Swine Flu. Oh, joy. The bane of my recent sleepless nights and new gray eyebrows (seriously – that’s the only place I can see gray hair!).

I’ve had a problem handling illnesses since Mason was hospitalized when he was 12 days old. An epidemic in our midst doesn’t help. Watching the media sensationalize it and make it appear worse than it is just about pushed me over the edge on Monday. However, after hearing a health correspondent for a major news magazine state that perhaps Mexico has had deaths because maybe as many as a million people there have been infected (but not diagnosed) did set my mind at ease a great deal. That means the death rate is far lower than they first believed. Richard and I think it’s a good idea that I just stop watching the news. Still, to be safe, and to the chagrin of the older children, I ordered a box of facemasks on ebay on Monday morning. I offered to pay extra for expedited shipping. I figure there’ll be a run on them if things get really bad. Having them will give me some piece of mind. Then, my mother (after buying her own at Kroger in Texas) said she saw someone on the news say facemasks don’t do any good anyway.

Then, I read an article last night about how Twitter has become “a hotbed of unnecessary hype and misinformation about the outbreak.” Well, gee, isn’t that what all the major media outlets are now as well?

So, I’m going to try really, really hard to not watch the news or to go to any news websites. It’s going to be very difficult, but I think I can do it!

Richard and the boys are tearing up the backyard, extending the driveway all the way to the garage. Our house was built between 1896 and 1900 so the garage isn’t really a garage. It’s a carriage house, complete with a hay loft and a trap door. With all the teenagers driving now, as well as their significant others, our driveway is perpetually full. They’ve already dug out the new driveway area (Anybody need any dirt?! There is TONS of it!), lined it with railroad ties, and compacted it. This morning, a large dump truck delivered a truckload of gravel, much to the utter glee of Max and Mason. It should be all finished by the end of the week! I plan to add a flowerbed to the edges and I’m excited about having even more gardening area. Last week, I ignored my neighbor’s warnings about “one more frost” and planted my herb garden seeds by the backdoor. I also planted jalapenos and habaneras by the deck. Richard should love those. Finally, I spread organic fertilizer everywhere. I’m still finding dirt under my fingernails.

This week’s Maxism:

I was sitting in the backyard on Sunday, keeping one eye on Max (age 7) and Mason (age 2) while reading short stories. I was trying to ignore the din of construction work the guys were doing behind me and I guess Mason got away from me because Max ran past me, yelling, “Mason has a hammer and he’s gonna whack me!”

Hugs to all!

Angela

P.S. REMEMBER AND WRITE ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD USING MEMORY TRIGGERS! It’s fun and it really does work! My next class starts IN TWO WEEKS! Each class is limited to 15 students so sign up today! Remember, Write and Publish Your Life Story.