For a few days it was just an occasional cough. Sunday evening it became cough plus fever. Monday morning? Full-on migraine, complete with swaths of light across my entire field of vision and a painful reaction to any bright light source or sharp sound. (This is my first experience with migraines, but I have it on good authority that my diagnosis is accurate.) Oh, and the aforementioned cough & fever.

No, I don’t know if it’s the so-called “swine flu,” and I don’t care. I just want it to hurry up and get over with. I’ve barely left my room since 8pm Sunday, and I’m beyond tired of the sight of these walls. And ceiling, considering how much time I’ve spent in bed. Today I went from mostly-feverish-and-nauseous to hacking-up-a-lung (and feverish). MY, WHAT FUN.

And it looks like I’m not the only one who came down sick, damn it all. I hope everyone else has an easier time of it than I’ve had so far. I apologize to those of you that I’m responsible for infecting, too.

Bleh.

The daughter turned sixteen yesterday, so we threw her a big silly party. (Well, okay. The Lloyd Center skating rink people threw her a big silly party. We just paid for the thing. Heh.)

Near as I can tell, she and the half-dozen friends who showed up all had a good time, and she was delighted by the party and the presents and especially the chance to go ice skating. (She’s only been asking to do so since she was, oh, maybe six years old?) I may not understand the big deal about a girl’s sixteenth birthday, but I’m not enough of a brainless lump to let said birthday slide on by without at least trying to make a decent event out of it.

So: Happy Birthday, kiddo!