Last Parasite Report: Ending Summer On A High

I’m pretty sure you must all be sick and tired of reading about the ongoing poop fest at our house. So this, I promise you, will be the last post on said subject. And I’ll throw in some other deep reflective thoughts to end it on a real perky note.

Currently we’re waiting on lab results. I was a bit fanatical at the pediatrician’s office when I picked up the collection materials the second time. “Are you sure the right lab test is ordered? Are you QUITE CERTAIN these are the vials that need to be submitted??? Yes, please ask the doctor again because I’ve already had to collect almost 20 poop samples before and I don’t want to collect “only these ten” to get the same heart attack inducing phone call that the wrong test was ordered.” Sprinkle fist thumping, eye twitching and Sylvester spit through out, and you get the idea of the completely mature and competent homeschooling mom of five I portrayed. (Pat on the back please someone.)

All I need is one positive test, and it’s drugs for all! The encore performance of Cyclospora was a bit easier on the kids, but Tony and I faired about the same, or worse and he and Fulton are having unrelated symptoms which I think are due to their resistances being down. Even with the right cure, I’m concerned about how healthy we’ll be able to stay this fall. Typically, we get a bug in October. I really hope we get a reprieve and can enjoy a couple of months without feeling like crap. (rim shot)I spent today at the beach with friends and am feeling a bit blue knowing it’s probably the last chance we’ll be down before school starts next week and the upcoming fall chaos or “schedule” won’t leave much time for impromptu day trips. It made me reflect back on our summer as a whole, full of ups and downs. The highs of visiting family, days at the beach, and celebrations with friends tempered by the lows of sickness and surprise expenses.

Fall looms large in front of me. August typically seems so full of hope and promise; a clean homeschooling slate. Rarely do I feel as good in December, or April (the other two months we take off school) as I do in August. Perhaps it because there’s no major holiday to plan for. Labor Day does not require stacks of cards to be mailed or baskets to be filled with faux grass. And maybe also because by December or April  I’ve been forced to realize that at least a few of my grandiose August ideas went bust.

I think for something different, I’ll plan for catastrophe this fall. Just pencil a couple days of chaos in here and there and only schedule the bare minimum in school work from now until December. Maybe if I aim low I’ll enter December on a high. Here’s to one last week in the sun before putting on my big girl homeschooling britches and getting back to work.