Crossposts:

http://badgerbag.livejournal.com/466848.html

Today A. woke up complaining (which is nothing new and usually means she wants to be taken to get a fancy pastry) But then came home sick from school. Heinously for me who is so paranoid everyone thinks I am malingering, I was skeptical she was really sick. She said her head hurt and I talked about sinuses (though i have seen her act totally normal and perky while in weeks-long obvious sinus infections unable to breathe through her nose.) I checked to see she could move her chin to her chest in case she had surprise meningitis. Then... amazingly she fell asleep for a couple of hours so we realized she was really sick. Then she started saying that her vision was weird, and D. said she felt hot. I checked her temp and it was 103.7. Ack! A kids' dose of ibuprofen brought it down a degree which was enough to get her up from bed a tiny bit and talking again instead of lying them limply with a wet facecloth on her head. I think taking a shower also helped bring her fever down a little.

Moomin read on the bed or the floor (in a sleeping bag) all day and played Peggle Nights and put together lego things. Earlier this week when I thought it likely I would not be able to drive I ordered him some pajamas and underwear off Amazon (yay amazon prime) and a lego thingie on sale. So glad I did that because indeed, I did need all those things! He can wear A.'s socks. And they are the same size pants and shirts (Some of her jeans are probably his.) I thought he would complain bitterly about being here for the weekend but he was totally sweet all day.

I forced myself to call in to my work call in the morning and then talked with my boss afterwards. Terrifying! I can't even express how ashamed I am when I have to do this and how much I want to just avoid it and pretend nothing is amiss. He was pretty nice about it and seemed to get my dilemma about wanting to launch my project so I don't look bad, and because people are waiting to use it, but not wanting to half-launch it and then go away again on medical leave and not be there to fix its problems. Medical leave (aka short term disability pay) would start 7 days (not business days) after my first day out, which they would count as Monday. So I think it very likely I will do that. It's not like I code with my feet, but I'm in pain and very distracted and upset. I would be working half-assed if I tried to do it.

My mom also emailed me to say if I am on leave and need money she wants to help me financially. It was really nice and I feel lucky...

I read some more of Hands on the Freedom Plough, and especially loved Victoria Grey Adams' essay, "They Didn't Know the Power of Women". Wow, she's totally great and I would have flocked to her like anything. There was a great bit where at a meeting the first thing people were saying was Oh, what we really need are black policeman. and she says,

I was mad as a whip that's all they asked for, black policemen. I fumed, "I am so sick of people asking for black policemen, I don't know what to do." Everybody turned and asked, "What's wrong with black policemen?" I said, "There is nothing wrong with black policemen. They just don't have any kind of power. That's all. Policemen are nothing but tools in the hands of more powerful people. The people who are really in charge can use black policemen to do the same thing to you as the white policemen have been doing to you. This time they can feel good about it, because it's your own folks that's doing it. If you're going to ask for something, ask for something that can make a difference."

I just love this but everything about her essay was great. She described how their group of delegates from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, who did their own voting process for the convention, were demanding seats at the 1964 Democratic Convention and went with a group of 60 men and women to represent. They were offered 2 seats finally and the Democrats specified who could take them. MLK and the heads of the NAACP were trying to persuade them that the movement needed a victory and to take the 2 seats. Adams and Fannie Lou Hamer and Annie Devine and others opposed that strongly and persuaded the group not to take the deal -- to come back in 68. I read this and know the same sorts of conversations and deals and persuasions and controversies are happening all over the world and certainly in Occupy Wall Street and I wish I could get everyone involved with Occupy to read this book for its perspectives. She winds up saying,

To young people today, I would say, "Get to know everyday people. Make sure you cquire, to the degree possible, the wisdom and knowledge of these people. Everybody has something to say and something to offer. There should be an opportunity for that to happen. Make the information available and all of the sources accessible. Then hear what the people have to say. If you do, you will find, to borrow a phrase from Miss Ella Baker, 'Strong people don't need strong leaders.'"

I dog eared the hell out of her chapter of the book, let me tell you.

Zond7 made us rice and chicken (kids) and smoked trout and rice and avocado (us) and then we watched Earthflight, a BBC nature documentary narrated by David Tennant, which I found out about from someone on DW's short YouTube clip of pelicans and devil rays:



I am shuffling in slightly bigger steps today, took half a vicodin in the afternoon, and am managing. I still can't imagine a) driving b) walking anywhere or going up stairs. To do the tiny half step out of this house to the sidewalk I have to turn sideways and hang onto something because my ankles can't deal with bending like that. But it was still a much better day. I'll try to remember that if we all get 103 degree fevers and have to cope with being in a one room flat together all weekend.