Someone in my family caught a bad cold bug so Joshua and I have been sick since Sunday morning. That kind of achy, stuffy, slimy, sniffling type of cold where it feels like your head is going to explode and you would tear out your sore throat and stomp on it for a few hours if your muscles and joints didn't ache so much. It's been awhile since I've been sick, so I've forgotten how much it really and truly sucks.
I had spent a couple late nights selfishly coding my game and learning some basic JavaScript, Friday and Saturday night (1 AM-ish) and getting up early with the boys the next morning (6 AM-ish) so I think I kind of stressed out my aging body and caused a partial failure in my immune system, opening the gates for the cold virus. That's my theory anyway...I guess I'm not 20 anymore...
Anyway, Joshua was up late Sunday night crying off and on and off and on because he couldn't breathe well through his nose and Sam was able to soothe our sick baby, camping out in their room while I lay in bed feeling like utter crap. I was so miserable all I could be thankful for was that Sam and Jacob were not showing any signs of sickness because if I had to get up and tend to a crying baby for hours I might just want to end it all right then and there.
Yesterday I "worked" from home where I discovered that we were having horrible network congestion too (no pun intended). I'd get access to the network briefly (like for a couple seconds to a web page) and then utter failure. Of course this only added to the misery: Sitting in a mangy bathrobe in a cold office, my achy frame hunched over my laptop trying to access my email and staring at the hung Outlook window that refuses to repaint for HOURS. Who the fuck programmed an email client that doesn't gracefully handle network failures?
It was the late afternoon when I finally crept outside to move our trash can and recycle bins to the garage that I suddenly and mysteriously felt much, much better. I guess it was a combination of the cool, fresh air and adrenalyne. As I turned to go back to the house, I saw my two boys standing at the living window sill with my loving wife behind them ("spotting them") and all of them smiling ear-to-ear at the novelty of "seeing Daddy outside" that I suddenly realized just how incredibly fucking lucky I really am.
I'm just surprised I didn't realize it when Sam made me homemade chicken noodle soup on Sunday and again on Monday. I guess I really am a selfish bastard...
Well, from one selfish bastard to another, get better soon.