I’m feeling a bit better today. I’m still very stuffy and there’s a spot in my throat that feels a bit dry and makes me cough sometimes, but overall I feel fine. Amanda felt worse today. I think she’s a day behind me.
Today was not fun. Milly was awake and banging on her door before 6:30, but we kept hoping she’d stop. Amanda finally got up a couple minutes before her alarm went off when Milly started calling for me directly. She was still sick and stuffy and needy.
My big teaching point lately for Milly is that no, nobody likes having a lot of boogers, but that happens when you’re sick. And if you’re not going to blow your nose then you’re going to have a lot of boogers.
Her poor upper lip was so red and raw that it almost looked ready to bleed this morning. I started using a washcloth to wipe her nose and that seemed to help some. But really, it was bad today. Every few minutes she’d come crying about boogers. I did get a span of an hour and a half or so where she was pretty content. She even danced like a ballerina again, her favorite move seeming to be the bow. She also went into the guest room, turned on the light and climbed into bed. She teased me by saying she wanted to sleep there, going so far as to have me put her under the covers and turn off the light. I put pillows on the sides in case she fell out since she’s never really slept in a big bed (and the room has a concrete floor). It was all for naught though, as she sprang up a few minutes later and announced that she was awake. She can get off the bed too, by the way, though she doesn’t know it. Every time she wanted down I had her do it herself, but she held onto my hands, which weren’t supporting her in the least.
It did end though, and when it did I finally took her upstairs. She told me she wanted to sleep in her bed, then she said on the floor. Then she said the bed again, and so on. After moving her back and forth a few times I finally told her (not as kindly as I could have) that I didn’t care where she slept and I left.
Amanda worked until after 2:00 today, and Milly woke up some time after 1:00. Actually I’m not sure how much she slept because I think I heard her off and on. Anyway, I eventually went upstairs only to find that she’d locked herself in her room. She can’t open the door because we have a thing on the doorknob that she can’t work, but she did manage to put the lock. She stayed surprisingly calm about that.
Amanda worked on packing and complained about how much faster it would go if Milly was in a better mood. I told her I knew, because I’d been dealing with it all day too. Milly and I eventually took a bath, which made her happier, and she was in bed shortly after that, though not before she earned a trip to the corner at the end of the hall. I made her face the corner the whole time. And no, it wasn’t because of her crankiness from being sick. She earned it by disregarding what I was telling her to do several times.
I did end up getting all my outstanding work taken care of.
Amanda and I watched the remainder of our Thursday night shows plus Grimm, then she gave me a haircut and went to bed.
Tomorrow’s the big day. Karen comes in the morning to watch Milly. They’ll be here for a few day, then Cyra, Ted and Lily will be holding down the fort with Bruce and Harvey. Cobb too, but I hardly expect he’ll be downstairs much with such a crowded house.
This time tomorrow Amanda and I will be in Las Vegas! Hopefully we’ll feel much better. We’ve got an eight hour trip with only 38 minutes of non-flying time to rest.
Zach Dotsey