Influenza was not in the preparation plans

I finished up work last Friday (31st March). This was all set to be the week of relaxed preparation – a few jobs to do around the house, a couple of things to get from the shops, pack some things away, catch up with a couple of friends before we head off… let me tell you, getting the flu was not in those plans.

Eliza started feeling off over the weekend, and had a Dr visit on Sunday, which included a swab that went to the pathology. On Monday morning, we got a message saying it was positive for influenza A. That’s frustrating on its own – but what’s more frustrating is that we’d all had our flu shots just 10 days before! And later on Monday afternoon, I crashed down with it pretty quickly as well. So the house COVID mode kicked in pretty quickly, and Eliza and I started trying really hard to avoid everyone and not spread it further. Thankfully, no one else seems to have caught it.

As of now, on Wednesday evening, we’re both pretty much through it. I’ve been fine today, and Eliza was pretty solid all day. And I guess that’s the flu vaccine working, right? So life should be back to normal tomorrow.

While I did try and rest, I started organising different lists of things that need to be done this week – things to go out and get, things to be done around the house, things to be done on Sunday (the day before we leave), and then “other”. And today, with feeling better, I was able to get through quite a few things around the house.

While I know house-sitters generally don’t expect to walk into an Airbnb, we still need to make sure the place is clean. And the last few weeks haven’t exactly been time-rich, so let’s just say we’re not as on top of the housework as we’d like. So today was bathrooms clean, my desk upstairs cleaned, a tap repaired, and a few other things along the same lines. Felt really productive. Over the weekend, we’ll then start to do the more significant things around the house – like packing up a drawer or two in our master bedroom, and creating some cupboard space. We’ll also just probably need to walk around the house carrying a box and just pile things into the box from most rooms in the house that probably don’t need to be out for 3 months. I don’t want to overthink this whole thing, and stress about it, but I also feel that it’s only fair for these people who are kindly looking after our place and our cat for 3 months!

Hopefully with Eliza back at school tomorrow, it’ll be errands time for me. Stocking up on a couple of things for Chilli, getting a replacement TV for upstairs that conveniently died 2 weeks ago, and a few other little things.

And then when Saturday & Sunday arrive, it’ll be packing time!