Be Careful What You Wish For

Well, I had misplaced optimism that our door would be passed over with the plague. That swine flu hit our pig pen four days after the last blog post. Patricia started coming down with a low-grade fever as of Halloween evening and by Sunday morning, it was a full-blown fever with cough and nausea. Since seasonal flu hasn’t hit our area and won’t for another month or so, the health department and hospital are saying all flu is the H1N1 strain right now. Patricia has been out of school since, and although she had a break in her fever yesterday morning, it was up again last night. Down this morning, we’ll see what happens tonight. She’s very sad because she doesn’t like to miss school, and she has a chorus and band concert tomorrow night. If she is well enough to go to school tomorrow, she’ll be able to be in the concert. But if her fever spikes again tonight, she has to be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.

Our concern now is having the flu abate only to return with pneumonia. That’s the scary thing with this flu. Perfectly healthy kids have presented with breathing problems down the road and then it’s catastrophic. Most of us over 40 have been exposed to a similar strain of swine flu. I know I had it in the late ‘70s when it came ‘round. It was also around in the 1950s. It’s the younger kids who are particularly susceptible. But so far, Patricia is the only one to take a dive. This from a kid who got the H1N1 vaccine. The other two did, as well, so maybe it’s helping their immunity to Patricia. Brigid has had a cough, but so have all the kids in her preschool. It’s amazing she hasn’t been sick considering the sneezing, coughing and snotty noses she’s been faced with at school.

Halloween was a lot of fun, even though Patricia was coming down with her fever that night. She was dressed as a hunter of Artemis (don’t ask – it has to do with Greek mythology). I made her dress for her; she made her quiver, bow and arrows. Margaret was a great hobo, dressed in things I found at the thrift store. I darkened her face to make it look like a combination five o’clock shadow and dirt. Jack was a little insulted that she wore his cap – one of the caps he always wears – as part of a hobo costume, but she looked great. Brigid was a pumpkin. I had to cop out this year and buy her one through Ebay, but it was adorable and she loved it. She really got into trick or treating this year, running up to the doors and yelling “Trick or Treat!” then she’d say “thank you!” when she got her candy. She did very well and had great restraint not to sit on the sidewalk and start horking it all down. We’ve been giving her a piece or two a day, and she’s been very good about it. We paid a visit to Uncle John at the rectory, and visited Kathy so she could see the munchkins in their costumes. The weather held off – raining before and after we went out but not during – and it was fairly mild. A definite plus. I’ll post pictures as soon as I get them.

The weekend also brought an audition for Margaret for the drama club’s production of “West Side Story.” She won’t know if she made it for a few days, but she has a great attitude. She said if she doesn’t make the cast, she’ll become involved in sets or costumes. She also said as a freshman, she has lots of time to be involved. She is also very excited about being in the select vocal ensemble. They participate in a recording at the local PBS studio next week from which a holiday concert show is produced. Wish it was aired across the state, but you’ll have to take my word for it – the select chorus is fabulous. The general chorus is outstanding, but the select is incredible.