Stay back...we're contaminated.

I am sad to report that Jared brought a very special friend home from work yesterday - a microscopic, infectious, puke-inducing, super-congtagious friend. Although I usually enjoy meeting Jared's friends, this is not what I had in mind.

He and said friend have been quarantined to the master suite, and the baby and I are trying to carry on as though we aren't afraid of or grossed out by the assortment of sounds that are coming from under the bedroom door. I have periodically gone in with Gatorade and saltines, but that's it for contact with the diseased since yesterday at 6 p.m.

So far, Henry and I are showing no signs of being taken down. So far. But, anyway, speaking of puke viruses on New Year's Eve, who remembers the glorious take-down that occurred on the evening of December 31, 2006? My, my, that was a doozey, no?!? On THAT New Year's, we had plans to watch fireworks with the Burgess family at midnight. Jared started feeling puny that morning and got progressively worse as the day went on. By the evening, he was burning up with fever and puking every few minutes. So, we resolved that I should go over to the Burgess' with Jared's friend, Appie, while Jared slept it off. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I returned at around 12:30, with an unused sparkler so Jared and I could celebrate when he felt better, only to find him bundled in two thick blankets, sweating, shivering, burning up with a 103.6 fever, and not completely coherent (said: pretty much didn't recognize me when I came in). At this point, I sort of panicked, because I had never seen him sick and I had no idea where anything was in Orlando -- drugstore, family, doctor, etc. So, I called Jerry and Betsy...totally wrecked their New Year's plans (on a sidenote, I still love the fabulous black pants that Betsy had on that night)...and, oh yes, on THAT New Year's, Jared was the first patient at the hospital in 2007. 5 hours of IV fluids later, we went home, forgot about the sparkler, and finally got a little pukeless sleep. Yay, memories.

We can only hope that no one in our little three-person family repeats this marvelous accomplishment in '09.