will WE play in Peoria?

I checked my email this afternoon and found the next best thing to a notice from Ed McMahon telling me I’d won a million dollars. Yes, I’m serious.

It was an email from RyanAir saying that they are having a huge sale on flights in January… 2 Euros… all inclusive.

Now, I’ve been hemming and hawing about spending the money on the one cent tickets they’ve got for sale so far, because that one cent does not include the laundry list of taxes and fees and it doesn’t include luggage! Luggage is extra! Bloody rip-off. (But at 79 Euros round trip for Kaitlyn and I, still cheaper than the others.)

I rushed to their website thinking we could actually see Bill nearly every weekend in January at those prices! Naturally, Grenoble is about the only destination of theirs not included in the sale. Because it’s ski season here and that’s when people might actually want to come here. Damn it.

I kept Kaitlyn home from school again today. It was a big decision… I don’t think I’ve ever had her home from school two days in a row. She woke up feeling fine and, truth be told, I was feeling crappy and didn’t want to go out in the drizzle to drop her off. So she stayed home. By 10:30, she’d been sent to her room once and put in time out once.

I tried taking half the dose of that hot lemon-lime crap so I wouldn’t be so tired. That was the pharmacist’s recommendation. I still fell sound asleep. I slept through, I think, two episodes of Barney.

Finally this afternoon with Kaitlyn (who displays zero symptoms of illness) bouncing off the walls, I was desperate for some sort of non-drowsy relief. I dug through my medicine stash and found a box of Sudafed. It has helped a little bit… and at least I am awake.

I still feel like crud. But I’m going out to a ladies’ night party tonight. Partly because I really want a chance to say goodbye to the two women who are moving for whom the party is being held. And partly because I’ve got to get a break from this single parenthood. I’ll try not to spread my germs to the other party-goers. That won’t be easy… we’re playing bunco.

Kaitlyn woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible cough. She not only sounded like a wounded seal, she was struggling just to make that noise. And she was crying. And begging for medicine. All I had was some children’s Tylenol. That, and being propped up on the couch, helped her fall back asleep.

I didn’t send her to school. (Even if I’d thought it was a good idea, we didn’t wake up until 8:45… which is when school starts. I couldn’t go back to sleep after she did.) I called the doctor and got a busy signal nearly non-stop for 45 minutes. I should have just left a message on her machine when I had the chance… but other than her name I didn’t understand a single other thing the recording said. I suppose I should have just assumed it said something like “this is Dr So-and-So, please leave a message.” Once I finally got through, I took the appointment time she offered: 5pm.

Naturally, by the time 5pm rolled around, Kaitlyn was doing just fine. No coughing. No fever. Nothing. Just a bored kid. But I took her in, just to make sure. On the way there, she started this funny throat clearing thing that she was doing last night. It may be a signal that the cough is on the way back, so I’m glad we went in.

Twenty-three Euros later, we had a prescription for a cough medicine and some children’s Advil.

While picking up those things, I told the pharmacist that I have a small cold. She sold me some powder that you mix with hot water and drink… and recommended I do so close to already lying down because it will make you a wee bit sleepy.

With that warning in mind, I waited until Kaitlyn was in bed to try my medicine. What nasty crap! It tastes like… I don’t even know…. maybe hot lemon-lime drink. I tried adding honey which did nothing to improve the taste. Once it cooled off enough, I just chugged it the best I could to choke it down. It did the trick. Right about the time I was thinking that I was, indeed, feeling better, I fell sound asleep. And stayed that way through the night. Nyquil does the same thing. But it’s a lot easier to chug one little cap full than a mug full.

Ok, now I have seen everything.

This evening we joined a friend and her children for a concert in town. First, we went to the wrong place. Once we figured that out, we discovered the concert was sold out. Sold out? Who on earth would have thought to buy tickets to this thing in advance? I guess a lot of people. But enough people decided to skip it that we managed to get tickets after all. At least we didn’t have to buy them from a scalper. (I’m kidding.. there were no scalpers.)

Inside the gymnasium, the kids were clapping to try to get the band to come perform. When they finally came on stage, the audience was pretty much silent. There were three band members… a guy in yellow, a guy in blue and a guy in red. It was sort of a wannabe-Wiggles-in-French. They opened with a little number about eating soup. They also had a song about disco, one about rock and roll and one about cotton candy. That one really got the audience riled up. (They’d have the audience yell out “barbe a papa”… which is what they call cotton candy here. Kids not only love eating spun sugar, they seem to love yelling about it.) That was followed by, I think, a song about having a stomach ache and pooping. The Wiggles would never sing of poop.

Kaitlyn didn’t care or didn’t know what they were singing about. She and a little girl from her ballet class stood in the aisle and danced their little hearts out. They hung on each other and danced, spun each other and danced, and danced rather like they were out clubbing. Disturbing. Still, she had a great time.

On the way out, Papa Noel was in the lobby greeting the kids and handing out bags of candy. Kaitlyn was excited to see him, but scared. She grabbed me tight and hid behind me. She also was mad that the bag of candy was a big bag of chocolate. No wonder she is scared of him; he’s obviously an impostor. The real Santa would know she doesn’t like chocolate.

Just when I thought I’d seen about everything…

This afternoon driving down our street I had to nearly drive off the edge of a rather steep slope to avoid an old man sitting in the middle of the road. He’d brought along a little stool and his oxygen machine. To sit in the middle of the road.

Kaitlyn and I called Bill to say goodnight. He’s been gone just shy of a week. I suffered through the weekend alone with a migraine, a prescription for migraine relief that had run out, and a four year old. Thank goodness I’d recorded a couple of Christmas specials on the Tivo! Bill, meanwhile, went to London on Saturday then went to Toys R Us on Sunday. He says he did not have a good time in London. Well, I did not have a good time throwing up from the migraine, but I think we hit different spots on the “good time” scale.

Anyway, so we called him tonight. And he said “oh, let me put the phone down for a second, it’s my turn to bowl.”

I realize that you cannot go on a business trip and do nothing but work. Naturally, one has to eat. Naturally, on the weekend, one should take the train to London. But… does one really have to bowl? And if one is bowling, wouldn’t it be wiser to not answer mid-bowl and to step outside and return the call? (If you aren’t sure of the answer… it’s yes.)

I know it shouldn’t, but this is really going to bug me.