Phew. We Survived.

Where have I been, you ask? Or maybe you don't, but I'm going to tell you all about it anyways.

It's been quite the week and a bit. I don't even really know where to start with it all, so if this blog reads like verbal diarrhea, just deal.

My husband was away for four days last week. That's not usually difficult or anything, in fact, I seem MORE organized and on task than when he is here. (what does THAT say about me? I have no clue) However, it was the week of Halloween and we had no pumpkin and no candy. Oops. When he arrived back home, it was a mad scramble to find said items. Well, the pumpkin anyways. In the end, my neighbour gave us two of her 5 and we carved those. I grabbed candy Friday night while grocery shopping.

Now, this probably doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but I'm a HUGE keener. I'm the Mom that did a big "scary" dinner last year and decorated like a fiend. This year-chaos. We put a few decorations up Halloween day. We carved our pumpkins a few hours before Trick or Treat time. Luckily we had the girls costumes all picked out and ready a few weeks prior. Not so luckily, we forgot to take our camera and any pictures of the girls in their costumes. My neighbour, thankfully had taken a few.

I have no idea what happened in that week, but the whole thing seems kind of a blur.

Actually, I DO know what happened. The H1N1 happened. It has struck where I live in a big way. It seems like every family I know has someone down for the count. They aren't even testing it as H1N1 anymore, they are just assuming that is what you have. My husband has had some confirmed cases within his employees though. It's pretty scary stuff. While the flu "kills" people every year, it usually attacks those with already compromised systems. The difference with the H1N1 is that it's killing young, healthy children and young people. Schools here are out anywhere from 30-48% of their children. We are hand washing and my kids take antibacterial hand gel to school as well as a pack of Kleenex. They immediately wash their hands after coming in from school or anywhere we go in public. The problem isn't with us, it's the inevitability that many, many others don't take as strident regard for their (or others) health.

So, after much debate, we decided to get the vaccine. My daughter has asthma and we were told that her lungs would constrict much quicker then others (as asthmatics lungs usually do) but the difference would be that H1N1 attacks the lungs quickly and savagely. She was considered high risk and we were "household members of a compromised person" so we were all able to get the vaccine. The next day, they ran out of it in my city. Then, my nephew got ill and most likely has the virus. My Mom and my brother have been ill for a week and they both said it's unlike anything they've ever felt before with extreme exhaustion, body pains and high fever. While I'm glad we were able to get the vaccine, I keep hearing of people getting the virus before the immunity kicks in-and we have 10 days to wait for that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping my family back home can all be on the mend soon.

Finally, the roller coaster continues with my Dad's health. He went home after months in the hospital and was seemingly doing well. He had eaten, he walked from one end of the house to the other. These were all good signs. And then the bad news. He had a stroke and bleeding on the brain. That night they said his chance of survival was pretty slim and they asked if he had a living will. That moment was awful, and we were scrambling about how we'd get there, who would go etc etc etc. Now, he has gained some feeling back on his right side (which was attacked by the stroke) and he has said a few words and struggles to be coherent. So again, we wait and watch. If "I" am exhausted by the up and down nature of this past year, I can't even imagine what he and his wife must feel.

Yes, folks, that all happened within a week. So, I hope you can see why I haven't blogged and why I feel slightly burned out by it all. Let's hope this week sees more health, less stress, and a little more time to just breathe.