You may have noticed I wasn't on the air last night. It's because I was at home; Austin was sick. Very sick.

 It began Wednesday night. Mandy says he ws complaining of a headache when he went to bed. By the time i got home after doing the 10PM news, he was amazingly hot to the touch. Mandy took his temperature at it was at 102 degrees! We were instantly fearful. That high a temperature is never good, but especially in someone so young. We were up with him most of the night, taking turns, knowing we would have to take him to the doctor's office. By mid-Thursday morning, Austin had gotten worse. His fever was still high and he had started to vomit. I won't pain much more of a picture for you. You can tell what we were in for.

 We ultimately found out Austin, somewhere along the way, had picked up some type of viral infection. In fact, the doctor we saw told us in addition to illnesses like this one, he was also seeing kids with high temperatures developing pneumonia and rashes! Mandy and I just looked at each other, hoping that wasn't somehow in the cards for Austin.

 So now, on this Friday, I am back to work on a brief schedule. I walked in the door at 4PM. I will anchor the 5PM and 6PM news then go home to be with Mandy, Austin and Cameron until probably 8:45; then I'll come back and anchor the 10PM news. I'm glad I have managers who understand when kids get sick and fortunate to have co-workers who pick up the slack when someone (namely me) had to be away from work.

 Austin finally got some sleep this afternoon. A real snore-fest. A deep sleep. Hopefully rest will help speed his recovery and get whatever is inside of him out....FAST. I hate to see the boys sick. They look so small fragile and, in a lot of cases, you can give them some medicine but you just have to sit and wait for it to work itself out. That's the tough part. This weekend will be a "home" weekend for the Allens; we won't go anywhere, we'll just relax and give Austin the time he needs to get better. But I have to share this with you: when I saw he had a temperature of 102 my heartbeat really did pick up. That is a serious fever, meaning his body is REALLY trying to fight someone off. As Austin's doctors explained it to us; when Ausin has a temperature he doesn't feel good but imagine how the virus feels. It's fighting just as hard to hang on and to not be "burned out" by the body.

 Have a good weekend. Please send your good thoughts and prayers Austin's way in hopes of a speedy recovery.

 Quote Of The Day: "One of the msot sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick." Rabbi Harold Kushner

 This Day In History: The first volume of Adolph Hitler's "Mein Kampf" was published on this date, July 18th, 1925.

 Thanks for stopping by and taking a read! I have two good guest-bloggers lined up for you this weekend. Feel free to leave a comment below or send me an e-mail by clicking here.