Duc in Altum

Today has turned out to be a day off of sorts. My wife started to feel poorly last night, and although she thought she might be well enough to take care of our daughter today, I was only at work for an hour before she called to say that I should come home. Fortunately, I work within ten minutes of our home so I was able to wrap a few things up and head home to take care of our daughter while my wife rested.

It appears that she has what I had last week. It is much like the flu with chills, body aches, fever, upset stomach, and vomiting. However, it does not seem to be the flu because it does not last long. And that is about the only good news about what she has: it does not last long.

Actually, when I got the illness last week I thought I had food poisoning. I was at a conference out of town, and the end of one of the days I started to feel a stomach illness. My wife and daughter had joined me on the trip, and we were scheduled to meet with a classmate of mine and his family for dinner. I went ahead with the plans without telling anyone I was not feeling well. Although I had to go to the restroom before the food arrived, I managed to make it through the dinner. After the dinner, the illness really struck me. However, after a night's sleep, I felt much better. I was still fairly weak so I did not go to the conference the next day in order to take some time off to recover.

The shortness of the illness made me assume that it was food poisoning. However, now that both my wife and daughter have had the same thing, I assume it must be some viral illness. Fortunately, when our twenty-month-old daughter was ill, it was very brief. She never really even acted ill. After a fairly rough period, my wife does appear to be on the mend.

In the meantime during my "day off", I enjoyed going outside with our daughter to walk around the azaleas, which are starting to lose their blooms, and the recently bloomed peonies and rhododendron. The weather recently has been absolutely perfect, and today was no exception. It was sunny with no discernible humidity and around 70 degrees. I weeded while our daughter practiced climbing up the very uneven railroad tie stairs that go from the side to the front of the house. She seemed quite happy that I was home even as she enjoyed when I was sick last week in the apartment we had rented while we were out of town. I, too, have very much enjoyed the extra time I have been able to spend with her today. Maybe next time it will not be a necessity, but a time for all three of us to enjoy the day.