Of sickness and the power of Christmas

The one time I pledge to do a daily posting commitment like #reverb10 and our household comes down with the stomach plague*. I will be back to my regularly scheduled reverb-ness, once I get this past weekend/week out of my system.

Don't worry, none of the gory TMI details about the plague will be shared. I'm just going to tell you how pathetic we were all weekend.

Peanut kicked off the happy fun sickness party! for us on Friday night (on our way to visit a family I haven't seen in 3+ yrs...uh, yeah, trip was instantly cancelled), ShankRabbit was stricken by Saturday night (the night of the big snowstorm. Needless to say no snow got cleared), and by Sunday night I thought I should join in! Oh joy! By Monday we were all dehydrated, delusional, and downright diseased.

Around 4am on Monday morning, I was trying to grab a few moments of rest with Peanut on the couch. She was proped up on a couple pillows, looking just as tired as I sure felt (and probably looked, too). She insisted I turn on the Christmas tree and sing her Christmas songs** while she tried to sleep.

I wanted to cry for two different reasons:
1) This was the first night of the plague for me (and by far the worst) and I was running on no sleep 2) Peanut wanted me to comfort her by singing. She usually says "mama...no!" when I sing to her. Ok, so maybe I get all vaudeville with it most of the time, but it is common knowledge that she'd rather have her dada sing. And with his voice, I don't blame her.

As I quietly sang every Christmas song I could think of and petted her hair, my daughter - looking angelic in the glow of the tree - drifted off to sleep. *sob*

- -

We were worried we'd have to take her to urgent care that day because she was becoming seriously dehydrated...but after a regimen of 2 sips of watered down juice every 10 minutes, she kept it all down and started to perk up.

* * * * *

Last night was the first real meal we all had. We had been eating small bits of plain rice, toast, and the like when we could handle it, but we ate CHICKEN SOUP last night. Such a colorful and flavorful meal after so many days of blahness. Ah, food heaven.

So, now that we are almost healthy, I will get back to that #reverb10 thing I was working on. And maybe get some humor back into my life, too. That'd be nice.

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* Every time we get a major sickness in our house, I hear "yeah, it's just that nasty bug going around." Is this just a canned answer or are people seriously all sick at the same time? Do these bugs travel like frickin' Santa Claus? I swear someone on the East Coast can have the exact same symptoms as we do in the Midwest. How is that possible?!

** Funny moment - after a particular awful "spilling" (a.k.a. vomiting, to Peanut) episode, she looks at me and starts singing "simply having a wonderful Christmas time!" If it wasn't so sad, I probably would been on the floor laughing.

It's funny what happens when you finally let go.

Day 3 of Reverb 10

Moment.
Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year.

During my September/October can't-get-out-of-my-head period, I came to a lot of conclusions about my life and the relationships around me. Once I accepted where some of those relationships would stay, no matter how hard I tried to change that, I felt at peace.

I realized how lucky I am. I have an outstanding support system.
At the very core of it, an amazing husband and a beautiful daughter.


d'awwww....

I needed to accept and embrace the love I have around me every single second of every single day...not try and hold together what was ultimately never there.

Writing - no, scratch that - Creativity

Day 2 of Reverb 10

Writing.
What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

I am going to modify this prompt a little bit as it doesn't pertain to me (I'm not a writer. Plain and simple). Here's my edited version:

What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your creativity - and can you eliminate it?

Honestly, there is a lot of creativity in each day. Having a toddler almost demands it. While there are times I wish I could spend more time in front of my sewing machine or holding a paintbrush, I cherish being able to break out some Playdoh and making funky creations with my kid. Or playing a modified game of hopscotch through the mall while window shopping. Even making dinner can tap into my creative side (especially when I'm too lazy to go out to the store and we have limited supplies in the house).

There is nothing to eliminate...well, aside from the need for sleep. If I can just get rid of that then I'd be able to get so much more done (like my business that I still need product for. UGH!).

Unicorns!

I am participating in #reverb10 this year (thanks for the idea, CallMeCate!)

One word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

My word for 2011 is unicorns! I have a disturbing lack of unicorns in my life and I feel 2011 needs them.

Contentment and love can wait until 2012. I need some unicorns. Stat.

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See what happens when I try to be all serious and introspective? :)