Sick Day - Mourning in May

As sick as I was, I sure didn’t sleep well. Instead, I tossed, turned, and got up to pee about five or six times through the night. I knew very early on that work wasn’t in the cards. I hated the thought of calling in sick again after missing two days in early April with the flu, but there was no way I could make it through an entire day of work. Not as bad as I was feeling. Mindy must’ve got up around 6:30am to begin her day. By 7:00am I managed to muster enough energy to roll out of bed and contact my boss to let him know that I’d be out of pocket. I left him a VM and also sent him and my peers an email. Mindy asked if Bella could stay home with me since she was sick, too. I agreed, but with a certain amount of apprehension. My concern was that if she needed a lot of attention I wouldn’t be up to the task. What I needed more than anything was lots of pillow time. Of course the only reason that Bella was staying home was because she was ill too, so it only made sense that she would need the extra rest as well. Mindy left earlier than she usually does. It had to feel pretty good not having to drop a kid on the way to work. I was still charged with seeing Jacob onto the bus. That wasn’t a whole lot, but given my condition it seemed an arduous task. When the time came, I walked to the bus stop with Jacob. I was still in my PJ’s, but that’s no biggie. I walk Ykraps in ‘em every morning. I warned Pat & Alanna to keep their distance. I hurried back home to a waiting Bella. She stood at the front door smiling. For being sick, she was in a swell mood. I wanted badly to jump back in bed, but the concern of my “check engine” light being on in the Trooper was driving me insane. I just had to check it out before going back in. I wouldn’t have been too concerned had it not happened two other times, once each for the past two years. In each of those cases the manifold gasket was the culprit. I was fearing a chronic recurrence. But also in the back of my mind was the fact that I just got the oil changed on Tuesday. Was it coincidence? I wondered if they might’ve knocked a hose loose screwing with my air filter housing – something they shouldn’t have been messing with in the first place unless asked. I popped the hood and looked around. Nothing was immediately evident, that is until I peered under the manifold cover. There it was, big as day. The main air intake hose connected directly to the air filter housing was pulled about a half inch away from the manifold. That would certainly change things with the air mixture. On one hand, I was pleased to find something so quickly and easy to fix, but on the other hand, it irritated me that they were even messing with it. After putting everything back in its place I started it up and checked the light. To my dismay it remained on. What the … . I checked under the hood again, making sure nothing else was readily loose. Everything seemed fine. Hmmm? I was feeling rather putrid so I figured it best to stop and go back in and tend to my illness as well as Bella. I told Bella that I was gonna go back to sleep. She understood and only asked that I put in a movie beforehand. I think it was Silence of the Lambs, or was it Sponge Bob? Hmm? J I jumped back in bed and slept until 11am. Bella woke me by coming in and asking if I needed anything. It was cute. She let me know that lunch time was approaching. On my feet once again, I tooled around in the kitchen some and then on the PC. Feeling tired, I spent time in the recliner taking a half in/half out nap. Once I was fully conscious I decided now was as good a time as any to complete my run. There was little doubt that it would be tough, but it had to be done. Not only was I contending with the immediate affects of being ill, but also the added strain it placed on my aching buttocks & leg muscles. Everything hurt much worse the last two days. Bella and I reviewed the fire drill. I’d leave out the front door locking it behind me. She would only answer the door if it were me – no one else. I told her that I would return to the back door. She was content lying on the sofa watching a movie. My run was difficult to say the least. Everything hurt - my gut, my feet, my joints, and, of course, my ass. The bright spot was the weather. It was gorgeous! About three houses from home I heard what sounded like Bella screaming loudly from what I thought was the deck. And just let me say, when she screams, you know it! Suddenly my heart dropped as I doubled my pace cutting diagonally through the neighboring yard to get to our deck. There was Bella in her pajamas with tears pouring down her little brown face screaming something about bees and me being gone too long. I was shaken to the core, I’ll admit. I couldn’t make out her logic. It only prompted more questions. I was aware of the large wood bees circling on our deck, which is a common predator this time of year. But if the bees were hovering the deck, why would she be out