sick. I mean, The last few days have been just awful. I haven’t been this sick in over a year. Only this time my throat hurts so bad I can’t even eat! I have been on a liquid diet for days now. The upside of this is that I have lost like 5 pounds. Think I will be able to keep it off?
I hate being sick. I missed out on so much this week. I missed my husband’s aunts funeral. I missed my ScrapMaker’s Meeting. I missed a trip to Knoxville. I am behind on work.
My husband went to Knoxville without me. Bummer, right? Actually my husband loves to splurge on me when I am not with him, so he bought me some fantastic new things. He, being the King of Penny Pinching, really knows how to shop without spending a lot. He bought me dishes. He even picked up the most adorable aqua blue dustpan and whisk broom with polka dots (Target, $1). Oh, he got a large red metal tub for my family room and matching red popcorn bowls. (Target, on Clearance) He purchased new suits and new ties - thrilling for me because he rarely buys new suits - it has been several years - and he needed an updated look. Being a pastor, he wears a lot of suits. Kohl’s had $200 suit coats on sale for $80, plus he had a 30% off coupon for his entire purchase. (He saved a total of $200 off the bill with that coupon.) He bought a dozen new ties, reg. $25.00 a piece and paid only $38 total for the ties on clearance.
To top it all off, he brought me home a brand new digital camera and it is lovely. Oh, I had so much fun playing with it yesterday. It has video and still photos. I had dropped my digital camera last Sabbath at the park and kinda shorted it out. I was devastated, but never dreamed he would replace it with such a nice camera!!!
Anyway… Back to being sick…
Being confined to bed has its upside, but not really. I am the type that likes to be busy every minute of every day. The first day, I was too sick to do anything more than simply lay here… Did you know there is nothing good on TV during the day?
Yesterday, I felt strong enough to sit up and work on my laptop. I worked on my book, From Chaos to Calm. I should have it complete and reading for editing next week. Yeah!
I did learn some wonderful things about my children. My daughter Sarah, who is now 12 years old became the “mom” while I was sick. Without me even asking, she woke up early, swept the floors, cleaned the house, made breakfast for everyone, took over caring for the younger children, cooked lunch, did her school work, gave the little ones baths, watched them play in the backyard, and cleaned the kitchen after every meal. I mean, WOW.
I knew she was becoming a young lady. She has been surprising me more and more lately. I will get up in the morning and find her working to get her chores done or doing extra things just to help me out.
We have been training the three year old to sleep upstairs in her “big bed” instead of in the bed with us which had become kinda crowded. For now, we decided to have Sarah (who shares a room with Emily) start sleeping in the bed with Laura and move Hannah into the bed with Emily. Laura has always adored Sarah and Sarah just has a knack with little children/ babies. Laura has woken up a few times in the middle of the night and Sarah has read to her and coaxed her back to sleep without ever even waking me up! I never expected that! Oh, she is going to make a wonderful mommy.
It’s times like these where you find out if your parenting has been effective. All of the children pitched in and kept up with their chores without being told. So the house has stayed relatively tidy. I am so proud.
