Laid Up

Recently I had the great misfortune of being struck by the flu--or something similar.  Since my health insurance is incredibly lacking (and incredibly expensive) I guess I'll never know for sure.  But regardless I have literally spent the last 48 hours in bed.  As I laid there alternating between the chills and hot flashes, I had some time to ponder on the meaning of life.  Ok--not really but I did discover a few things:

1.  My husband is seriously the best.  He brought me drugs (the legal kind) and endless apple juice and Diet Coke.  (Even in the throes of sickness Diet Coke must not be forgotten.)

2.  A good mattress is worth it's weight in gold.  A few years back we broke down and paid the somewhat big bucks to invest in a decent mattress.  Best investment yet.

3.  The internet serves as both a blessing and a curse when attacked with a hideous virus.  A blessing because one can surf the net on such glorious sites as people.com and pinterest but a curse in that one can also look up a list of symptoms and discover that instead of the flu it could be malaria--or something equally horrific.  Note:  it doesn't seem to be malaria...

4.  Being sick with older kids is about a thousand times better than being sick with younger kids.  My kids literally left me alone--like if they needed to communicate with me they either stood out in the hall and shouted at me or texted me out of fear of contracting the dreaded disease.  I didn't have to worry about making meals, or changing diapers, or putting in endless videos of Blues Clues.

5.  Apparently I do actually do some things around here because after about hour 36 I dragged myself downstairs and it looked like a bomb went off!  I mean, if I had had the energy to get my phone out of my purse I would have taken a picture because it was sort of horrific.  It made the sock piles seem tame in comparison so even though most days I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere, it is clear to me now, that I do.

6.  My kids are capable of doing more than I make them.  After crawling downstairs and witnessing the disaster I asked Dave to supervise the clean up and they did great!  The den and laundry room haven't been that clean in weeks (although after the boys came down and dug through their drawers in the laundry room this morning Kennedy lamented what a mess they made after her hard work.  Welcome to my world, Kennedy.  Welcome to my world.)

So you see, look at all the insight I gained in the last two days!  Another example of blessings that come from trials I suppose.  Also, while laid up I found the greatest little video clip that made me reflect on my "To Do" Lists.  Take a minute to watch:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3792885561001&cid=HPFR091914425

I guarantee that your perspective will be a little clearer after watching:-)