Alex's pleads the Fifth

It was naïve of me to think Alex’s face didn’t have space for additional blemishes. When I picked him up from my in-laws’ yesterday, I noticed his cheeks were bright red. They don’t always use the best judgment, so I assumed he was just overheated and/or had an allergic reaction to their berry patch. It didn’t go away. I jumped on-line to self-diagnose him before I called our pediatrician. I suspected Fifth Disease and I was right. Apparently, it’s going around and after calling in sick to VBS, I was told there were six other cases this week. Surprise. BTW, Alex declined to be photographed for this post. His exact words were, "You can take my picture, but you're not allowed to blog it!"

I told Brandon the doctor and I were pretty sure Alex had Fifth Disease and he seemed skeptical. Later, when I explained it’s little more than a viral rash and he’s no longer contagious, he said, “Well, that’s not a disease. You called it a disease!”

We were cleared to go to VBS, but after all the other suspicious marks on Alex’s face this week, I feared a visit from the department of Childhood safety. We stayed home and went to see Kung Fu Panda instead. I don’t recommend it. It was pretty dull. The new theatre we went to was anything but. The best part... if you buy a $10 bucket they fill it with unlimited popcorn for the rest of the year. So much for wearing shorts this year.

On a completely different note: To know me is to know my obsession with all things political. I’ve religiously watched (literally religiously…often skipping church to do so) "Meet the Press" since I was 12 years old. I was so sad to hear of Tim Russert’s passing. He’s the voice of reason at NBC. Within minutes, I declared to Sara that if they let that “smarmy punk” David Gregory take over MTP, I’m done! Do you hear me NBC?! My one-woman protests seldom accomplish much aside from making me feel better.