So much for the luck of the Irish!

Relaxing with her entourage
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

We haven't had a particularly lucky weekend, Irish or not. Kathleen and I had grand plans to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with her darling "kiss me, I'm Irish" t-shirt and some green Jello jigglers. But, alas, that was not to be.

First, on Friday afternoon, Kathleen fell coming up the stairs to our apartment. She didn't fall down a terrible ways; it was only a step or two. But the steps are cement, and she caught her little cheek bone on them. She has a nasty little bruise and scrape just below her left eye. Kathleen howled indignantly when she fell, but calmed down in about two minutes when plied with an ice cube and the boo-boo bunny. (Thank heavens for the boo-boo bunny!) I, on the other hand, spent an hour on the phone with my mom before I was convinced that everything would be okay.

We spent Saturday morning making cookies to mail to Daddy (more about that adventure another time), and then ran out to the post office to get the cookies on their way. On Saturday afternoon, just before naptime, I noticed that Kathleen seemed awfully warm. When I took her temperature (an undertaking -- she HATES the ear-thermometer) I discovered it was almost 102 degrees. So, after frantically calling my mom for the second time in less than 24 hours, Kathleen and I headed for the acute care clinic on post. As it turns out (after hours of waiting and a not-so-cooperative examination), Kathleen has a virus that has given her a sore throat and the fever. Poor little girl! It's just not her weekend!

Kathleen's still a little subdued today, but she's enjoying the treat of juice, instead of water, and has been granted unlimited "Signing Time" access. (Mommy will surely go crazy before Kathleen.) As you can see, she's weathering her illness well on the sofa, surrounded by her entourage of stuffed animals. (For the record, she sleeps with that whole crew, plus Indiana the dog.)

We know these are little traumas. We've had friends who've had to endure real medical crises; this doesn't even come close. But it was rougher weekend than we expected, and we really missed Daddy. Still, though, we survived. Perhaps we'll celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Observed later this week!