I don’t even know where to begin with this post. Micah has been sick and running a high fever, so all kinds of songs with heat/fire in the title were running through my head as I tried to title this post. As you can see, I finally settled on one. I keep thinking I should treat this post like one of my power point presentations at a conference – pick a theme and use the metaphor throughout the post…but I think that would be inappropriate with Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics. Perhaps I should have picked a different title – although the other two songs I considered tend to use a sexual meaning for fire as well. (Fire – Pointer Sisters: “Cause when we kiss….ooh, ooh, fire.”; Hot, Hot, Hot – Buster Poindexter: “Party people all around me feeling hot hot hot.”)

Oh well…perhaps I’ll have to skip the song metaphor approach. Maybe I’ll just take a dictionary approach instead? I went to dictionary.com and looked up some key definitions for “fire.” I think this could work as a theme, so….

Fire away (verb phrase): to begin to talk and continue without slackening.

Another insane week for me. I woke up on Tuesday pretty early with Micah, gave him his bottle, and played with him. I finally bundled him off to his nap while I did my best to pack in a hurry and straighten the house up so the cleaning lady could clean. When Micah woke up, I took him to his class (which he loved) and then ran him over to Laura’s house. I hated to leave him like that, but he seemed perfectly content to stay and play. I ran home, grabbed my bags and headed to the airport.

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time, made my plane with no problems, and then landed in Orlando on time. My friend Tammy, who lives in Miami, drove up to meet me, and she picked me up at the airport.

Fire (noun): burning passion; excitement or enthusiasm; ardor

We checked into the hotel, and headed out to a wonderful dinner. At dinner, we had some good discussions – we talked a lot about work, and it made me remember how we were back in college – full of enthusiasm (fire in our bellies) and ready to embrace life and work and what was ahead. I think my enthusiasm and ardor has ebbed over the years – or perhaps it has been redirected. I love what I do for a living, and I love how I help people, but it is no longer my first priority. For more than ten years, my job was my first priority. I cannot imagine living that way ever again. Tammy is still at a point in her life when her job is her top priority. In some ways, I envy that – I did not have that kind of passion to stay on that career path I was on ten years ago, and sometimes I wonder what my life would look like today if I had stayed on that path.

We ate far too much, but it was so nice to relax and catch up with a friend. After dinner, we wandered around Downtown Disney. I dragged her over to my favorite candy shop there, and we each bought a chocolate caramel apple. I LOVE these apples – mine was a green apple, dipped in caramel, chocolate on top of that, rolled in oreo cookie. A little slice of heaven! Did I mention that Tammy is my diet buddy? Yeah, we were NOT such good influences on each other this trip.

Fire (noun): strength, as of an alcoholic beverage.

I called Elliot after dinner to check on my two boys. Unfortunately, the news was not so good – Micah would not go to sleep and he was waking up every 10 minutes and crying. I tried giving Elliot a few tips, and I felt a little guilty that his first night as a “single dad” was so rough. Elliot was trying everything, but nothing seemed to have enough fire to make Micah feel better. He gave him some Tylenol, tried some Mylanta, and lots of good old fashioned cuddling. When I finally said good night to Elliot for the last time at 2:00 am, Micah had just gone back to sleep.

Fire (noun): fever or inflammation.

My biggest fear this trip was that Elliot would fall asleep and not hear Micah cry out during the night. I was very proud of him, though, because he really did manage to tune in (which now just irritates me that he doesn’t do that at other times, but I digress). Micah woke up one more time during the night Tuesday, but then he slept until almost 9:00 am. When Micah finally woke up Wednesday morning, Elliot realized he was running a fever. This is when I started to worry – Elliot had planned to have Micah in daycare, and fever meant no daycare. He called the doctor, and the doctor thought it was likely just a reaction to the flu shot he had on Monday. He was told to monitor the temp, give him Tylenol, and bring him in if the fever was not gone in 24 hours.

Fire (verb): to inspire.

Meanwhile, back in Orlando, I had a busy conference day trying to arrange everything. I was in touch with my parents and coordinating help for Elliot with Micah. I attended conference sessions, and visited the exhibit hall, and met with all the different exhibitors. It was actually a productive conference for me – I found a bunch of resources for my client, made some good contacts, and flagged a few issues for my client we had not previously considered. I was kind of excited about the prospects for our project, and all fired up with ideas for my client.

