Wills are not in force just yet

I haven't been posting because we have been in a state of crisis since Meemaw and Poppop left last Tuesday. Starting last Monday, on Jacob's birthday, all menfolk in my house contracted a noxious respiratory illness that resulted in copious rivers of snot, coughing, general evilness, and of course, sleeplessness. For Isaac, this was also accompanied by bedwetting. So awesome. But thinking it was just a virus, I kept everyone away from the doctor's office, letting Dada fall asleep on the couch at 6 pm every night with his horrible chest pain, until Wednesday night when Dada told me he was either going to the ER or to the doctor first thing the next morning.

Thursday everyone went to their respective doctors. Other than the coughing and snot-rivers, the boys had nothing wrong with them, no ear infections or chest congestion, but since they had suffered for 10 days I choked on my Biochemistry Ph.D. and begged their doctor for amoxicillin. She obliged. Dada, on the other hand, was diagnosed with walking pneumonia by his doctor. You know it's bad when the doctor tells you your lungs sound horrible, and then is beside himself when you tell him you've been at work all week.

Twelve hours after the first dose of antibiotics, everyone is markedly improved. The snot-tide has stemmed completely, and there is decidedly less coughing (and thus also more sleeping). Dada is able to move around without complaining, though he still sounds like his sinuses have only begun to drain.

Through it all, I have remained almost completely well. Maybe a stuffy nose or headache every other day, but that's it. I credit my wellness entirely to my children's book. By this I mean that I am staying up so late working on it, till 3 or 4 in the morning every day this week, that I reckon I am making my body an untasty host for infectious organisms. Before you nag me about taking better care of myself (Mother, I am talking to YOU), please note that I was always one of those flashlight-under-the-covers kids growing up. The sleeplessness sounds brutal, but I am having great fun writing the book because it's what I love to do. And you'd be amazed how easy it is to forget that you only got three hours of sleep after drinking half a gallon of iced tea a day. On top of two cups of coffee. And a grande americano.

These two things, the playing the part of Florence Nightingale O'Neal and the book-writing, are why I haven't been blogging. I probably won't blog again until after I'm done with the book sometime in the next week, which makes me feel horribly guilty because I have all these pictures of Jacob's birthday that are going unposted as of yet. But you will see them. Oh yes. We will be back with lots of fun O'Neal boy stories soon...Did I mention Isaac pees standing up now? And Jacob says "car"? And there are mice living in our master bedroom wall?