Sick as a Dog

I'm in bed.  I just told the kids they can watch tv and make themselves peanut butter sandwiches when they're hungry, 'cause this mama is sick and needs to stay in bed for the time being.  I just wish they were old enough to make me a cup of tea!

The kids have had colds and nasty coughs this week, though they're all on the mend now.  I've had a cold for a couple of days, too, but until last night it's been very manageable.  But sometime yesterday evening it turned into a fever for me and I'm generally feeling pretty crappy.  I'm going to have to cancel the kids' dentist appointments for today and, more sadly, also the lunch and play time that we'd planned with friends for this afternoon.  :(

I'm not really complaining, though.  I've been lying here thinking about how we've come through the past two years virtually unscathed by illness while all around us people have been dropping like flies.  I've also been thinking about and praying for the dear friends the kids and I had lunch with yesterday who are, at this very moment, waiting at the airport to board a plane to Ethiopia to meet the little boy they've been waiting for forever.  And of course, that reminds me of the day we left for Ethiopia to meet the kids who would complete our family, and I smile at how far we've all come over the past twenty-three months.

When I told the kids just now that we'd have to cancel our plans with friends, they were clearly disappointed but they all said that they understood and that it was ok and that we could plan it for another day.  Lizzie saw that I was shivering and, without my saying anything, she went to get another blanket and tucked it around me.  Matthew asked if he could bring me a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of water.  And Seth ran downstairs and reappeared seconds later with a vomit bucket and another box of kleenex (I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't going to throw up).  You know, life isn't always easy, but when the chips are down, I love that my kids will gather 'round and want to help.

Yes, there is much to be thankful for even while coughing up a lung and shivering and longing for that cup of tea that I'll have to stumble downstairs to make for myself in a few minutes.

Maybe this day is a blessing in disguise; it seems that I'm going to get that day in bed I've been longing for!