I made it back to the room around 5:30 and checked in with Elliot. Unfortunately, Micah was not doing any better. Despite my worries about my little guy at home, Tammy and I went out for dinner. Dinner was inspiring – we had an INCREDIBLE meal at Portobello in Downtown Disney. I was surprised to have such a delicious dinner there. The meal started off with roasted garlic and bread. We ordered fried risotto croquettes filled with mozzarella cheese to share, and we each had a glass of wine. I ordered a red Italian “drinking” wine – it was subtle and matched my meal perfectly. My main course was a delicious ravioli with perhaps the best marinara sauce I’ve ever had – rich flavors, tangy, light, not sweetened, and laced with garlic. I ate the entire dish because I wanted more sauce! We topped off our decadent extravaganza with a piece chocolate cake that we shared. From start to finish, dinner was divine!

Fire (noun): A state, process or instance of combustion in which fuel or other material is ignited and combined with oxygen, giving off light, heat, and flame.

We spent the remainder of the evening wandering around the shops, picking up presents for family members, and having a pleasant evening – although I think my credit card was on fire from my purchases. We talked about staying for Disney’s nightly fireworks/New Year’s celebration on Pleasure Island, but we decided to call it a night earlier. When we got back to the hotel, I had a bit more work to finish before bedtime.

The next morning, Micah’s fever was over 102 degrees. Elliot called the doctor and arranged to take him in for an appointment. As I suspected, the doctors had no idea what was wrong, told us to give him Tylenol and come back on Friday or Saturday if he did not improve. In Orlando, I did a bit of work sorting through my contacts from the conference, headed to one last meeting for the trip, and then enjoyed some fun time with Tammy before my flight home. We grabbed breakfast at IHOP, got a manicure/pedicure, then stopped off at the outlets. I had no intention of shopping, but I couldn’t resist. I bought a cute sweater from Ann Taylor Loft and I ended up buying two outfits from Michael Kors – a dress and a skirt. I was actually surprised because I usually don’t buy labels like that. The clothes were well-made, reasonably priced, and fit well. I really needed the clothes – I am now planning to wear the outfits for Yom Kippur and my upcoming business trips, so I do think it was money well spent. I also bought everything on sale at insanely reasonable prices!

Fire (verb): to hurl, throw.

I got to the airport in plenty of time…unfortunately, my flight was delayed by an hour. I was inflamed – I cannot stand that the flights are always delayed! All I wanted to do was hurl something at the airline attendants, but I figured that would only get me banned from the flight (and possibly placed on the do not fly list), so I buried the urge. Why does that always happen when I’m so anxious to get home? As I sat and steamed at the airport, my mom was spending time with Micah. My plane took off quite late, and I finally landed a little after 7. Try as they might, they just couldn’t keep my little man awake. He had another rough night, so I did get to go in around 12 and cuddle him back to sleep. I missed my little man terribly! I brought back a great surprise for Elliot, too – his very own chocolate/caramel/peanut butter cup apple, a chocolate peanut butter pretzel, and a chocolate caramel pretzel! He was kind enough to share, and it was delicious.

On Friday, Micah’s fever climbed to 102.5, so we decided to take him back to the doctor. They did a nasal swab, checked his ears and chest, and everything came back negative. By Friday evening, his fever hit 103.5. I called the doctor again, and she suggested I give him motrin in addition to the Tylenol. She said to wait an hour, but if it didn’t go down, I should take him to the emergency room. One hour later…his temperature dropped! He finally stopped crying and we were able to put him to sleep. He woke up again at 4:00 am, we gave him more medicine and brought him into bed with us and he slept until 8:00 am.

Fire (noun): severe trial or trouble; ordeal.

Today was a particularly rough day (under fire). Elliot had to work, so he was gone all day. Micah wouldn’t eat much, but the motrin and Tylenol kept his fever lower. He had several crying sessions during the day, and he was very clingy/needy. I called the doctor, and she said I could bring him in for a chest xray and blood work. Since he isn’t coughing, I decided not to bring him in for the chest xray. She said blood work wouldn’t tell her much either, so I decided to hold off on that as well.

Micah did not nap well in the morning, he barely ate anything for lunch, and when he finally fell asleep for his afternoon nap, he woke up one hour later crying. I brought him downstairs and he curled up on my chest and fell back asleep – for three more hours! He woke up crying around 5:00, and I quickly gave him his medicine and a bottle. He finally started to feel better, and he had a few hours happy and smiling before bed time. It is now 11:40, and he has woken up and cried a few times, but he has quickly fallen back to sleep each time. Here is hoping he actually sleeps through the night tonight!

Fire (verb): to dismiss from a job.

I have so much work to do in the upcoming weeks – I have a few conference calls this week to debrief about my last two trips. I have promised people information, and I have work proposals to write. I need to get myself in gear because I’d hate to risk any of my clients.

So – I made the theme work? It was a rough fit, but it was a challenge!