I’m using my “Don’t Have To Post Today” pass. The flu sucks. (See yesterday’s update if you read the post before about 10:00 am.)

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Well it seems that I managed to make it through the flu invasion of our home without contracting the bug, myself. I’m amazed; shocked, even. This episode turned out considerably milder than I expected, apparently thanks to the previously-received flu shots and timely prescription of Tamiflu.

An interesting thing about illness and children is that when they’re on medication, like Motrin to reduce fever, you’d never know they were sick. When the Motrin is in full effect, the kids talk, play, and do everything they’d normally do. But when the Motrin wears off, and the fever comes back, they are the most pathetic things you’ve ever seen. And when you have more than one kid ill at the same time, you must keep them on the same medication schedule. You don’t want to have one coming down while the other is going up.

In our case, Calfgrit7 started showing symptoms Thursday night. We took him to the doctor Friday noon. The doc gave us the prescription for Tamiflu for both boys — to reduce Calfgrit7’s symptoms, and to help prevent Calfgrit3 from getting any symptoms. As we were about to give them their first dose of the med Friday afternoon, Calfgrit3 had a fever of 102 degrees. As it turned out, Calfgrit7 had the most severe symptoms in the family, but the illness came and went relatively fast. Calfgrit3 had very mild symptoms, and they went away quickly.

Cowgrit had been stoically suffering for a couple days — she thought it was just a bad cold — and her doc said Tamiflu wouldn’t help someone who was already so far into the flu. So she had longer suffering, and it was worse than Calfgrit3, but not quite as bad as how Calfgrit7 suffered at his worst.

And then there was me. I washed my hands so many times a day I probably lost three layers of skin. I wouldn’t let Cowgrit touch me at all until yesterday — I had to keep a sterile field around me unless contact was absolutely necessary. I slept either on the guest bed or the sofa for three nights. Cowgrit commented that the next logical step would be for me to carry a can of Lysol and spray everyone who got close to me.

When you see three people suffering from a nasty illness, and you know that if you get it, it will probably strike you harder (because of no flu shot), it’ll bring out the religion in you. “Please, God, don’t let me catch this.” I’ll hug and kiss and love up on my family tomorrow to make up for the “helping at arm’s length” of this past weekend.

* * * updated * * *

Dammit, dammit, dammit! Within a couple hours of posting the above, I went down hill like a rollercoaster. I started feeling a little bad and discovered I had a fever. I immediately went to the local clinic (no time to wait for an appointment time with my regular doctor) to get checked out. The doc prescribed me Tamiflu, and if it works as well for me as it did for my boys, I should be better in a couple days. Right now, I feel like crap.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

This race seemed to have fewer wrecks than other Daytona races I’ve watched in the past few years. And the wrecks there were had fewer cars involved, and less damage. That’s a good thing.

Although many people watch NASCAR to see spectacular wrecks, and I’ll admit to being interested in seeing them, too, a race is much more exciting when more of the top drivers make it all the way through to the end. Having two dozen top drivers battling it out in the last 20 laps is much more fun than having just 10 or 12 top drivers fighting at the end.

This was a good Daytona race even though the last 20 laps were packed with caution flags. They’d get a few laps in, the tension would be building, the jockeying for position would be set up, and then bam, someone would scrape the wall or spin off the track and everyone had to slow up for the caution flag.

Only a few of the top drivers fell out in wrecks, and the last few laps were some of the most exciting racing I’ve seen. Granted, Daytona is the only race I regularly watch (like the Super Bowl is the only football game I regularly watch). But still, this was a good race.

I almost feel sorry for Jeff Burton. He was leading at that final restart, and looked like he was going to take it to the finish. But then the two trains lined up on either side of him, and he got passed on both the left and right by a dozen cars. That has to hurt to go from 1st to 13th within 6 seconds without a wreck on the track.

And I bet Tony Stewart is mad as hell for dropping from in front of Ryan Newman down to block Kyle Busch. That opened the door wide for Newman to take it all.

Good race. Would have been better if there had been fewer yellow flags in the last laps, but still, it was exciting.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I love sweets. I love candy, cake, cookies, dessert, and treats. I’ve eaten cake for breakfast. I’ve had ice cream for lunch. I’ve snacked on treats all afternoon to the point that I’ve not been hungry for dinner. I love sweets. My family, friends, and coworkers all know my weakness for the sweet stuff.

It’s an amazing thing that I don’t weigh 200, 300, or 400 pounds considering how much sugar I ingest on a daily basis. When I eat a lot of some kind of “pure” sugar, such as cake icing, my friends joke on me about my sugar high. I do tend to talk a lot for an hour after gorging on it and then I crash and want a nap. Fortunately, that situation doesn’t happen often.

I’ve mentioned in this blog about my sugar foods hidden in the house (hidden from the kids): Cap’n Crunch cereal and such. Some of this stuff at the end of a hard day is a pick-me-up for an hour or so, and then I fall asleep.

I’ve often tried to cut back on the sugar. I’ve sworn off this specific item or that particular item, and I held to that decision for a period of time. But eventually I forget and end up eating it again before I remember my decision. That’s the hard thing about quitting something slowly.

I imagine it’s like trying to quit cigarettes by slowing down. Someone who wants to cut back from a pack a day to half a pack a day can fail because they’re still carrying around a pack of cigarettes. They may light one up and get halfway through it before they remember, “Oh, damn, I already had one this hour.”

To quit drinking drinks (sodas, pop, Coke, Mountain Dew), I had to just quit completely. And it worked. So I’ve decided to quit sweets, now. Nothing particular caused me to decide this; it was just a complicated consideration I’ve thought about for a long time. For one thing, I’m curious to see how my body reacts to the lack of sugar. I remember the withdrawals I had when quitting drinks. I wonder if I’ll loose weight from just cutting out the desserts and treats. I already get some exercise (not as much as I should and want), usually each day.

Yesterday, Saturday, was 7 days I’ve gone with no dessert or sweet treat. The first day was Cowgrit’s birthday — and I baked a cake for her. I’ve held to the agreement with myself all week, even when other people were eating sweets in front of me. I’m rather surprised at how easy this first week was. I often found myself standing at a snack machine or looking at the dessert menu before I remembered my decision. I even once bought some candy and had it in my hand before I remembered — I tossed the candy in the trash and walked away.

I’ve even had Cowgrit “get rid of” some Girl Scout cookies that came in from my orders. That situation almost had me frantic:

“Get rid of them. Throw them away, give them away, feed them to the dogs next door, I don’t care. No, don’t say you’ll hide them. I’ll tear the house apart looking for them once everyone is asleep. Just for the love of God, get them out of the house! Then call a priest and have him exorcise their evil from our home! They’re calling me! They’re whispering directly into my head!”

My brain shut down and I went catatonic for nearly half an hour after that. But when I woke up, the cookies were gone and my “diet” was secured.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com