hi there, Land of the Living!

Well. I'm back... or at least on my way back. Last week I was sick with the flu. Doctor said it was probably H1N1 because that is the most prevalent strain these days. They are no longer "testing" for the flu here - at least not unless you are hospitalized - which luckily I wasn't. I just felt like $h*t for the last 8 days. I stayed home almost all week - half day on Monday, all day Tuesday, half day on Wednesday, all day Thursday and all day Friday. The problem was that I had a whole bunch of Community Advisory Meetings scheduled for this week. I got some co-workers to cover for me for 2 of the 3, but I had to do one of the meetings on Wednesday night. I stayed as far away from the people there and presented from the other side of the room. I am feeling bad that I did it. I hope I didn't get anyone sick. I felt like my hands were tied, though... like I would be letting down my company and the client and even the meeting attendees if I didn't go, cause they would have had to cancel the meeting. It's a tough situation to be in. I felt obligated to go, I felt like crap and didn't want to, and now I feel like a jerk because I exposed people to the virus. It's like a no win situation.

In any case, the rest of the week I spent in bed. Some days were worse than others (e.g. Tuesday the light coming through the window blinds - which were closed - was making my head hurt even more) but basically I lay in bed getting up 2 or 3 times throughout the day to get some water or a cold cloth for my head. On Friday I was so miserable that I took my mothers advise and went to see the doctor. The doctor said I probably had H1N1 and told me to get my chest X-rayed cause my oxygen levels were low. So yesterday I went for X-rays and the doc said that I have pneumonia and hooked me up with puffers and some antibiotics.

So, now I am feeling much better - still tired, with practically no voice (from coughing so much), and I have a pulled muscle in my neck (again from coughing) which hurts like hell.... but I am in eth best mood. I am out of bed and doing things.

I'm on a mission to get our house germ free. We have stocked up on hand sanitizer, lysoled all the hard surfaces, and today we bought a Dyson vacuum and it totally rocks. I can't believe how much dirt and hair and gross stuff it took out for our carpets.

The problem is that I think we might be too late. CJ is feeling like crap now and seems to be going downhill fast (I'm so sorry honey!), Kenzie was really feeling under the weather yesterday - she was tired and coughing and had a fever. Today, she is coughing a bit but seems to be feeling a bit better - fingers crossed that she can avoid getting the full blown flu.

And I will be back at work tomorrow. I am scared at how much work I will have to catch up on. But at least I am no longer feeling like I'm on my death bed (I'm such a drama queen).