Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Zombie Mommy

It started with Angus. I shall blame her. She came home from the last day of school with a cough and fever which came and went for a week before I finally took her into the doctor and found out she had walking pneumonia. Feeling like a terrible Mom, I immediately bought her a toy to try and cheer her up. Now she keeps whining that she is still sick and requires more toys to make her feel better. Bad Mommy.

4 days later, just as the medication has begun to make Angus feel a little more like herself (so that I can finally yell at her that I am not buying anymore toys for her, and that's final!), I have to rush Dumb Man to the emergency room with a badly sprained ankle and hamstring injury from playing soccer. He comes home in a cast and crutches and a bad attitude. Instead of feeling sympathetic and sorry for his injury, I feel very sorry for myself who now has to deal with another whiny injured baby in the house. Put upon Mommy.

5 days later after lots of cranky, whiny Dumb Man behavior and having to drive his dumbassery back and forth into Washinton, DC and still make it to work myself, and take all the kids back and forth to camp, and grocery shop, and cook, and clean, and do never ending piles of laundry, Youngest comes down with a vicious case of the stomach flu. 48 hours of chronic barfdom (seriously the little thing lost lots of weight cause she was just puking up saliva and bile) with very little help from gimpy and I am beginning to look and smell like a zombie. Stinky Mommy.

4 days later, the earache Oldest has been steadily complaining about for over a week seems to be getting worse so I take Oldest to the doctor. I've been to the doctor more times in this two week period than in the entire year and it just so happens to be the cute, sexy in that smart geeky way, doctor that I totally have a crush on, except I look and smell like crap and am at the point of just not caring anymore. Cute doctor tells me Oldest has a severe infection with a blood blister in her ear leaving me feeling terribly guilty and remorseful and so I immediately drag Oldest and Youngest to Target to buy them toys. Angus stays with her auntie and gets nothing. Rotten Mommy.

1 day later, I wake up with a horrible headache, aches, chills, fever and a terrible sore throat. And to top it off, my stomach is not feeling too hot causing me to run back and forth out of the bathroom and sweating like a ravenous fat man at an all you can eat buffet. Zombie Mommy.

The only good news from this whole ordeal is that:

1. I lost 4 pounds which I shall immediately put back on as soon as I feel well enough to eat an entire pan of brownies by myself.

2. I finished my YA manuscript. I was on a mission to finish and finish I did. Am making some revisions and getting ready to send it out to my beta readers. But the first installment of the Seven Kingdoms trilogy set in ancient Korea is done. WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Now I shall go rest my weary little zombie head. I shall come visiting as soon as the urge to gnaw on my extremities passes me.

40 comments:

cindy said...

ELLO! i've missed you! i KNEW it would be something awful to keep you away so long. oh no! i hope things calm down soon.

and YAY on finishing your novel draft. i'm so excited for you and proud! that's awesome! i can't wait till you are done revising and can start submitting to agents!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Holy Cow. We have had a similar (though less zombie-making) couple of weeks. I am in stomach flu mode myself right now -

but I agree with cindy - YAY on finishing!!!

PJD said...

HOORAY congratulations on the finished MS.

Oh, wait, did you say someone wasn't feeling well? I hope they get better.

Great job on the manuscript.

laughingwolf said...

wb, zombie mommie! :O lol

grats on the finishing the wip!

yeah, i found out long ago it's the kids who pass on the worst bugs to the older folk

get well, quickslike... or sooner

Merry Monteleone said...

Congratulations!!! Yay, you, and holy crap, amazing you could do any writing with the plague upon your house these last few weeks...

Oh, and double congratulations on the 4 pounds (always my favorite part of being sick, my pants fit nicer for all of a day)

I hope you all feel better in short order, and da man gives you a much deserved spa day when he's fully on the mend.

Charles Gramlich said...

Damn, that's a helluva week or so. I'm sorry for all the illness, and I hope everyone gets better soon, including you. And as for brownies, go for it.

