A Day Late & A Dollar Short

Well, as illness continues to make its way through the household it seems I have been forgetting to do some other things.  Oh, like decorate for the season and buy some gifts for my family to open on Christmas morning.  There's only 3 weeks left!


And, to post a photo from Gorgeous Kate down undah.  We are both a little too busy to do daily photographs, but when she sends me one I will post it.  I am looking forward to seeing Australia decorated for Christmas!

Kate sent me this photo yesterday:

Welcome back to Australia, here is a picture of some weird tree goo!! :)

                                                                                   -Kate

I just love seeing everything in bloom!

It is quite a contrast to this one:

berries hanging on to bare prickly branches.  

I am not sure what kind of bush it is, but it is in our back yard and those thorns hurt!

Illness

Illness has been making its rounds in our house.

My daughter was sick with a high fever and had to miss a day or two of school.  This made her very upset and subsequently very angry with me.  She said she was NOT SICK and that I MADE her stay home from school.  That's just the kind of evil mother I am....you like school so much?  Well, in that case, you can't go!!  You have to stay home!!  bwah ha ha ha ha...

ahem.

My son contracted strep throat and then kindly passed it on to me for Thanksgiving.

Then my dog (I am guessing this is how the story goes) brought a tick into the house and the next morning I pulled it out of my leg.  A bulls-eye instantly appeared, so it appears I have Lyme Disease as well.

Woe is me
Alas Alack
boo hoo hoo
wee wee wee all the way home

Anyhoo, as it is easy to get down in the dumps when one bad thing happens after another I try to focus on the positive.  I got a nice kick in the pants when I took my son to the doctor's office to be tested for strep and a young mother was there with a toddler and a 2 month old baby who was sick.  I heard the receptionist say to her (as we were leaving) 'you don't have any health insurance right now?' and the young mother shook her head no.  I walked outside and thanked my lucky stars and the God who made them that my family and I had health insurance.  Thankful that my husband is still employed in this economy when so many people are not.  It is so easy to forget this since millions of catalogs are coming in the mail asking you to buy this that and the other.  Sales flyers promoting this that and the other for Black Friday.  And then you see a young mother with a sick baby lying on her shoulder and realize things aren't always what the talking heads are saying.  There may be an upturn for some people, but there are still millions of people who will not feel that upturn for a long time, if ever.

So, I am thankful that I have health insurance, even if I have to be sick to remember to be thankful.  I am thankful that I contracted strep throat, even it was painful when I woke up Thanksgiving morning.

I mean every swallow burned.  
Did you hear me??  It burned!!  

The on-call doctor called in some antibiotics for me and I am thankful for that because when I realized the bulls-eye rash the antibiotics were already working through my system and started sweeping that lymes right out the door.

Apparently, everything does happen for a reason!