Subject to Change

Sorry I missed Drinking Right. I think Nick and I are tied now. At least I’ve got the founder’s attendance record beat.

I’m also missing the blog summit. I don’t think I’d have made it anyway, but there are more than enough reasons now.

Cole hasn’t been himself since Saturday, and since Sunday he’s been uncontrollably fussy. He even stopped eating. But, he wasn’t running a fever and had no other symptoms, so we couldn’t take him to the doctor. Finally, he ran the magic 100.4 fever last night and we had a reason to take him in.

The poor guy has an ear infection. As soon as they numbed his ear, he smiled for the first time in three days. We thought we had this licked, but today was the worst yet. Kelly said that he cried all day and wouldn’t touch his bottle. She force-fed him Pedialyte because his diapers were dry. By three O’clock he seemed to improve.

He’s happy now, but we’re on our way back to Urgent Care. It looks like he’s happy because his eardrum ruptured and the pus is coming out. I know from experience that a ruptured eardrum isn’t necessarily such a big deal. It’s happened to me twice. We just need to get him checked and cleaned out, so that it will heal correctly.

But wait, there’s more! This next part should not be taken the wrong way by my boss, who reads this blog. I’m not upset about this next bit, except for the part that we have been trying to correct for the past several years. That part’s beyond our control, and I now have a reason to take it personally.

I’m on my way to El Paso in the morning. I’ll be there until next Friday.

This is an opportunity that I would ordinarily welcome, even though the work is going to suck. I love a challenge, and in my single days I loved to travel. I haven’t really gotten over it. I miss exploring new places.

Any other time, this would be fine with me. If I weren’t spending my first Father’s Day away from my sick son, I’d have welcomed the break. That’s the part I’m going to hold against the company that’s earned a special place in my heart.

Wish me luck, and check in on Kelly. OK?