As for me, uhm, *cough, cough, kaff*. I think I could use a toy.

Charles Gramlich said...

Oh, and congrats on finishing the manuscript.

Chris Eldin said...

Congratulations!!
Your celebration should include four pounds of brownies!
:-)

Kappa no He said...

Hope everyone feels better. "Dumbassery" and "Chronic Barfdom" are now in my vocabulary. Thank you very much!

And congratulations on the finished MS. If I were closer to you I'd bake you that pan of brownies!!

preTzel said...

First - Total and complete sympathy on the illness. I must say though at least DM *has* an illness. Mr. preTzel seems to go in to "I'm dying and MUST have drugs NOW because I caught EVERY bug on Earth." *sigh* Men are bigger sick babies than babies are. So total and complete sympathy for you. (((hugs)))

Second - YAY! How proud you must feel on that accomplishment. Even through the vomiting, casts, crutches, ear aches, and toy hunts you managed to complete a novel draft. Kudos to you!!

Third - Welcome back and I hope your illness goes away soon so you can enjoy that pan of brownies all to yourself.

Anonymous said...

That's horrible. I hope you feel better and get your plate of brownies. You deserve it.

Travis Erwin said...

We've missed you. Sorry to hear about all your troubles.

Riss said...

There's finally some more good stuff to read on the Web now that you're back. I'm going to throw out the running kudos...the WIP is amazing. You rock and are a goddess but you knew this. You just described how (c: Even if you are sort of stinky and zombie-esque. And tell Da Man to quit whining. It sucks to be hurt and sore but letting you run all over and dragged into the muck sure won't help. (c: And yes, brownies are the best antidote. Feel better.

Spy Scribbler said...

Wow! I am SO glad you're feeling better. I remember when I got sick with mono and missed three months of life, I wasn't sure to be upset about it or overjoyed because I'd lost thirty pounds.

I hope you're finished with having to go to the doctor for ANYONE for at least a year.

Good luck with manuscript!

Steve Malley said...

Yikes!

And people keep telling me I should have kids...

Congrats on the finished work!

JaneyV said...

Oh Ello I missed you so much! I have so much sympathy for your predicament having two kids off school right now (stomach flu and evil snot attacks) AND Hubby recovering from hernia operation. I hope all yours recover very soon.
4lbs is a great compensation for your pain. I saw some photos of me last week and they settled it - new diet, gotta shift 35lbs. My neck is now fat. How the hecky-pecky did that happen? (I'm trying to not swear so much in print)
And CONGRATULATIONS on finishing the MS. I'm impressed beyond measure - Fantastic news! Celebratory brownie anyone?

Bernita said...

Ello,you poor dear!
You deserve MUCH more than a mere pan of brownies for dealing with all that rains/pours AND finishing the MS!

Anonymous said...

Ello!!! Zombie Mommy has not only lost four pounds (family emergencies and care taking are so good at that!!), cared for her family as best she could, but finished her WIP. I am SOOOOO proud of you. And I hope I can be a beta reader...please, please, please???

Precie said...

YAY for finishing your MS!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!! And in the midst of all that misery, no less!

I dub you SuperEllo!!!

Feel better soon!!!

Anonymous said...

Holy Crap. That's a rough string of suckage.

People get certificates for making it through stuff like that.

Josephine Damian said...

I don't know how you do it even when the kids are healthy and Da Man is cooperative: writing, blogging, mom-ing, wife-ing, working?

And now a finished MS? Woot! Queryland, here you come.

J. L. Krueger said...

Ell!

So glad to have you back...even in zombie form! Just when I was wondering when we'd hear more Angus and Man stories. You must have heard me thinking. ;)

I've missed your humor! It always seems to brighten the day. Congratulations on finishing the manuscript!

Da'Man -- Get well quick and quit snivelling buddy! You gotta know these ladies are always looking for our weaknesses...don't give her an easy opening!

Melissa Amateis said...

