sickies

E and Mommy are both sick today. I have a streaming nose; she has a problem at the other end. This is really adding insult to injury! I was already struggling with low energy, mental and physical fatigue, and now this. Two friends helped me today. Marie took E to watch airplanes with her family while I grocery-shopped, and Aparna brought me a bag of fruit and some great cold medicine (the kind you dissolve in hot water and drink). And E slept for about 3 hours at naptime! yay. I napped too, part of the time, and read the newspaper. My kitchen is a wreck and there's a pile of stinky clothes and crib sheets in the hall. I haven't washed my hair since Wednesday. But before I got sick (which was late last night), I had friends over and enjoyed myself: on Wed. night Kelly helped rearrange things in the kitchen/office and cleaned on top of the fridge, among other things! On Thurs. night Lisa brought salad and helped E with her bath, and we ate one of the frozen meals my colleagues sent me last week. On Friday, Carol from church brought a soft afghan she knit as part of our "caring friends" committee and gave me great advice from a survivor's perspective. Susan took me and E for a walk and lunch in a nearby restaurant. Felecia babysat last night and gave E her dinner while I went to a church project meeting that I was looking forward to. I think I overdid the scheduling a bit, but I enjoyed all of it.

With all this friendly busyness, E started to get jealous with me. She didn't want me talking to other people anymore, in person or on the phone. She'd say "Mommy, stop it," and turn my face toward hers or put her fingers over my mouth. So today, with what energy I have, I've tried to give her less-divided attention. My mood isn't too bad, actually, but my body is wiped out. As I sit here with a tissue stuffed as high in my left nostril as I can get it, typing to Celtic music on the radio, I hear E talking to herself in her crib. I left the lamp on to let her read to herself for a while. I want to check her diaper again before I go to bed. She's pretty sore down there.

One of her games today was "going to work". Over and over, she'd usher me out of her room and shut the door behind me, saying "go to work". Before I could get 4 steps down the hall, she'd open the door again and say, "come in!". Then turn around and go to work again. She told me one of the times that I needed a blanket, and she gave me three.