The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I haven't had much time or disposition to write lately and you'll soon know why. I thought that using the title's format (stolen from a famous film I haven't even seen and don't know much about except the title :) to talk about our looong weekend away (5/11-15) in Massachusetts would be a good idea.

The Good
- Packing and travel on Thursday (5/11).
Thanks to my forgetfulness (I didn't go to a LLL meeting in the morning), the packing and getting ready to travel went on extremely smoothly when it's usually very stressful for me (I'm always afraid to forget something essential). I even got to plant some flowers in the front yard before we left (I have pictures coming your way soon). The trip was great, we left 5:30, almost 6 and got there around 11 p.m. No traffic whatsoever, not even in the George Washington Bridge - yay!

- The meeting with my advisor and committee member.
The meeting was good, I was able to get a good feeling of what they expect of me and we had a very good and long conversation.

- Seeing our "old" friends.
We visited and saw a few friends while we were there, people we hadn't seen in almost a year - including two brand new babies (our former neighbors' and some old time friends').

- Visiting the in-laws and helping them out.
It was great to be with the in-laws again as they adapt to their new life in this country. We didn't help a lot, but at least helped them to get cell phones - it's a beginning, huh?

- Spending mother's day with both moms.
I need to write a separate post about this, since we had a similar day exactly 10 years ago. The celebration wasn't pompous or anything, but we went to IKEA and had excellent and extra cheap salmon together!

- Trip back (5/15).
In spite of some problems (more below), the trip back was also smooth, with no traffic and no delays.

The Bad
- The weather - it was absolutely awful.
It rained HARD every. single. day. It was truly a deluge, and it was also pretty cold because of the dampness.

- The meeting with my advisor and committee member.
The meeting in itself was not bad, but some of its effects on me were. I have to write a separate post about this as well. In a nutshell, it was a reality check which made me realize how hard it is to deal with different people reading your work and how in comparison, my advisor's "advice" ends up being absolutely useless. I felt pretty crappy about the dissertation for days.

- Locking the keys inside the car on a rainy afternoon.
Yep. That was my fault, yes it was. When we got to where my in-laws live we went straight to church where they were attending a program. Hubby, dad, and Kelvin got out of the car first and I stayed with my mom to nurse Linton. When we left the car I knew that the baby had played with the locks and had locked the doors and I even asked my mom whether she knew if they had taken the keys, but I let her close the door. When we were leaving and DH asked "who's got the keys?" I knew we were locked out. It's good we have 24h roadside assistance in our insurance, so a tow truck guy came and unlocked it for us at no charge. My in-laws' temporary apartment is just one mile down the road, so we went ahead in their car (even without car seats). Problem was solved quickly, but it was still pretty annoying.

The Ugly
- I got sick.
Well, I don't know what happened to me, but on Friday morning I wasn't feeling OK, then I ate a Boston creme donut (my favorite) and a croissant, and I felt positively sick. I vomited a few times and then, after sucking on and chewing some ice, I felt better. I also felt (less) sick on Saturday, but it passed quickly (and I didn't vomit again). It was pretty awful and I wasted two perfectly good mornings because of it. I've been pretty sensitive to greasy stuff lately, my mom's always had problems like that. I really have to be more careful about what I eat.

- Boys with high fever.
Very early on Sunday I felt that Linton (my youngest) had a really high fever, and I gave him Tylenol the whole day. On Monday it was Kelvin's turn (and Linton's fever was gone) - and, because he's older, he was very whiny and clingy. He was pretty sick because he simply fell asleep by himself on the airbed. In spite of their sickness, the trip back was great. We had to stop once because Kelvin complained of a tummy ache, but apparently it was just gas.

Conclusion: all of us are sick now. The boys got worse when we arrived home, sneezing, runny noses, coughing. I was the first one to get their virus and I felt AWFUL all day Friday with a sinus infection, headaches from that, runny nose, the works, I'm a little better, but not completely (it seems now the coughing will start - it has been bothering Kelvin for days now). Then it was my husband, and now my mom is totally knocked out by it. We're hoping my dad's virus sticks to the mild symptoms he's having (scratchy throat - that's it).

So... that's the situation right now here at home, it's a sick house... but hopefully we'll get better very soon, and we have to, or else we can't go to Maryland to visit my in-laws because my SIL is pregnant (due at the end of June!!).