Good grief! You've been through a LOT lately. Wow.

Great news on finishing the novel. Treat yourself to that pan of brownies when you feel up to it.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Thanks everybody! I missed y'all too! I feel better already, except for this horrible headache I can't get rid of. I think I'm only sane when my meds kick in! I shall come visiting later today as I have promised sickie children that I'll take them to see Kung Fu Panda.

laughingwolf said...

looks like kfp should be an fun film for the wee ones :)

Sarah Hina said...

Ello, that was the best (and most excruciating) excuse for an absence I've ever read. You poor thing!! I'm sorry things have been so tough for you. If it's any consolation, you have been sorely missed.

And I'm so psyched that you finished your MS!! I hope your betas love it, so that you can snag that agent and I can buy it soon. :)

Patti said...

i have missed my ello...missed mommy

you still make me laugh...funny mommy

you finished your manuscript...rockin' mommy!

March2theSea said...

uggh..get well!

Lana Gramlich said...

Congrats on the MS. Sorry to hear about all of the problems lately. Hope you're feeling better soon. Stress can cause physical illness, too. Try to rest when you can. *hug*

Stuart Neville said...

1) Great to have you back.

2) Hope everyone's feeling better soon.

3) Congratulations on finishing the MS!

4) Your line about taking the kids to Target for toys just brought back a raft of childhood memories (except for me it was great little toy shop that had an entire room full of cars in glass cabinets, and I had a bad hand injury).

Lisa said...

Oh poor Ello! *hug* wait, you don't really stink, right?

Congratulations on finishing! I have no idea how you made it through all of that!

Vesper said...

Poor Ello!

Bravo on finishing the manuscript!

writtenwyrdd said...

My word, you've had a lousy couple of weeks! Feel better soon, and I hope the family does, too! And congrats on the manuscript being finished. Lots of work still, but the big part is done.

pacatrue said...

Hi Ello,

I sure wish I could be a beta reader, but I know that I wouldn't even reply until late August with my comps starting in two weeks. Super congrats on the ms. Awesome.

McKoala said...

Hey - Ello is back! Sorry for all the sickness, but mostly for whiny man. I shudder at the thought.

Congrats on the finished manuscript.

Kung Fu Panda is on our movie wish list as well!

Danette Haworth said...

Poor Ello! I hope you're feeling better! Strep throat started near the end of June in my house, and it bounced from person to person. I was the third to get it, just in time for my vacation.

Mary Witzl said...

Oh wow, have I ever been there and done that! It isn't nice, is it? I hope everyone is okay now and that you get a lot of TLC and fussing over!

Good to have you back -- and how great that you've finished that YA novel!

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, it's like the Energizer rabbit . . . the illnesses keep going and going and going.

Although oldest is still sick, she appears to be getting over her severe ear infection. Youngest is still running 102 fevers off and on, and we're not quite sure why (yes, we will be contributing more to our pediatric's new Miami condo tomorrow).

Poor Angus, bored out of her mind but a great sport about it nonetheless (she's such a goof!).

J. L. Krueger - don't worry, I'm on the quick road to recovery and to Ello's surprise (more like dismay), I do intend to fininsh off my soccer season including my upcoming game this Sunday but with ankles wrapped!

Don't worry Dissenters, I intend to provide Ello with much needed relief for the next few weeks.

Da' Man

PJD said...

I'm on the quick road to recovery and to Ello's surprise (more like dismay), I do intend to fininsh off my soccer season including my upcoming game this Sunday but with ankles wrapped!

That's the spirit! I had to take more than a month off for a broken toe this year, and nearly six months for a badly sprained MCL (coupled with plantar fasciitis) two years ago. Don't let a little thing like ankle injuries stop you from getting out on the pitch! We're all only getting older...

Carleen Brice said...

In the midst of all that you finished your draft???!!!! I'm speechless with awe (and not a little embarrassment at my lazy ass)!

Hope everybody gets better soon!