relaxing.

We’ve had a busy last few days at our house.

Early on Friday morning Mike and I hopped on a plane to visit with my best friend and her husband in Washington, DC to celebrate the impending birth of their daughter in December. They had a co-ed baby shower at my favorite restaurant in DC and we had a blast! This was the first co-ed shower I’d been too, loved the idea, but one of the younger, posher attendees told me these sorts of things happen all the time. Who knew?

We came back into Denver late on Sunday night which meant not much sleep before heading back into work for either of us. Late on Monday morning Mike got a call from his oldest son’s school saying the boy was feeling quite ill and needed to be picked up. Four hours and a doctor’s appointment later we were told that he has contracted the H1N1 virus.  Whoa.

Despite exhibiting the other characteristic symptoms for this flu (sore throat, body aches, cough and congestion, vomiting is typically not associated) he did not spike the characteristically high (104F +) fever. His fever stayed under 100F and we are glad for that.  He seemed generally content, even if uncomfortable. Had the fever been worse I fear  the stress on his system and our sanity would have been overwhelming.

When I went into work this morning I found out that several of my co-workers’ children have contracted the virus recently and therefore many of them have been at home caring for them.  Apparently this virus has been whipping through the schools out here like a new fashion fad.  What is slightly comforting about that is I have heard repeatedly that there is no cause for serious concern. Yes, this strain of the flu is novel and alarming, but healthy individuals are at low risk and recovering well. Fortunately, we are healthy individuals.

After a day at home with his dad resting and playing video games to his little heart’s content, my stepson is recovering nicely.  He appears to have missed what could have been a much more severe case.  I am home now, too, sitting on our couch eating the delicious dinner Mike made, sipping chamomile tea and watching Fawlty Towers. I’m glad for it.

Da… Bills.

The Buffalo Bills just lost to the New England Patriots on national broadcast television. Again I say, Monday Night Football is *not* the venue for pulling embarrassing stunts in the last minute of the 4th quarter that lose the game. I mean, come on guys.  Being from Buffalo makes me a Bills fan automatically, but this relationship is starting to feel one-sided.

The End of Summer.

It has been a while.  I had a great summer that went by way too quickly.  Mostly, I went hiking, went to Buffalo for my high school reunion, and went hiking some more. Good times.

I really like this blog, so I am going to try and be better about updating it more regularly, getting photos up and keeping better track of my Life.

It’s been all over the news about the fires that are raging in SoCal right now, and the skies have been smokey all the way out here in Northern Colorado. I am intrigued. On my commute home from work this afternoon I was unable to see the mountains, as they were concealed in smoke. A minute or two later, I noticed the gray haze that was generally in the air all around and felt my eyes beginning to sting when I blinked.

Things at work have been busy but good.  Business has picked up this quarter (I hope this is a sign of good things to come), which means those of us who made it through the layoffs late last year and in the early Spring of this year have been hauling butt to maintain the status quo. If I remember my Macroeconomics course at all, I believe this is probably happening all across America right now and is a positive sign for industry.

Activities at the AIDS service organization (ASO) I’ve been volunteering at for the last 3 years have scaled back up, too. Perhaps it’s just the time of year, summers are always more social. I was concerned to hear some disturbing news at a meeting last week, though: HIV infections are on the rise among young, gay men in our county.  This, in my mind, makes me consider if there are similar trends occurring in other youth populations. Amidst the warm glow of our outreach and prevention programs’ successes, we are steadily taking in more newly infected HIV-positive clients than in months past.  There could be many reasons for this, including more people than ever are getting tested and learning their status, but the news itself is startling. HIV/AIDS is still a real and urgent concern in our community and will remain so for a long time to come.

Mike and I just bought our plane tickets to DC to attend my best friend’s baby shower at the end of the month.  I am more than excited.  I have a tremendous amount of joy in knowing that my family is growing.  I can’t wait for Mike, who is my family here in Colorado, to meet my extended family back east.  All of us together will truly feel like home.

I am happy, I am loved, and on lucky days… I am well-rested

Time for bed. Good night all.