Cough, cough, sniff, sniff

This week has been a sick week in our household.  First the baby got it, then I got it, then my husband finally succumbed to some lurgie he'd been fighting for a few weeks.  We've made more than a few trips to the chemist (drug store) and supermarket for supplies - namely tissues.  I didn't know how we went through so many tissues when I'd only bought two boxes the week before!  But I blame me and my stupid nose, which is still running as badly today as it was when all this started a week ago!  Grrr!

And everyone around us is sick, too.  It's the cold and flu season in Australia and just about everyone we know is battling something.  Want sympathy?  You can't have it because there's no free healthy person around to give it!  And when both mum and dad get sick, you both have to keep going!  That's a lesson that's taking some learning for us.

I remember the first time I was sick on my own.  In my mid-20s, I was living blissfully by myself after a string of crazy housemates.  It was heaven!  Then I got sick and there was no one around me to care - or help.  If I wanted an aspirin, I had to get up and get it myself.  No aspirin left?  I had to get in the car and go and get it.  I was surprised by the number of things I decided I could do without because I couldn't be bothered getting out of bed.  Ah, those were the days when I COULD stay in bed all day if I needed to!

As any mum or dad will tell you, there's no such thing as days off, sick leave or holidays - let alone pay or shift loading for working nights, weekends or public holidays!  You have to keep going because you, well, just have to.  The washing still has to get done because everyone will still need clean underwear.  The grocery shopping still needs to be done because you will still need supplies.  And food will still need to be cooked because crappy though you feel, you'll still get hungry - or someone else will.

But isn't it amazing that a baby with a cold will still zoom around the house, with snot streaming down their face, smiling and happy?  Where DO they get that energy from?  But we have been having more quiet snuggles on the couch lately, which I've loved.  Even with the snot.  I tell you, I think I've got Hairy Maclary memorised!

I had to take a day off earlier this week because I just couldn't manage a day in the office - coughing, struggling to breathe, and the sounds I made when blowing my nose were best not shared with others.  But I've also had to miss out on just over a week of running.

I had only just made it to Week 3 of the Couch 2 5km (and badly thanks to technical difficulties with a new-to-me iPod touch, a fully loaded pram and some genius who wouldn't give way on the path!) so I'm not sure what stage I'll need to start at when I do get back out there.  I'm going to try Week 3 Day 1 again and hope I can do it.

My 5km fun run event is coming up on Father's Day (September 2) and I want to be well and truly ready for it - and my 'carrot' of new sneakers if I get to the 5km mark by August is a big motivator for me because I'm running in 9-year-old runners that are heavy and leak badly!  My money's on getting back out there on Sunday... maybe next Tuesday.  Do they make running shorts with a tissue pocket???