I’ve Been Sick… (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog)

I finished posting all this semester’s grades just before the annual Christmas Mass and faculty/staff lunch on the 21st. That’s the most organized I’ve ever been, when it comes to grades.

I was feeling very proud of myself, and very happy to be here at Seton Hill, doing a job that I love with really great people. At one point, I got a little emotional, and blubbered something that came pretty close to “I love you guys…”

I felt like a responsible dad when I put all my raffle tickets towards winning a parent-friendly prize package that consisted of two passes to Sea Base (an indoor play facility), two free ice creams, and… uh… something else that was equally kid-friendly. Anyway, I won that prize.

I was looking forward to spending a couple hours unwinding by playing Deus Ex 2 on the office computer (hey… it’s research, honest). But for some reason I couldn’t focus… I kept finding other things to do, and for a while I just found myself staring at the wall.

Then I noticed that my head was starting to hurt.

That night my wife took my son to a movie, and I had good quality time with my daughter. But by the time my wife came home, I knew it… I was sick, and it was going to be a doozy.

I basically spent four days in the master bedroom, while my wife took care of the kids and brought in food, in the vain hopes that doing so would keep the kids from catching the flu from me.

I had my laptop computer, which has a DVD player… so I watched the entire Lord of the Rings expanded trilogy over two days (though I kept falling asleep and having the weirdest dreams…). And I played through most of Riven (thanks to a walkthrough). And I read blogs and left comments, though I really wasn’t feeling up to posting anything here.

I’m still sick but on the mend. I can be up and about for a couple hours at a time, but my ability to multitask is affected. By multitask, I mean brush my teeth, listen to my son’s latest Star Wars adventure, ask the baby why she just said “uh-oh” and notice the fact that my wife, who is behind two closed doors and on the other side of the house, has just called my name. Typical domestic survival skills.

Now everyone else in the house is sick. I’m still only operating at about 40%, but at least now I don’t have to walk around with the corner of a tissue stuffed up each nostril.

I haven’t shaved in a week and I’m overdue for a haircut, but on my wife’s request I’ve switched to a center part. I fancy that I look a bit — just a bit — like Sean Bean as Boromir.