Well, now. Welcome back to the show.

I've reviewed a couple of CDs recently (seriously, buy "Monster Monster" from The Almost already) but I haven't updated with any real news.

Why, you ask? Because things have been too sucky to take the time to document them.

First of all, let me say this: my work has a very generous vacation/sick time policy. I am provided with plenty of days off from work, and it is very easy to get the time off when I need it.

Having said that, the recent string of sicknesses in our family - including my two bouts with MRSA and the probably H1N1 our kids have been going through - have made me miss a TON of work. I've also had to work from home quite a bit, which isn't my preferred method to get things done.

So now I'm down to ONE paid day off of work. In total. I've used up every single other day off with this stupid stuff.

So where should I begin? The kids have been sick off and on for about three months. This latest sickness started on Sunday and resulted in Ethan and Caitlin getting sick and puking - on the couch, on the floor, on the stairs, in the toilet, in trash cans - I think they made it land on just about every kind of surface ever invented.

Ethan threw up probably nine times between Sunday and today. Caitlin threw up three times that I know of, but it could have been more. Laura has been working extra night shifts this week, so it's just been me and the sickos. I've tried to do things around the house (dishes, laundry, trash, etc.) but I've been overwhelmed and not very effective.

In the meantime, I've been feeling pretty crappy too. Nausea, an earache type thing on my jaw/ear, sore throat, stuffy nose, etc. It's made it all even more fun!

Throw in an ant infestation in the kitchen (I sprayed those little suckers!), a lack of funds (turning in coins to buy cans of soup for supper is SOOOO college), and other stupid events, and you can see what fun we've had.

So I hope to update more frequently in the near future. But if I don't, don't worry: I'm just busy cleaning up more puke and buying stock in Clorox.