When It Rains...

It pours.  But we don't mind getting wet around here.

That's what they say when several things go wrong at once.  Let's see here:

• Tophie got sick for the first time this week, and while the brunt of it seems to have passed; now it's morphed into an occasional cough and drippy nose.  The only time it appears to bother him is when he tries to nurse but is unable to breathe through his nose; the fact that he has to unlatch to breathe seems to really annoy him.  
• Did I forget to mention his first time getting sick happened to coincide with our first week back on contract? So that was another thing; I have already taken one of my personal days and Matt has taken two.  Not that we mind, but still.  
• Oh; did I mention I caught my baby's lovely little viral infection? Yep; so I am now sick, feeling a little better than yesterday (which was the worst; my whole body was aching and I was shivering and snotting and coughing aaaaand trying to get stuff ready in my room for my students, who will be in the building on Monday), however, today my entire voice is gone! Yep, that's right, I am unable to speak at this very moment.  And when I do attempt to speak, I sound like an old man, according to my husband.
• To top all of that off, my hubs got some unfavorable news from his school yesterday; nothing that is too terribly bad but still, a disappointment.  
• And then, we get home after a long first week back, and what do we find? Our upstairs carpet has a big wet spot.  I was honestly praying it was because the cat peed there.  No such luck.  A pipe is leaking from our washer and causing that mess.  In other words, if we don't remedy this quick, we'll have a shortcut from the upstairs to the downstairs that will not involve using stairs.
• While we're at it, my husband also got this little viral infection and I've never seen him so sick. Normally he toughs it out, but he has been a zombie today; coughing really hard and complaining of body aches and a sore throat.
• Toph also developed conjunctivitis during this whole viral thing and Mama officially has that now.  I had to throw away a perfectly good pair of contacts because of the eye snot.  So, tomorrow, when personal appearance is super important, I'll be sporting my glasses (if I can find them) and sneakily trying to wipe away any matter that builds up.  Forget missing; tomorrow is the first day of school.  I just hope I can talk.

I'll admit, this is annoying and off-putting.  I mean really? Right before the kids come back? Really? But, through all of it, I keep remembering that no matter what, God looks upon us with favor.  He would never give us anything we truly couldn't handle and today while I was in the shower and feeling particularly sorry for myself, I remembered that.  Then I bucked up and put my big girl panties undergarments on and dealt with it. I am somebody's mom and somebody's wife and those somebodies depend on me.

This too shall pass, and our immune systems will be the stronger for it.