‘Your sons and this nose situation are killing me’ Oct/Nov 08
You might expect, and I would certainly hope, that the first post after so long a silence in this space would lay claim to a certain amount of drama, if for no other reason than at least in the way of justifying its tardiness. I will lay that hope in its shallow grave right here and now: we’ve been ill and cranky and busy, though mostly ill. The busy hasn’t helped either, though, and the cranky part is frankly nothing new.
Seriously, we’ve been sick, all four of us, with no respite, since the first day of school. The first quarter is now over, and having made it through nine weeks in this state of health fills us with a certain pride and corresponding despair. The heat in our flat finally, feebly, came on as the first quarter faded and died, though it feels a bit late to do any good at this point — it’s been so long since we have not been blowing noses, our own and those of certain others, that it’s hard to imagine a Kleenex-free existence could ever be ours.
I am well aware that reading accounts of other people’s sinus problems ranks down there with Fannie Mae failure analysis in terms of alluring content, and so will not go on at too much length other than to add that few things turn you off more from wanting to photograph and write about your kids than the constant pumping of paste-like yellow snoogs from their noses, which pumping is conducted only under the most vigorously registered duress. And while I’m there I might as well add that the baseline unpleasantness of interminable flu symptoms has been merely the canvas upon which a rich pageant of plagues has been endlessly daubed. We’re pretty much disappointed these days if the sun rises unaccompanied by a galvanizing cry of “Poopoo! In da BED!” or an outbreak of hives, fierce vomiting, pinkeye, projectile dandruff, inexplicable buboes, etc, from one or another or all of us.
Things have sucked. But, hey, we’re back!
Sort of. If you can call it that.
Yay! The iso is glossing again! Sounds like you’ve had a helluva couple months.
Apparently moving to a new country not only involves learning a new language and customs, but also building up immunity to that particular country’s germs. Glad to hear you’re all feeling better.
Comment by Erik R. — Sunday 16 November 08 @ 22.49 MST+2.00
You’re back!
Sorry about the projectile dandruff. That’s the worst.
Comment by jane — Monday 17 November 08 @ 01.55 MST+2.00
Oh no! The dread Bulgarian virus(es). I’m so sorry. And I’m right there with you – at least one of our family of 4 has been sick at any given time since mid-September, and usually it’s been 3 of us at a time. But I’m very glad to see you back. Hang in there.
Comment by juliloquy — Monday 17 November 08 @ 04.13 MST+2.00
Hey! I’ve been cranky and busy too!
Great to see you back. Hope the viruses etc let up on you guys.
Comment by Roo — Monday 17 November 08 @ 04.18 MST+2.00
I, on the other hand, have merely been cranky.
Glad things are looking up, if only ever so slightly.
Comment by jdog — Monday 17 November 08 @ 08.05 MST+2.00
very, very, very nice to see you again!!!
we miss you here in Italy… :(
Comment by Jessie — Monday 17 November 08 @ 14.47 MST+2.00
I figured it had something to do with mucus. It usually does. Not just with you guys, I mean.
Comment by gaoo — Monday 17 November 08 @ 21.56 MST+2.00
Delighted to have you back. I was going to write something impatient in a comment to your long-ago last post, but figured it would have no weight coming from somebody you didn’t know anyway and would likely mean I was inexcusably berating someone to whom something awful had happen.
And lo, something awful has indeed happened. I hate the Descent of the Boogers. I expected poop and puke as a parent, but somehow didn’t anticipate the boogers. ‘Cause I’m stupid.
Comment by Kate — Tuesday 18 November 08 @ 16.55 MST+2.00
Welcome back.
Comment by Alan — Tuesday 18 November 08 @ 18.29 MST+2.00
Very glad to see you’re all recovering. I hope it hasn’t impeded your general enjoyment of a new country. I’ve been wondering how it is to move to a new country with children and with wife – a massive contrast to your other moves, but a wonderful step for you all. Enjoy the colours and textures that are spewing from all orifices, and revel in the human body’s ability to cope. Or something.
Comment by Kristin — Tuesday 18 November 08 @ 19.32 MST+2.00
Is it wrong and all sorts of Ignorant, Jerky American (redundancy?) of me to half-imagine Sofia as a place in which heat comes in the form of a clanking radiator (much like the one that haunted my room while growing up) and/or from burning tires, newspapers, and, hey, why not, old Soviet flags in an oil barrel?
Note that none of this stops me from wanting to visit, though I shan’t visit in the winter.
At any rate, I hope the snot flows have abated and that bed-born poop becomes less frequent.
Comment by Emily — Wednesday 19 November 08 @ 08.31 MST+2.00
Thanks, everyone, for being sufficiently educated in RSS to not have given up on us entirely. That said, I hasten to add that this post in no way indicates any sort of end to the torrent of mucus. We just decided that we ought to accept it as status quo and move forward.
It’s nice to know you noticed and/or cared. I should probably also add that no one should go out of their way to hold their breath on any future posts, given the busy/cranky combination that is sure to endure even if our immune systems do beat this Thracian superbug.
And Emily, I don’t think it’s particularly egregious for you to have that image, and I don’t have anything in particular on hand to dispel it for you. Perhaps strengthening it, I could add that it seems all heat for the entire city is turned on via one enormous switch somewhere in central Sofia, and the apparatchiki don’t throw that switch until someone has died of exposure in their dank grey flat.
Oh, and I’m pretty confident that the meager heat that does finally flow is generated by burning rubbish. Just a gut feeling.
Comment by sgazzetti — Wednesday 19 November 08 @ 22.11 MST+2.00
Was rather excited to see you go bold on my RSS feed list, though sorry to hear you will still be cranky for awhile.
Comment by VioletSky — Wednesday 19 November 08 @ 23.49 MST+2.00
If it makes you feel any better, most of the Shetland Islands is run on burned rubbish. I’s just sayin, if it works…
Comment by KP — Tuesday 25 November 08 @ 13.32 MST+2.00