Month: February 2019

I prayed last night that I would be well enough for Abe to go to work today, and I woke up and felt like I could move again! I didn’t feel completely better, but I felt good enough to get the girls to school, take the babies on a bunch of errands, and decorate the house for Valentine’s Day. I even read some of our new Valentine’s Day books to Ammon. That assuaged a little guilt about the MASSIVE amount of screen time he’s gotten recently.

When the kids got home from school, we got homework and the quickest practices ever out of the way, ate some Indian food, and watched the last two Harry Potter movies. The kids stayed up way too late. But we had a lot of fun.

Also Abe went to basketball tonight and then out to dinner with his friends, Nick and Josh. He came home and finished the movie with us.

I basically spent most of the day immobile with the flu or whatever it is, and Abe took another day “off” of work. Well, really he just worked from home even though he is also super sick, but he also took care of the kids. My contribution was lying on the couch watching Clarissa throw tantrums when I wouldn’t open packets of Theraflu for her.

Abe commented that he feels kind of like a bear in hibernation. Oh, the girls got a snow day from school, so we literally didn’t leave the house all day. I am hoping we get well soon, but in the meantime, it has been so great to spend so much time with Abe.

But I will say that I am getting really tired of sticking the kids in front of the TV all day because I literally don’t have any energy to do anything else with them, and I don’t have energy to clean the messes they make if they are not in front of the TV. So that is getting really old. I can’t wait until I can actually read to the kids, take them places, oversee practice, and just have more energy for them again.

Wow, when it rains it pours.  About two (maybe three?) weeks ago, I turned to Lily and I said, “Honey, it has been since last February since anyone has been significantly sick. I feel so blessed.” THE VERY NEXT DAY. Clarissa started coming down with a significant illness. Then it cycled through every child, and then hit me and Lily the hardest. Sunday night Clarissa was up vomiting. Yesterday, I was so ill that I took work off. And today, Lily was so sick that she went to her bed the minute I got home, only to end up vomiting tons herself………so yeah….we are all ready for things to be normal again.  I forgot to mention that Ammon’s sickness actually caused Toxic Synovitis which caused his knee to feel like it was broken or sprained. I swear I’m ready for the MCAT after all this medical exposure!

OK, enough ranting about sickness. Once I got over thinking about how sick we’ve all been, I can see what a truly good and blessed day we had.  Lily was able to get a lot of rest. I went to basketball in the morning and actually made two three pointers in a row (literally never happens, I’m a terrible shot), and my meetings and obligations at work went mostly smoothly today. Lily took the kids through Panda Express to celebrate Chinese New Year, and the kids were mostly good, while Lily and I coped with feeling under the weather.

Lily was an incredible sport with her illness. She kept apologizing for being sick, and I needed to keep explaining that she was the one suffering with stomach pains, not me. We also watched Ant Man 2 together, which I thought was rather good. And now, after vomiting, Lily is finally comfortable and she’s blissfully sleeping. I tidied the house and now get to blog. I guess things aren’t so bad, especially given the fact that completely in love with my wife. Life has brought a lot of challenges recently, but she has been the joy sustaining me through everything. I hope she feels better tomorrow!

Today I (Abe) called in sick. Sunday my nose dripped constantly the entire day and I felt awful. Today was not much better and it seemed unwise to push myself. Lily was so amazing. After dropping the girls off at school, she took Ammon and Clarissa to get their hair cut and to the park so I could have some peace around the house. I had a nice blend of getting things done at a reasonable pace and resting.  When Lily came home we rested for a bit, and then I had some work calls. By the end of the day, I was feeling better, and Lily was feeling worse, so we swapped roles a bit and I handled the kids while she recovered. I love being on a team with that woman.

Yesterday was a blur for me…I really wasn’t feeling too good. The only other thing I remember was that Lydia and Mary had their hearts set on staying up until Midnight for Chinese New Year. They are so festive! They pled desperately for it, but given the fact that it was a school night, and that Lily and I were both feeling awful by the end of the day, I shut down their pleadings, promptly and grumpily.

Here are some video links from the day:

Pictures below!

On Sunday I bore my testimony in Church. I talked about the grace of Jesus, how much I love my ancestors, how being born to my mom and being married to Abe are the biggest testimonies to me personally that God lives and loves me, how much I love the ward, and how grateful I am for our bishopric. Getting a temple recommend is not a standardized process and kind of like leader roulette, and thankfully I have good, inspired leaders (for now).

Then after church we had the Bogdens over for lunch before collapsing in bed. Abe and I have just been pushing and pushing through feeling very unwell, and Abe especially was feeling really bad on Sunday

On Saturday I grocery shopped and cooked all day. I made chicken tikka masala, a ginger-tumeric-veggie-beef broth, bolognese sauce, and three pizzas. I put out the pizzas around lunch and announced that they were going to be dinner too so if people got hungry they could just graze.

While I was cooking, Mary did an amazing job on her piano competition. Abe was so proud because we have been too tired and sick to practice much, and Mary always manages to do her absolute best during performances. She is really special that way. (At least it seems that way to me. I hated performing and wasn’t always a reliable performer. Abe, on the other hand, thrives in the spotlight. Maybe Mary got his genes!)

Here is a video of her performance!

Here is a video of Clarissa helping Abe to unload the dishwasher.

On Friday I grocery shopped at Target, Sprouts and Trader Joe’s and then came home and cooked some broccoli cheddar soup for both us and our neighbor who has to have an MRI this week. I also made beet and cumin latkes and ginger carrot latkes, and I prepped some chicken for chicken tikka masala. I also went to book club and spent some happy hours chatting with my sweet neighbors.

Clarissa has also started saying “Peese!” for “please!” and, occasionally, “Gagu!” for “thank you!” She actually doesn’t need to speak much because when she wants anything she just brings it to us and makes urgent grunts, and if we don’t open and deliver whatever package she wants opened, she screams and throws herself on the ground. So basically she’s trained us so well that for the most part, she doesn’t need to talk.

I am back blogging while sick and don’t remember anything else from this day except for what the pictures tell me happened.