Various Viruses

Yesterday afternoon I received an email message from a colleague of mine, imploring me to check out an unfamiliar website in promise of "something really cool." Having received another message of this sort from the same colleague, I was a bit suspicious and did not visit said website. Later on, it was confirmed that it was, once again, a virus that had gotten by the impeccable protection of the University of North Dakota's web security. If any of us paid more than $80/year for our internet connections, we'd probably be outraged. As it is, we just sigh, shake our heads and move on with our lives.
I found this one to be particularly amusing given the fact that we are facing another kind of virus in our house right now. Megan came home from daycare last Friday after vomiting on Janelle (that woman is a saint!) and proceeded to remain sick through early Sunday morning. Thinking all was well, Andy and I went out for Valentine's Day -as planned - with some very good friends. And we proceeded to have a wonderful evening. Nico came home from school very tired on Monday, and by early Tuesday morning he was vomiting as well. I cancelled my classes and office hours on Tuesday to be home with him, and Andy stayed with him on Wednesday. He went back to school Thursday, just in time for me to wake up with an awful headache and stomach ache. Blaming it on the laps I had swam the day before, I ignored it and went to work anyway. I kept telling myself that if I could just make it until 3:30, then it was fine to be sick. At 3:30 my headache had increased from a painful throb over one eye to a painful throb throughout the entire skull. But, since Andy and I had promised the kids we'd take them to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (where they can eat peanuts and make a mess with the shells - they love that part) I downed some ibuprofen and put on a happy face. Partway through dinner, it became clear that I shouldn't be eating anything. After dinner, we ran to Target for a few things, and by the end of our quick shopping trip I had left to sit huddled under a blanket in the car, with the heat on full blast. After an awful night (I'll let you fill in the details) I tore myself from bed long enough to get the kids to daycare and school this morning, then went back to bed until I had to pick them up again. I thought I was feeling better, but it turns out I was wrong.
The saving grace in all of this was that Andy had been gone for most of this, and I was hoping that he would be able to take care of things tomorrow when he was home and I could rest. When I talked to him a few hours ago he was sleeping, and the nurses were checking on him once in a while to be sure he was all right. I am fairly certain that when he gets home tomorrow this little virus will hit him full force.
In other news, Andy is wrapping up his time on OB for this year. He has thoroughly enjoyed it, and while I am excited for him to be home on the weekends for a couple months, I will be sad to see this rotation go. The weekend shifts were awful, but he always liked going to work. In comparison to his days in surgery, this has been heavenly!
Nico's last hockey game of the regular season is tomorrow. He has informed me that it is his favorite day of the year, as he gets to be goalie tomorrow. In March he starts the extended season. As we've been doing hockey several nights a week since the first week in October, I am less than thrilled by this extra season, but Andy and Nico are both excited, so I suppose it is worth it in the end.
Megan's dance recital is coming up on May 15th. We were able to go to Parent's Night a few weeks ago to see their progress. I think it is fortunate that I have always liked the little dancers who panicked on stage or did their own thing, as that is likely to be Megan. She is capable of doing all of the ballet positions they are doing, but she is equally sure that they should be put together in a different routine than the one everyone else is doing. This promises to be an entertaining evening!