Sick and tired

Sigh.

On Wednesday night, we welcomed Chloe to our house, and she’s staying with us until Tuesday while her parents attend a conference in New Mexico …

And I’ve spent the last two days at home, taking care of Chloe -- the dog-- and Phoebe -- the 6-month old.

I’m exhausted.

There was a sweet moment Wednesday night shortly after Chloe arrived and Kates went to the grocery store to pick up some things. We had already put Phoebe to bed, and I went to work in our office but didn’t know where Chloe had gone … I found her curled up below Phoebe’s crib. And she refused to follow me out of Phoebe’s room. Chloe was protecting her.

But I also started to get that feeling Wednesday night that my Thursday was doomed … The head cold I thought I’d beaten earlier in the week was making a comeback. And Phoebe was out of sorts too; she appeared to be catching a cold of her own and there was something going on with her eye. Added to that, both Kates and I had hoped to put in extra hours at work on Thursday evening and we were having a tough time sorting out who should pick her up.

Thursday morning came. Both of us went to work, and I dropped off Phoebe at the daycare …

An hour later I was picking her up and heading home with her. Kates had received a follow-up call from Phoebe’s doctor; she had Pink Eye. Kates called me at work with the news, and I promptly shut down and put in for a sick day.

We got through the morning all right, though getting Phoebe to eat her squash for lunch was a little traumatic. And she wouldn’t fall asleep when it was time for her second nap. And we had to make two trips to Walgreens for her prescription because I forgot my debit card during the first trip … In the afternoon, we took a nap together on the couch. And we had some fun playing and listening to music; she loved dancing to Blind Melon’s “No Rain.”

We watched “Bad News Bears,” the 2007 re-make, which I’d recorded onto our DVR some time ago mostly because I wanted to see Sammi Kane Kraft, whom I met this summer, in action. The movie was better than I’d anticipated … And today I caught “Stand By Me” on AMC. It’s been years since I saw that one -- it was as good as I’d remembered.

And today. Well, it was a supposed to be a vacation day for me … Rather, it was another day of paying close attention to Phoebe, and fitting in laundry and other household chores where I could. In addition to managing my own health, and making sure Chloe is still getting her due attention …

When Kates arrived home tonight, my face must have told the story. “You ready for me to take over?” she laughed.

Like I said, I’m exhausted.