Big Surprise

So now I'm sick. I've got the bursting-head-uncontrollable-cough-runny-nose-just-let-me-curl-up-in-a-ball-and-die kind of cold.

Unfortunately, it's Friday.

You see, I really don't mind if I get sick during the week. Unless I"ve got some vital meeting or critical project I have to complete, a fever or uncontrollable cough Monday through Friday means a day on the couch, alone. I line up the coffee table with my remote control, magazines, books, the phone, some tea, a box of Kleenex and some snacks. The cats curl up nearby and together we catch up on our Tivo, Oprah, Ellen, and whatever 80s movie is showing on TNT. A sick day during the week can sometimes be a welcome relief from the hectic pace of our lives.

But this time my timing is all off. Sure, I felt it coming earlier in the week, but I soldiered on, taking Nyquil at night and feeling better by day. But today - Friday - it hit me about 10 a.m. that I was, in fact, quite ill. I made it through my mid-day meeting and came home for a little couch time, but by the time I got home there wasn't much left.

I have to get the kids at 5, and then the weekend begins - and as all parents know, there's no time for being sick on the weekend.

Saturdays and Sundays are flurries of activity. We usually do some blend of trips to the grocery store, Target, the mall, and dinner at one of a handful of kid-friendly places with lots of quality time at home playing trains, reading stories, chasing the kids around and watching one of Owen's favorite movies.

There is, truly, no time to be sick.

Dave and I try to cover for each other as best we can when one of us falls ill on the weekend, but it's tough. Our house is on one floor, our bedroom is right off the playroom and our door doesnt' stay closed. So no matter how hard we try to sleep late or hide beneath the covers, Owen and Jake always find us.

So I'm off to load up on Robitussin, stuff my pockets with Kleenex and hope for the best. With a little luck, maybe I can hold the worst of this off until Monday when I can stay home and really be sick.