Colette and I felt like we were coming out of a fog this weekend when we headed out to BJ's to stock up on household products. We usually shop there about once every 3 weeks, but I couldn't remember the last time I had been there. Ever since the start of 2008, I have felt like I was walking through a hazy nightmare. As I mentioned in a previous entry, Caden has been sick for almost 2 months and both Colette and I were at our wits end. We no longer thought about trying to have fun or planned to go places, but rather coasted through the day, hopped up on caffeine and aching for a full nights sleep. It's amazing what you can do on autopilot when the survival instinct kicks in. I didn't think it at the time, but it was probably a very good thing that I didn't make the pilgrimage to Orlando for Lotusphere 2008. I am not sure what my wife would have looked like when I got back or even if she would have let me back into the house.

In any event, both of us are starting to feel as close to normal as we can with 4 boys running around the house. The reason for our renewal can be summed up in one simple word - diagnosis.  After continued fevers in February, I took another trip to the Nighttime Pediatrics office last Thursday. This was the second late night trip in a week and we were there at the bequest of our pediatrician to have a urinalysis test. Caden was such a trooper during the catheterization procedure, he only squirmed a little, and, in less than 10 minutes, we had a positive test for white blood cells in the urine.  Eureka!  We had something we could actually treat. From the first dose of the antibiotic Supramax, the real Caden started to emerge in leaps and bounds. By Tuesday, he was back to his normal, busy body self.  He had been sick so long that we had almost forgotten what he was really like  Be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it.

One of the thing we got at BJ's was a new steam cleaner. Our old one, a Bissel ProHeat POS, stopped wanting to suck up the water it deposited on the carpet.  Not a good sign considering how much we paid for it and the fact that it was less than 2 years old.  After investigating all of our options online, Colette decided that the Hoover Steam Vac All Terrain was the machine for us.  Sounds like something that might be able to clean up your yard after taking care of the carpets.

Note:  Cleaning products and gadgets are one of Colette's obsessions. If it's on TV and it looks like it will clean something in our house, she will want it. Her pride and joy at the moment is our Dyson vacuum cleaner that is as good as it claims to be.

After a simple assembly, Colette fired it up and went about cleaning the carpet in the family room. Of course, being the helpful husband that I am, I took the baby downstairs and played Guitar Hero II. I didn't want Caden to get in her way!

I have to say that the carpet looks 100 times better and the smell of food that Caden dropped and then ground into the carpet is now gone. Time will tell if the new machine has the durability to withstand the kind of use it will get in our house.