Still Sick and a Christmas Preview

It's Monday morning and illness still thrives in my household. I think Sissy is on the way to recovery, The DQ is still throwing up everything that hits her stomach. The DQ is very prone to getting stomach bugs. She doesn't get colds, flu or strep throat, but if there is a stomach bug ANYWHERE in the vicinity, SHE WILL GET IT. Usually it will run an 18 to 24 hour course. Not this time. She has been sick for approximately 36 hours this time. I am starting to be concerned about dehydration. Once when Sissy was about two, she got dehydrated from a virus and was hospitalized for two days.

Unfortunately, there is not very much that can be done for a stomach virus. You just have to let it run it's course. (Advice from her pediatrician) I keep checking her eyes and lips. If you didn't know this, if your child is getting dehydrated, their lips will begin to chap and their eyes will look sunken in. I am usually full of wisecracks and jokes about the goings on in my life. I really can't poke fun of my sick daughter. That would just be wrong.

In the middle of both of them being sick, I had to leave them alone to go grocery shopping. We had NOTHING left in this house to eat. While I was gone, we had a power surge and the internet went down. This happened an hour after I finished the assignments for my online class and submitted them. (Thank God because I just got it working again this morning)

I decided that last night while everyone is sick, that it was a good time to try out a new recipe from my new cookbook. The title of the cookbook is 365 Easy One Dish recipes. I got it in a bargain bin in the local grocery store. There was a recipe in it for a one dish tuna-potato thingy. It sounded good, and not expensive to make. You take a package of hashbrowns with onions and peppers already in the bag, add a cup of milk, heat to boiling-breaking up the potatoes. Then you add 1 cup of frozen peas and carrots, and 6oz of tuna-drained, heat a few minutes until the peas and carrots are thawed. Add 1 cup of grated cheese and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt. Mix well. Add an additional 1/2 cup grated cheese as topping and let melt. Voila! Dinner.

The good thing is, since everyone was sick I didn't have to be offended if they didn't eat it. Sissy ate some of it and liked it. I will not point out that she told me while I was cooking it that she doesn't like tuna, and she didn't want to eat any of it. That would be rubbing it in her face, and that would be rude. So, I won't do that. The DQ was spared my cooking attempt as she was still throwing up.

Having completed my Algebra homework on Friday night, and my online class assignments, I decided that I had enough time to watch a movie with Sissy. What movie does a grown woman watch with her teenage daughter? The Santa Claus. That truly is a funny movie. Watching the movie put me in the Christmas spirit. (Not like I need much help in that department).

I love Christmas. I love the family get togethers. I love the smell of a real Christmas tree. I love looking at all the decorations. I love all the Christmas music. I really love all the Christmas food. We have a radio station here that plays nothing but Christmas music starting the week of Thanksgiving. I listen to it ALL DAY LONG. Every day until Christmas. I am a certified Christmas fiend. Anyway, I digress. I baked us some warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookies and milk. It's ironic to me how I never appreciated simple things like this until I didn't have time for them anymore. Some will read this and think, "Big deal, you watched a movie with your kid". That's fine. As time has become a precious commodity to me recently, it's OK if only I appreciate such a simple thing. That's what life is all about. Not the few major things that will change your life forever. But all the little memories that make up the fabric of life.