Weekend Warrior

It's been an interesting weekend around the house. First up, my wife called me at work on Friday, asking if she should go to the doctor. Which, really, is the sort of question that answers itself if you have to ask it. Sarah ended up being diagnosed with honest-to-God influenza, given a week's worth of pills and told not to go back to work until Thursday. If she wasn't being told to stay home I'm sure she'd be thrilled; as it is, I'm trying to talk her out of going back to work two days early while she's still coughing.

I'm also feeling lucky that my doctor slipped me a flu shot the last time I visited. Sarah would call it "smug", but she's not feeling well so I'm willing to forgive her.

Saturday evening saw me visiting the Annapolis Moose lodge to see my boss play with his band. (I would happily recommend them if I knew the band's name - I suppose I should ask him about that.) While I was there I spoke for awhile with the son of one of the band members. He's 16, and working on his first book; he's about 130 pages in so far. My boss had given him a copy of Death & Dishonour for Christmas, and he was wondering if I had any advice for him.

I felt just a bit awkward about that. I am not, as Ariel Gore would say, a lit star, at least not yet. But I did the best I could. I pointed the kid... oh God, I feel old just typing that... I pointed the kid towards Stephen King and Ariel Gore. I recommended the Internet Writing Workshop for critiques, and NaNoWriMo for a challenge. I told him to always listen to his editor (unless he really really really doesn't want to), and that writing every day is the best way to get better at it.

I hope I helped. I'm confident nothing I said will screw him up.

Sunday was rest and relaxation and Angry Birds. I found out that a PC version was available for Windows XP and Windows 7 (but not Vista, because Vista clearly sucks), so I paid my five bucks and downloaded it. Trust me, it's as addictive as everyone's told you.

I showed the game to Sarah on Sunday night, and within ten minutes she was cursing the pigs, and cursing me for handing her the electronic equivalent of a heroin needle. Her refrain since I talked her off the computer (after thirty levels) was "Make sure you leave your computer turned off today so I can work." Also, "I want to throw birds at piggies."

Now it's Monday. I'm back at work and feeling a bit sleep-deprived (as usual). Also our oven has slightly blown up, so dinners may be of the cold or take-out variety for awhile. But it's a four day week followed by a four day weekend, which should include company and a trip to the movie theater, so I intend to remain optimistic.

Update: Well, I did. Then Tuesday morning came along and the flu shot failed...