Zinc to the rescue?

I have a cold. It seems like I always get colds when traveling recently. Well, not ALWAYS but I got a horrible nasty one when we traveled at Christmas, and another pretty bad one when I went on a business trip in May, and now here we are in October and I have another one. This time I have religiously been taking zinc from the moment I first felt a tickle in my throat, so I'm hoping it will be mild and quick. But we'll see.

I actually blame my child for my illnesses more than I blame the travel. This is something I didn't really think about before having a kid. I mean, I knew that kids are known for generally being sick and snotty, but I didn't think about how I would also be exposed to these illnesses. I mean, isn't he getting sick because he hasn't had any of these diseases before and is still building up immunity? Shouldn't I at least occasionally be immune to one of his plagues? But clearly, I am not, given these colds and also the stomach bug he gave us last week. Ugh.

The thing is that Callum is actually a very healthy child. He doesn't go to daycare, so his exposure is somewhat limited (which I've read just means that he will be sick more often later on, when he starts preschool, but whatever, I'll take what I can get). He's had precisely one fever and one ear infection (not at the same time) in his life. He's had a couple of stomach bugs and a few colds. His ear infection (which was a doozy, and in both ears) came with a case of bronchiolitis that required nebulizing treatments. That was when he was 11 months and at the time we wondered if he was going to turn out to be one of those kids who required the nebulizer every time he had a cold, but he hasn't needed it again since (knock on wood). He's only been on antibiotics once in his life.

So yeah. Generally speaking, he doesn't get sick nearly as often as some kids his age. He's healthy the vast majority of the time, even. And so am I! But right now I have a cold and it's making me cranky.

(Also, Callum doesn't even have this cold, at least not yet. So it's really not fair for me to complain about how having a child is making me sick. But I'm doing it anyway! Especially because I didn't get sick ONCE the whole time I was pregnant with him, despite the supposed suppressed immune system. It was only once he actually showed up and started bringing germs into our house that I've begun being afflicted. The two stomach bugs he's given us have been especially pleasant, as you can imagine.)

Anyway! I have a cold, Callum and Torsten do not (and we can only hope it stays that way), but despite that, I actually don't feel like total crap and it's still really nice to be visiting my parents. And my friends! I have two college friends who are living near my parents now, neither of whom is actually from here but both of whom are now in grad school here, one at Duke and the other at UNC, so it is a delightful side perk that I can see them when I visit my parents, at least during the school year.

Also, Raleigh continues to house the best sushi restaurant I've ever been to. Not something you'd expect to find in North Carolina, but there you have it. The Triangle area has a surprisingly awesome restaurant scene in general. Really, the only thing wrong with this area is the weather. It is supposed to get below freezing in Denver this week, but I still prefer that weather over this any day, and my hair concurs.

Anyway. Time to blow my nose again. I should really replenish my parents' tissue supply before I leave.