there amongst them in fear? My initial thought was that she went out there to await my return only to be “attacked” by a swarm of the large bees. And incidentally, they look similar to large bumble bees. I don’t even know if they sting. more about (wood) carpenter bees here: http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/carpenter_bees.htm After I coxed her back inside, it took several minutes for her hyper-ventilating to subside. Eventually, I gathered that she went out because the house was getting warm. And boy was it. In fact, I was just beginning to open several windows to promote airflow. Meanwhile, she kept talking about the bees. As I went to the kitchen for more water, Bella again went on about the bees looking around wildly as if they were inside. I was really beginning to worry about her psyche. My God, was she seeing things? After all, she was sick, just like me. Then, there it was, a large bee resting against the screen above the sink trying hopelessly to free itself from the confines of our home. Poor bee! I quickly closed the window sash trapping it between the glass and screen. I informed Bella that he was trapped and went on with my business. I found that odd & coincidental, but didn’t think anything more of it. But then, just a few short minutes later, she let out another scream in terror. Again, it was about bees! Are you kidding me? I ran into the family room and found her looking up towards the skylights. There it was, another trapped wood bee/bumblebee trying frantically to escape bouncing against the glass skylight. My thoughts turned immediately to the source. Where in the hell are these bees coming from? Do I have a sudden infestation? How in the hell were they getting inside. The first thing I did was explain to Bella what the bee was doing. It was only trying to escape 14 feet above. I assured her that if we left it “bee” it would eventually die from the sun cooking it against the glass. Then it hit me. I guessed that Bella must’ve let the bees in the house when she opened the door to get air inside. When they began circling, just like they do outside, she felt under attack and went immediately for cover outdoors. That made total sense. It explained why she was out there, the panic, and more importantly, why there were bees in the house. She must’ve been horrified because even though she escaped the two bees circling inside, there were even more out on the deck circling above her head. What a hopeless feeling that must’ve been. I confirmed the story with Bella and she agreed that was exactly what had happened. But that wasn’t the end. About ten minutes later she hollered for me yet again. The bee had come down to the sofa and landed on a pillow right where she had been laying. I carefully picked up the pillow, opened the deck door, and gently encouraged his departure. Problem solved. The rest of the day was anti-climatic compared to all of that. I took a couple more naps, and then around 3:45pm I felt well enough to venture outdoors to start my lawn chores. I didn’t really have the energy stores but also knew that this might be my only opportunity for the next few days, and the grass was quickly growing out of control. I began the slow, arduous process of trimming, edging, and cutting. I wasn’t five minutes into the job when I realized that I had zero energy. And perhaps even more evident, I was dehydrated. I returned to the house for ice water before continuing. The job just had to get done. My body weary, I kept plugging away. The slopes seemed twice as steep, and the lawn twice as thick. In fact, more than once I had to stop the mower, turn it over, and clear the thick wet grassy sludge from the underside as it was affecting the mowers ability to efficiently cut & mulch. Ugh! Eventually, I completed the job. It took upwards of two hours, like usual. I was beat! Olivia & Mindy came out to play after I finished. I was very happy to see Olivia again after missing her last evening while suffering from bed. The three of us walked Ykraps together. Incidentally, Jim came and picked up Jacob. Bella opted out and stayed home with us. We had fun playing outside. It was a lovely spring evening. I think this was the first time that Mindy and I had time to interact with Olivia outdoors. I felt like a real grandpa! Ashley soon arrived and left with Olivia. It sounds like Olivia might be spending another week or two with Grandma Sharon before Ashley’s daycare center has an opening for Olivia. Too, sounds like Grandma Rosemary went in and talked with them earlier today about moving her up on their list. Thanks, Rosemary! That’s the same thing Mindy did for Lindsey, except she squandered the opportunity. The rest of the evening was uneventful. Jacob eventually returned home and both kids got a bath/shower and then went off to bed. I had a bowl of chicken noodle soup, but couldn’t eat it all. My stomach, apparently shrunken from low input, wasn’t holding much. We went to bed around 9:15pm.