In the New Year

Oy, have we been sick.

Really sick.

My Phebe slept for about three days straight. All of us have had the flu -- coughing, hacking, fevers, shakes, and a few of us have ended up vomiting from taking various medications an an empty stomach. Blergh.

At this point only Saul and Dear Butcher are still sick. Saul seems better this morning, but Dear Butcher is still on Codeine laced cough syrup and antibiotics. Rain is coming down sideways, and I'm waiting for our back fence to blow over in the wind storm. What a lovely day!

Dear Butcher gave me a note for Christmas which said that I could get a cat. After a few visits to the shelter to sort the various candidates, we brought him home yesterday. (Pictures later) He's a big black guy with green eyes. Desperately happy to be in Neo's bedroom. Squeaks and mews all the time. He's almost obnoxiously affectionate. Phebe named him Bagheera.

Saul had a difficult vacation. Now he's OK, mostly because he's worn down from being sick. But at the start of the vacation, he was pretty scary in terms of being out of control. It's a long and dramatic story, but essentially, he got upset and tried to leave the house. His therapist has asked that I build a wall for him -- prevent him from leaving at all costs and be prepared to call in police help if needed.

Well, I did. I planted myself in front of the door and wouldn't let him open it. (Interesting that the BACK door was open the entire time and that he ignored that avenue of escape.) He attacked me. Hands in claws, going for the face, screaming, twisting my arms, wrapping my hair around his forearms, the whole nine yards. I was able to hold him off, constantly saying, "Just move away from the door. Just calm down," for about 45 minutes before I started getting tired. I ended up calling the police. (Who came in through the open back door.) When the police saw Saul try to pull my hair to get my head to the floor, they grabbed him and pulled him off. Saul fought them for a sec and then completely calmed down.

Two days later his Dad asked Saul to turn off the Wii and Saul went right for him -- trying to claw his face. Dear Butcher got between Saul and the front door and they wrestled for a while too -- but it didn't last so long. With a nosebleed in the middle of it, there was blood everywhere. I stayed next to the two of them and was able to talk to Saul somewhat.

The next day we all had a psychiatric appointment. Dear Butcher now thinks that meds are warranted. Gee, I guess so. I'm not sure about sending Saul back to school on Monday, and now I really don't know what his future is going to hold. If he continues in this drama, he's going to have to be hospitalized just for our safety. Christ.

We had an appointment with Neo's therapist. Neo says she would like to be homeschooled. Of all my kids, she's the one I'm most likely to say it will work. On the other hand, she had a group of her friends over the house on Friday and they had The Best Time. I'm worried she's going to fall out of that circle. I'm worried that I don't have enough energy to devote to her schooling. I'm worried that she wants to be homeschooled so that she can have time with me, and my time is going to be taken up with raging boy. I'm worried that it all falls to me again.

Haven't had a chance to read much of anything, although I got my husband the History of the Toothpick. Like Megan, I remember once knowing that the little frill thing on the top of the toothpick has a specific name, but I don't know what it is anymore. I mentioned this to my crossword puzzle obsessed mother-in-law, who said, "OH! It's called... Damn. I don't know what it's called." So now there are three obsessed people wondering about toothpicks.