It's All in the Reflexes

52 Weeks

"What is it? Do we just keep giving it to each other over and over? Like caged animals? Like the zoo?"

"Your immune systems are down. You've all probably caught something else."

The week before Ren's simple, little, just-family birthday-turned-production-before-a-live-studio-audience party occurred, we had several challenges to overcome. I had to learn how to use my stove. Our contractor disappeared, leaving our revolutionary new guest bathroom a toilet in a closet with a light bulb. Greg worked out of town for four days and my job became one for four people, especially because I was sent to Urgent Care in the middle of the week and told not to come back. (I'd had a coughing fit from which my boss had to become a birthing coach. Quarantine.) I hit a deer in Greg's new car. And all three of us got sick—again. At one point our amazing nanny and friend asked if she could help prep for the big party by cleaning. I almost french kissed her. I'll never forget the look on the Greg's face, starved and sneezing through the checkout line at Party City, as I grabbed two bags of M&M's, tossed them on top of the piñata, and asked the cashier to ring them up first since it was our lunch. Mama's got a party to throw. I read somewhere that chocolate covered peanuts are good for pneumonia.