Things we do differently when the cat's away.....

I'm not particularly fond of the times when my husband is away on a trip. For one thing, I have to take care of the animals. Which I don't like much. Especially when "taking care of them" means getting up close and personal with their stomach contents or, worse, the contents of their backsides. Ew. Also, I have to make the kids' lunches every night, not just on some nights, and I have to do all the driving to and fro, and is it really necessary to make dinner for the kids EVERY night? Sigh. That's one thing we do differently when the cat's away. Hm. Jeff is not much like a cat. I'll call him the Catfish. There, a fishing reference. More appropriate.

Usually when the Catfish is away, I enjoy my "alone" time and the novelty of "just mom and the kids". But this time I'm sick. Like sicker than a dog sick. Well, not sick like that because my dogs just barf all the time, so I'm not THAT kind of sick. But I have a stuffed-up head, a sore throat that would give strep the willies, coughing so hard I'm dizzy, and the requisite exhaustion that comes along with all of that. I have not missed a day of work (not sure if that's a feather in my cap, or just really stupid, because I shudder to imagine how many people I might have exposed to this illness). I have not missed an appointment or other obligation with the kids. But on Monday I was really tired. Arlie and I made an executive decision to skip dance class. Right after we made an executive decision to stop at Safeway on our way home from the airport to pick up a chicken dinner. And while we were there, we spotted a new Little Debbie product (basically just Ding-Dongs) and I said "do we need to try these?" and Arlie replied "We do! And dad's not home!" Into the cart!

Today was another tiring day. I actually fell asleep in the afternoon due to sheer exhaustion from being sick for almost three weeks. I told Hannah what to make for dinner (and she did it - bonus!). But before that, I had stopped at Target and bought toilet paper (because of course we ran out) and there was a lovely coconut cream pie on sale. So, I purchased it for our "Dessert and Dance Moms" night on Tuesdays. It's sort of a new tradition - watch a trash TV show and have a dessert together once a week. Catfish does not understand our obsession with this show (and frankly, neither do we) but it's the point of just being together for an hour.

Tonight on the phone, Catfish yawned boredly (is boredly a word? It is now!) as I spoke of my health woes. Of course I could not see him yawn, but it was implied in his voice. Then, he proceeded to tell me that if I had any type of bacterial infection, the z-pac I just finished would have made me feel "significantly better" within 24 hours and that since it didn't, what I was dealing with was a virus and I certainly did not need the second antibiotic the doctor was ordering. Well, thank you Dr. Catfish. But I'm pretty sure if HE were home alone, sick and the only one in charge, he'd sure as hell want something to make HIM feel better. He even went so far as to say that eventually I would get better from the virus and it "would be a shame" to give the augmentin credit. Certainly. A shame. And to that I say, STFU. Because I'm bustin' my ass over here AND doing it while sick and if it were him, he'd have taken a sick day off work and SLEPT ALL DAY! Preposterous. Show me a mom who ever does that and I'll show you.....well, ok, maybe I'd show you a healthy person, but still. The point is, there are no sick days when you're a mom. Or when you don't have the kind of job where you are required to get a sub when you're gone.

I'm joining Catfish in just over a day and I surely do hope to enjoy some sun in California. I just hope I'm well enough to enjoy it. Because at this point, sleeping all day DOES sound like a vacation to me. That, and an ibuprofen cocktail. Salud!