Friday, December 29, 2006

Wherein Shella Gets Derailed


Well, today was the last business day of 2006. I had intended to work. Really. This is the post wherein I describe the demise of my best laid plans.

Last night I decided to cook the prime rib roast, which had been marinating since Christmas day (ginger, garlic, rosemary, dijon, balsamic vinegar, soy and teriyaki.) This blog started on 12/26 - so you haven't heard just why it was the prime rib roast didn't actually get cooked and consumed on Christmas day as had been planned. It's a post for another day.

Anyway, other menu items were a great salad (herb and baby greens, tomato, bamboo shoots, perlini mozzarella, avocado with balsamic dressing) french bread, and steamed fingerling potatoes. Desert was carrot cake (the weak link as it turns out.)

We were having an awesome time. Dinner was fab, the roast was cooked to perfection, and my shiraz buzz was light and enjoyable. Simone slipped off to her room to call Juan, her friend from school who also has downs syndrome. I will digress for one moment to let you know that I will soon be incorporating posts about how my Remarkable Simone has Downs - and what's up with that. As this is "Uncut" expect to hear the good, the bad, the unexpected, all of it.

About 9:30 Remarkable Simone went to bed. About 10:00 I hear a very strange noise -- I recall thinking that my neighbor must be coughing loudly. Then I hear a very thin, tremulous voice calling "mommy... mommy....".

So, I open the door turn on the light... and Remarkable Simone has become ill (if you know what I mean) in a pile next to her bed. Oh. Oh shit this has to be cleaned up thoroughly. And now. How gross.

It must say something about my parenting skills that the first thing I thought was not about comforting my Remarkable Simone in her moment of distress. It was about how much I DID NOT want to clean up the mess now soaking into the mid-shag carpeting and padding.

The important thing to remember in a situation like this is that you've got to get all the solid stuff (if it dries and hardens into the carpet fuzz it'll never come out). The second thing to remember is where you put the rubber gloves and liquid disinfectant (this is where the gas mask from 9/11 comes in handy). The third thing is to understand you will, absolutely, HAVE to rent a carpet cleaner/extractor (if you don't own one already).

I did my best. I ended up covering the spot with three folded bath towels and turned my eye toward how to make the Remarkable Simone feel better.

About every 15 - 25 minutes from 10 pm until about 3 am Simone was ill. We bathed at midnight to ease discomfort. I climbed in bed next to my sick little sweetie crooning, soothing, rubbing her back. Toward morning, things settled down and Remarkable Simone fell asleep. I repaired to the sofa. I fitfully dreamt of germs and carpet cleaners.

Let's just say that instead of working on the last business day of 2006, I became unintentionally derailed and spent the day cleaning carpets, disinfecting laundry, de-germing every surface in the bathroom and bedroom, and hoping against hope that I don't get what ever it is that Remarkable Simone has.

--Shella

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