My older son's been very sick all week. Fever, cough. His doctor joked it was the swine flu, but since I like to keep my neuroses relatively secret, I played it cool: "Oh, are you seeing a lot of that?" Like the thought hadn't occurred to me. "No!" the doc scoffed. But when I called the school and told them son had 102 and bronchitis, they grew panicky and asked loads of questions and sent younger son home that same day when he mentioned he had a stomachache. Nurse insisted I pick him up at once, which I did, but he returned today, because he's not even remotely sick.
Tomorrow is Field Day, or something equally healthy-sounding, up at the boys' school. Used to be called Carnival and the kids used to buy tickets and play games, but some higher up decided it too closely resembled gambling and put the kibosh on it. Now, the kids will wear uniforms and play good old fashioned and wholesome soldiery games like tug-of-war, instead. My younger son's teacher invited me to participate, which came as a great surprise, because I'm pretty sure she knows how unpopular I am with the current administration. Might be her way of giving them a gentle eff you in return for a year of harassment, but I don't mind. I'm all for sticking it to the man, even when he happens to be a woman.
Oh God, and my sister found someone to rent her house. In August, she'll be moving 300 miles away. I am heartbroken. I only moved to this godforsaken place to be near her, but, if this is what it takes to make her happy, how can I wish for anything else? Eh, that's complete bullshit. I want her to go away and realize she's made terrible mistake and come rushing back to pledge her eternal devotion, but that ain't gonna happen. Think I'll just wallow in my sadness for a few days more, and then suck it up, like I always do. What choice do I have?