and the icing on the cake...i'm sick!

I admit it, I had thoughts this winter of immune system supremacy here, just little thoughts that I was too suspicious to actually water and let grow, but I thought I wasn't going to get sick. The flu came and went, and I didn't get it. My kids have been pretty healthy too. Then this throw up bug made the rounds. Little Anne had it, Davian had it, his parents, and my sister and her husband, and lots of other friends. I had a few days last week where I had random yucky feelings, but chalked it up to nervous about the biopsy, or my superior fighting-things-off skills.

Then last night, after being with Ben and Ashley and Anya and Elise looking at a house for sale (they moved into an apartment when they moved here last summer from Washington state), I came home...and suddenly felt a.w.f.u.l. Simply terrible. And you know that terrible moment when there's no escaping the truth: you are gonna barf. No getting around it. I will be kind and spare the details, but it went on and one and on. I suffered. But in it all, I did see some good...you need to go through these things in order to have mercy on others, and also to see how vulnerable we are. Where does goodness go when you don't feel well? hmmm.

Anyway, I had a No Fun night, and now am hoping these little girls don't get it.

The bad thing is that I also spent time yesterday at my sister's house. I went there to pick up Anne, after my mammogram. Ha, my mammogram: after that horrible biopsy on Monday, a mammo is just a huge slice of cake.

Anyway, I picked up Anne, and my niece Janet was there with her three kids, so I invited her over. And she came over. It was a fun visit, and dang it, if I had any inkling I would be throwing up in the evening, obviously, I would never have done any of these things.

I have to keep telling myself that I am not the Boss of Sickness, and if people get sick, I will feel bad....but. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, of course, and I don't even have any enemies.

It's quiet here today, Anne didn't come over. It's just the little girls and me. And Joseph, but he's working. And Paul is at work.

I had a cup of hot tea this morning, even added a little bit of the dreaded sugar, because I wanted it. Now I am wondering if I'll be keeping it down. My tummy hurts horribly. But oh this is easy compared to the days when I had several little ones, and these bugs would come through the house! The baby still has to be nursed and changed when mama is sick, and the toddlers have to be chased and fed and changed and and and...you can take it easier, if you wish, and get even more behind on laundry, and you can let the dishes stack up a bit higher, because heaven knows when you stop barfing, you'll be glad to get a minute to wash those dishes.

I remember breastfeeding a small infant, and getting back into bed after a fun-filled trip to the bathroom, one of those conundrum trips, when you aren't sure if you need to stand up or sit down on that toilet, and the baby started fussing...dizzy and weak, but apparently I survived, and fed that baby.

Anyway, sometimes I think you have to go through some rough stuff to appreciate the more pleasant things in life. And today, although I feel pretty wiped out, I am thankful that I don't have to go to work, and that it's a nice rainy day, to add to the general coziness. Camille is making me a piece of Ezekial raisin toast, and we'll see how that goes...