Cold

Julie was home-schooled for most of first grade. She became hideously bored in school because she could read fluently and the teacher insisted on simply holding up alphabet cards for kids to recite week after week.

That was the summer they decided to make Boo Radley come out.

Anyway, Julie and I slept not at all last night, due to her coughing. You know that cold you got in first grade? It was a doozy; you were a miserable phlegm factory. This cold, though, once you got over it, allowed your body to build immunity to countless other colds. Julie never got that cold, because she was at home learning multiplication tables while the other kiddies slogged through "C is for corn husk."

Consequently, she has that cold now, which I am immune to even though my multiplication skills are mediocre at best.

Last night and today her cough got so bad that she called the 24-hour nurse line. The solutions they offered are ones you might want to jot down. Drink fluids, rest, suck on (am I going too fast?) cough drops.

A cough is not harmful to the baby inside, so don't worry. It just sucks.