As if things weren’t interesting enough around here, now I’m sick, with a “childhood illness” called Fifth Disease. While it sounds really impressive (”the whole way up to five?”), it’s basically a flu-like thing caused by a parvovirus. I’m a little surprised I got it, since that implies I’ve never had it before (remember, I’m from the generation where measles, mumps, and chicken pox were considered a normal part of childhood, not deadly diseases to be avoided by delivering partial immunity and pharmaceutical company profits), but it couldn’t have come at a worse time, what with Annie’s upcoming surgery and all.

It has slowed me down pretty well (the migrating joint pain is really uncomfortable, particularly in the evenings, and last night it hit my hands so hard I couldn’t type), so expect me to take a bit more time handling questions or problems. This of course comes on top of the expected slowdown with Annie’s upcoming stay in hospital (I cannot tell you how embarrassing it is to need help getting out of bed from someone who actually has a serious illness), so accept my apologies ahead of time, and thanks for your understanding.