I love blogging! I'm finding it a great way to vent frustrations. Frustrations like having a sick kid and missing two days of work. I'm going to be spending a good part of my weekend getting caught up. So much for any kind of personal life. Not that I have any kind of personal life, but if I did I'd be giving it up this coming weekend! It's not easy, being a single parent, especially since I have NO family here. My closest family member, my mom, is about 3 hours north of here. I take care of myself and my daughter mostly "all by me onesies", to quote Captain Jack Sparrow. Her dad has made it clear over the past 5 years we've been divorced that he has no intention of helping out beyond his 'required' child support payments and having her at his house every other weekend. I have friends but they work during the day as well. In fact, my neighbors are all gone during the day. Leaving my 14 year old daughter home alone is difficult under ideal conditions. When she's sick, puking, dizzy, and has been up most of the night getting sick AND mother nature has dumped a crapload of snow on us...those are not ideal conditions. And then there's the school to deal with. Can't send her to school with the pukies, whcih I happen to agree with 100%. Miss too many days in a row and parents are required to get a doctor's excuse otherwise the absences are "unexcused". Too many unexcused absences and said parent gets a nasty letter from the school corporation threatening summer school for a kid who is on the honor roll. And this makes sense to whom??? So I end up staying home another day so I can call the clinic, make an appointment, drive there in this white crap (she's 14, it's not like she can drive herself to the doctor) and then sit and wait because they are backed up. And how can I complain when they were generous enough to "work her into the schedule"? Twenty bucks later I have the coveted doctor's excuse and the priveledge of hearing the doctor tell me what I already knew..."it's viral". Coming up in chapter two..."When mom's get sick". Do I go to work ill and infect my co-workers? Do I stay home...again? There's no winning. I need my Lexarpo and a few Advil.