Don't You Wish You Were a Factorial?

I recently celebrated my birthday. I have a friend who is a numbers/math girl (unlike me) and she introduced me to the wonderful habit of figuring out something cool about every birthday year. This year I am a factorial. Since I will not be a factorial again until I have become a centenarian (which may never happen), I think this is one of the coolest birthday years I've ever celebrated.

For my birthday, Patrick wins the "Best Husband Ever Award" because he went to get my gift on black Friday because he saw an ad for something he thought I'd like and it was hugely on sale. (As in, this gift is usually about 90 dollars and with Black Friday rebates, he got it for 20.) This meant, that the weekend when we were sick, he got up at 5:30 am and went to Office Depot. This may not seem that early for Black Friday fanatics but it was a weekend, he was sick, and he was going to Office Depot so he didn't think it would be that busy, and it didn't open until 6:00 anyway. After he got there, he couldn't find the product he wanted. He got in line to check out something he had found instead and talked to a lady who had been there since 4 am and was the fourth or fifth person in line. This made him realize why the product probably wasn't there-- he just wasn't gung-ho enough. Fortunately, he asked an employee just to be sure, and the employee went in back and found the last one. The product he got because he didn't think the one he'd come for was there was a photo editing program. The one he came for and ended up getting successfully was a scrapbooking program. The gifts were great, but, I have to admit, the effort was the most flattering thing.

Patrick also gets another star because he went in to work his job the night before my birthday so he could stay home with me later on the morning of my birthday. He also canceled a study group so he could come home earlier on my birthday even though he is desperately in need of studying because we were all sick over Thanksgiving break. (Did I mention how wonderful that turned out to be, by the way? I loved being confined to the house with my husband and son. We had a great time just hanging out and being together as a family, even though we all felt physically crummy.) Anyway, in sum, I have the best husband ever.

I opened presents, we had an early dinner going out to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (second choice after Subway, which we couldn't find), and then had friends over for cake and ice cream. I also, as it turns out, have some awesome friends. One friend is a Mary Kay lady, and she gave me lip gloss. The same friend called the night before and offered to make my cake, but I had already made it so she made me homemade oreos instead. One friend is a sewing master, and he made me an awesome purse, so now I can have something cooler than my old-lady purse when I'm not using the diaper bag. Another friend dropped by a really sweet card on my birthday. I also got all sorts of generous and thoughtful gifts and cards from our families on my birthday. Following cake with the two couples who came to share it with us, we finished off the night playing games with our friends Kyle and Kathleen. All in all, a pretty stinkin' sweet day. I was super satisfied with how this birthday went, and now I get to revel in 4! for the duration of this next year of my life. Just think, I'll never get to do that again.

What Do You Do When You're Sick

Wish You Didn't Get So Many Sale Notices

Well, one thing you do is look longingly at the amazing ads that are going up for Thanksgiving weekend and think, "If only I had the energy . . . and if only I didn't care about spreading sickness."

Call and Cancel Your Plans for Thanksgiving

And feel inexpressibly grateful that you have such nice friends that they offer to bring you dinner on Thanksgiving even though they tell you not to worry about contributing, and even though they are already feeding eight adults at their house, and even though their family is coming into town from north and south to share this meal with them so they could be covetous of their time with them.

Look Longingly at Your Birthday Gifts

Um, this has more to do with the fact that my parents' gifts arrived six days early than it has to do with me being sick, but the fact that I may be lounging around the house for the next six days will make the temptation to open them ever so much greater. Not that I will do it, of course . . .

Sleep a Lot

The kiddo has been sick since about Saturday. Yesterday, I went to the doctor and she gave me decongestant for him. Huzzah! (This did not happen last season when he was sick because he was too little for meds like that; there are just so many things to love about having a one-year-old.) Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I was lucky to get him to sleep a half hour 2-5 times a day. And when he wasn't sleeping he was right on the brink of tears about 90% of the time. Happily, now that he has medication, he sleeps (and isn't an emotional mess) and his daddy and I get to sleep too. Thank goodness that Dad has a vacation. I have already taken two naps today, and I am lucky to ever manage one nap when I'm healthy because my body revolts against "laziness."

Read! Read! Read!

A while ago, I looked at my Goodreads.com list of books to read and thought I should start whittling away at it, so I put a bunch of books on hold at the library. I have now read The Book Thief and The Hunger Games. I am currently reading The Professor and the Madman and have started The Tipping Point, though I haven't been impressed with the second one. Gilead and Catching Fire are now sitting in the house, waiting in line. Patrick is reading Catching Fire, and since that ones a sequel to The Hunger Games, it may get moved up in front of The Tipping Point for me, which, honestly with all these other books waiting in my house, might be tipped right back to the library.

Reading has been a relief because I was starting to get stir crazy. I wanted to get out of the house but I didn't want people to hate me and my sniffly baby. The kiddo has gotten stir crazy too, but he's holding up better now that he's getting naps. So, all in all, life is working out all right for us despite pounding headaches, runny noses, and achey bodies. Even so, we do hope they pass soon, especially for Patrick who has exams starting in exactly two weeks and feels an urgent need to study but not an urgent enough need that it overpowers his even more urgent need to sleep and rest.