Holland family update

I actually have time to write today -- Kristie is shopping with her mom and Jack is watching whatever crap Nickelodeon is airing at the moment -- so here's a quick rundown.

After the ER visit, the steroids took care of Jack's allergic reaction (cause remains undetermined). Successful visit to the new babysitter Wednesday... but no naughty slips all week at day care. Hmmm....

On Friday, I came home from work at about 7:40 a.m., because the cold we've all been battling for more than a week finally hit me hard. My reward was taking jack to the doctor where they diagnosed him with strep. I can't begin to tell you how totally awesome this entire six-week span of no regular work weeks and frequent doctor visits has been. Just think: We add a baby to the mix in a matter of months.

Plus, the Cubs have decided to reward me for trying to stay up late to watch their playoff games by possibly peeing the entire season down their legs in Arizona. Now they need to do the nearly impossible, win three straight (including a Game 5 in Phoenix against Brandon Webb) and then try to convince me everything is just ducky heading into the second round.

Look, the situation is pretty dreary. But I'm an optimist. Here's how I survive:

* All the other series are 0-2. So we're not alone.
* Could be worse. We could be Philadelphia, which just lost is first two games at home.
* Could be worse. We could be Milwaukee, New York or San Diego, all of which were unable to make it at least this far and can only claim to have done a better job. Bottom line: We were better over 162 games than the Brewers, which gives us the opportunity to look like idiots in October.
* Hey, this sucks, but so far it's got nothing on 1984 or 2003. The whole point of this is to win the World Series. Yes, you have to win the first round to do that, but who was going to be satisfied with anything less? At least this way I don't feel my soul has been battered.

(Of course, if they win today, I'll go to bed thinking "We've got Big Z in Game 4 at home and then anything can happen in Game 5." And if we somehow win this series, I'll just focus on beating Colorado (or Philly, if it manages an even more ridiculous comeback) and forget how close we were to being washed away in this round.

That's all for now. The game doesn't start for four hours, most of our window A/C units are useless and Jack needs a nap. I promise to try to write more one of these weeks.