Last Tuesday I had to check in with Doctor Looove. We chatted about a variety of things (2% me, 98% Maddie), and then Dr. Loooove threw out there, “Oh hey – we got the flu vaccine in today!” and I was like, “That’s cool” and then she said, “You should get it!” I was all, “I don’t do well when I don’t have days to mentally prepare for a shot” and she said, “Oh, well as long as you don’t have asthma, you can get the flumist!” and I am all about not getting a shot, so I agreed. It’s basically a nasal spray, you snort it into each nostril. It instantly gave me a headache (which all nasal sprays do) but I was okay until the next night when I suddenly didn’t even know my name.

I felt fine all day. I worked a full day, and then I went to a safety presentation a few miles away from my house. I stood the whole time, and I was holding Maddie, so I didn’t think much of being tired and sore when I got home. Maddie was tired as well, so when I laid on the couch with Maddie on my chest, it wasn’t anything unusual. Except I fell asleep at 8:15pm…and turned into a zombie. Mike would talk to me, and I would mutter nonsense back at him. Then at around 11pm, I suddenly stood up, holding Maddie, and walked back into our bedroom, where Maddie and I laid down across the width of our bed. Mike obviously had no problem moving Maddie, but I was complete dead weight. And I was for the next three days. I called Dr. Looove and she said, “Oh yeah, some people have a bad reaction to the flu mist.” Awesome, thanks for the head’s up.

As everyone knows, fever and vomit sort of put a damper on things. I totally forgot that I had a guest post up on Merlot Mom’s website. So if you are looking for more of my writing, check it out. Luckily I felt a million times better by Saturday, just in time for the party my parents have at their house at this time every year. This party marked the debut of Flat Jackie! Flat Jackie! is similar to Flat Stanley, except she is prettier, old enough to drink, and wouldn’t dream of traveling by envelope (only first class for her). This is Flat Jackie! with Maddie:
Maddie and Flat Jackie roll on the floor

All signs point to more adventures with Flat Jackie! very soon.

On Sunday Mike and I met up with my super-fun friend Meghan and her husband DJ. We ate and drank our way through Santa Barbara, and she was totally understanding when the sudden onset of stomach trouble caused me to basically run from them at the end of the night. Thanks, Megs! Meghan and I also got some official stuff taken care of, as we are now business partners! And yes we are business partners Mike and DJ stop laughing at us!!! Meghan and I have started a joint review blog. I know what you’re thinking (booooooring) but it won’t be. We’ll have reviews of products and services and anything else we think is fun and funny. Plus, we’ll be giving stuff away pretty much every week. So that should be all the reason you need. We GIVE and we GIVE!

On Monday, Mike and I left my parents’ house (where they took care of all four of us, allowing me to recuperate), but first we introduced Maddie to grass for the first time. I thought she’d roll right off the towel into the grass, but she was much more content to gaze at the clouds.
gazing at the sky

Of course, she couldn’t let an opportunity go by without mugging for her mom.

sweet girl
She’s such a ham.

Monday night I had a great dinner with my friends Dana, Lissa, Kim, and Kim’s new baby, Catie -yep, the one that was born the same day as Jackie!’s surgery. Catie is tiny and beautiful, and makes me realize that Maddie actually HAS grown since we brought her home. Catie & Maddie will be in the same grade at school, so Kim and I have already starting talking about the trouble they’ll get into – hopefully it will be minor compared to the scrapes Kim and I often found ourselves in.

My main objective this Labor Day weekend was to stay as busy as possible, and I think I did a good job. On Monday night, I was so worn out from everything that I slept much better than I thought I would. I woke up with a start a twice, but both times I walked into Maddie’s room and saw she was okay, all curled up into a tiny little ball. She’s lucky I’m too short to climb into her crib, or she would have had her mom snuggling with her for most of the night.