Sick Day

The next time someone has the sniffles and says, "Oh, it's just a cold, no big deal," they are lying to you. It's either not a cold, or it IS a big deal. I have a cold right now, and it is AWFUL, like stay-home-from-work awful, go-to-bed-before-the-kids-do awful, Jenna-sent-me-home-from-Homecoming-early awful. I can't remember ever feeling this bad without a fever or barfing to go along with it. Just a good, old-fashioned cold, the kind they can't cure, but that generic NyQuil does wonders for.

So here I am, at home, well-rested, sweating (because it's 80 degrees outside and our AC is on a timer and I forgot about it until like 3:00 p.m.) and finally getting a little bored with the day. Might as well share my random sick day observations.

I still watch the original CSI, and I caught up on the season during my sick day. It's still a fine show, and Elisabeth Shue is still awesome.

I can't tell if my body is sore from coughing so much, or from being in bed so long. I've been in bed a LOT, starting around 8:15 Saturday night. My lower back is aging much more rapidly than the rest of me, people.

Unfortunately, I've timed being sick perfectly with having an empty fridge. We might eat eat take-out every night this week, because I am NOT setting foot in a Kroger in this delicate state.

The hardest part of my sick day has been being alone with the plate of cake pops my mom and kids made this weekend. I keep walking past it, thinking, "Don't eat a cake pop. Don't eat a cake pop. Don't eat another cake pop."

I finally started taking vitamins regularly a couple of weeks ago, and this is how my body repays me. I was right all along, Chip!

When I'm out of it, Chip takes over the role of Mom very nicely. He even fixed a plate of food last night and then let it get cold while attending to the kids' dinner demands. How very maternal!

Connor can't handle a sick Mom. He wanted to call my boss and tell her to let me stay home Saturday rather than work, then Saturday night he hugged me and loved me and got me everything I asked for. Then last night he made me swear that I wouldn't go to work today, and sweetly tucked me in since I fell asleep before he did.

Chloe can't handle a sick Mom either. People are paying attention to Mom, rather than Chloe? And Mom herself isn't waiting on Chloe hand and foot? She has been unbearable for two days solid now, trying to get us all to remember that she is the most important person in the household world and we should all ignore Mom, unless it's to fuss at Mom for not caring enough about Chloe. She would like things to be back to normal tonight, because MOM is supposed to tuck HER in, not the other way around, thank you very much.

Gidget's like, "Here's the deal- you can stay home  all day if you want, but live with the fact that I lounge on the furniture during weekday hours. I'll look sheepish when you walk in, but I'm not trying to hide who I am anymore, lady."

I just watched an episode of The Mindy Project that had the same plot of an episode of iCarly that I watched this weekend. If any of you can identify that plot, then we are clearly meant to be best friends and need to hang out and watch TV more often.

I'm going back to it tomorrow, whether my body is ready or not. Prepare the hand santizer, King Hall! I'm coming for you!