Vicious Jungle Virus

Okay, so that really sucked.

Ever have one of those weekends when everyone is sick, all at the same time? It's a mother's nightmare, to be sure. I can handle it if The Chief and the kids all get sick together...but if I'm sick on top of it, it is Pure Hell.

Hell's Barrister is to blame...he had it last week and missed two days of school. By Friday, The Chief was all fever-and-arfy-barfy, but the Barrister was all better and bouncing off the walls. Saturday evening, Little Mouse and I were starting to feel icky, but I bravely volunteered to walk the dogs so The Chief didn't have to go out. Now, some of you might not think that "bravely" is an appropriate adjective to use when describing a gentle jaunt around the block, but at the moment the sidewalks around here are smooth, polished ice with absolutely no traction, and Canis Dafticus, being a husky, has no notion of the idea of a sedate walk...it's more like a hard pull all the time. So there we are, the Barrister and I, struggling over the ice, me being dragged along by Canis Dafticus, when Canis Feisticus lies down by the side of the road and begins rolling in Something Dead. (I'm not sure what, exactly, it was, but from the smell of Canis Feisticus after the rolling, I can assure you that it was definitely Very Dead, and probably had been for quite some time.)

By the time we got home, I was feeling really crummy. Whatever this Vicious Jungle Virus is, it hits hard and leaves you with a fever and aches and a stuffy head. So giving Canis Feisticus a bath was not exactly on top of the priority list. I rubbed her down with snow and let her in, hoping I'd gotten most of it. Luckily, the Vicious Jungle Virus had blunted everyone's sense of smell. Except mine. I could tell I'd gotten the worst of it off of her, but I could still smell it faintly on her fur.

I spent yesterday on the couch, dragging myself up to get soda and crackers for various invalids, keeping track of medication schedules, and fighting with The Chief ("Steam does too work, it will help your packed head and you will put your head over this bowl of hot water because I can't stand your whining any more!") but today I'm feeling better, and number one job today is giving Canis Feisticus a bath.

It's funny, isn't it, how kids remember things? You know, like in a couple of weeks, they'll be saying, "Hey Mom, remember that weekend when we were all sick and we snuggled up on the couch and watched movies and you kept calling Canis Feisticus Stinkyhead? Yeah, that was really fun, Mom..."

Yeah. That was really fun.