started to roll in two weeks ago.
You can always count on your kids to help ground and centre you when you need it most.
It all started with a perfectly formed "dewdrop on a rose petal" on Liam's side. There was only one but it heralded a change in daily life as we know it like the crystal clear ring of a bell.
Shortly after I called Steve to inform him of the Pox on our house he called me back with the news that a long awaited day-surgery (not a vasectomy - why does everyone assume he had a vasectomy?) appointment had been made for the following Wednesday. This, I thought, will help break up my stay-at-home purgatory just when it will start getting to me. Steve will be home, recovering for a couple of days, and I can get out of the house...
I should have paid closer attention to that bell tolling.
Steve's surgery, although it was 'minor' and went well, has resulted in him being in constant and excruciating pain for a week now. His 'couple of days to recover' suddenly morphed into a two-week at-home recovery with a regimen of pills that required a spread sheet to keep track of (I'm not kidding, I actually made a spreadsheet). So just as Liam was getting better I acquired a new patient who spent most of his very few waking hours stoned and basically immobile. As I described his situation to one friend last week (after I spent his first day home from surgery calling my mom for childcare and running around picking up various prescriptions, including painkillers, they FORGOT to tell me about at the hospital probably in part due to his BAD reaction to the codeine they had given him) "He’s currently barely conscious, incoherent when he does speak, and ‘handsy’ - so basically a dirty old man in a 36 yr old body..."
She responded with gifts for the poxy boy and a very large bottle of fortified beer for me (aptly named Amnesiac) - some people just get it! (not that I have been able to drink it...)
Steve is almost out of painkillers and we have been rationing him the last couple of days (it's much nicer having my actual husband here for parts of the day) but the (2nd) experimental night-with-only-Extra-Strength-Tylenol was a complete failure. At least I'm still clinging to stable physical health, even if my mental health has taken a beating. While Steve has been shut into a world of pain and hallucinations, I have been trapped into a non-stop single-parenting/nursing role and both of us are losing the sense of who we are.
So, of course, today the inevitable finally happened and Zoe woke up with the pox. They don't call them childhood diseases for nothing. She is three, so inspite of her cold-like symptoms - which give her a cute husky little voice - and fever, she has more energy than Steve and I combined. As Liam and I were setting off in the pouring rain, school-bound on foot and bike, Steve was drawing a bath for the newly spotted girl (My mom claims a warm bath will draw the spots out faster and they suffer less. Whatever - Zoe loves baths). Upon my return, Steve informed me that Zoe, critisizing his bathside manner, had some precious words of wisdom for us;
"Dad, you are NOT a very good Mommy"
"You are a really GREAT Daddy though"
And with that I heard the bell ring again.
This time it helped to clear the fog that started to roll in two weeks ago.
You can always count on your kids to help ground and centre you when you need it most.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Blast From the Past!
Remember when there was no need for babysitters and you had the energy for an all nighter? In another country? Ok, so maybe that's just me.
Anyways, catching up with old friends has been a spontaneous hobby of ours this past year. The latest arrival, Amazing Larry, is an old friend from the days when S and I were in a band together! He hooked us up with a MySpace Video from Fortune & Maltese & the Phabulous Pallbearers - A Garage Band from Detroit Michigen we hosted locally and toured briefly with far too long ago. The following footage is from a very sloppy (we didn't bother rehearsing) gig in Vancouver.
Just Like Me / Try A Little Harder
In their words... "Impromptu workouts of "Just Like Me & Try A LIttle Harder" Live in Vancouver, B.C. with Members of Captain Cook & The Nootka Sound."
Anyways, catching up with old friends has been a spontaneous hobby of ours this past year. The latest arrival, Amazing Larry, is an old friend from the days when S and I were in a band together! He hooked us up with a MySpace Video from Fortune & Maltese & the Phabulous Pallbearers - A Garage Band from Detroit Michigen we hosted locally and toured briefly with far too long ago. The following footage is from a very sloppy (we didn't bother rehearsing) gig in Vancouver.
Just Like Me / Try A Little Harder
In their words... "Impromptu workouts of "Just Like Me & Try A LIttle Harder" Live in Vancouver, B.C. with Members of Captain Cook & The Nootka Sound."
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