Sick day

Yesterday afternoon while Sylvia was at daycare she fell asleep during a movie. While unusual, her napping in the afternoon isn't totally unheard of, though it can mean she's sick. Her daycare (which isn't her usual one) called to let me know she was sleeping, but that otherwise she'd had a good day. I asked if she felt warm to them and they didn't think she was feverish so I kept working and left at my normal time (about 5). When I arrived to pick her up, though, she was still sleeping and, when I tried to rouse her she was lethargic and complained about a headache. When I got her home she had a fever of about 101 C.

I thought I might still be able to go to work today at least for the lab meeting and paper discussion, and just have Sylvia sit in the room with me and maybe play on the ipad during the meeting.

Then Paul curled up on a dining room chair, tightly wrapped in a blanket, and stared at the pancakes he'd requested for dinner instead of eating them.

So, today was a sick day.

It rained off and on all day, so being inside was kinda perfect and I really didn't feel guilty letting the kids watch TV and play games on my computer all day long. They didn't get overly wild at the inactivity (though bedtime wasn't quite as smooth or as quick as normal) and there weren't too many fights over what to watch or play. My kids do get along remarkably well. If they do fight I only have to find a temporary (like 2 minute) solution and they both move on. I hope it's as easy when they get older and when there are three of them competing over TV and whatnot.

Derrick is on a field trip to Kangaroo Island until Sunday, which I'm kinda grateful for. I realize when he's around I work a lot harder on certain things, like cleaning and cooking. I'm more ambitious about cooking in particular when he's around. He's also much less willing to let the kids watch TV all day. I made sure to break up the TV watching with other activities every couple of hours, but I'm perfectly happy to let my kids watch TV, while Derrick prefers the kids spend time outside.

Because Derrick wasn't here I gave myself time to cuddle with Kip when he woke up too early from his second (afternoon) nap and almost took a nap myself. I finished a book I've been working on reading for far too long. I fixed a simple dinner of mostly left-overs, only augmenting with some taco meat (which had to be made) and eggs for Paul.

I don't get many days like this. I should be more grateful for my life more often, because I do have a fantastic life. I have a great family, a small but sufficient home, a job I love. It was nice to slow down and really savor those things today--especially the family.

RAK

Yesterday evening, after a very long couple of weeks preparing for AGU, Derrick and I went to Target and bought a few thingss, including near-instant dinner (pizza and these lovely fruit-filled pastries we warmed in the oven and served with ice cream). As we were standing in the produce section, this woman came up to us and said something along the lines of, "Hello, we've selected you to receive this gift card." At first I was mildly annoyed, thinking we were at the receiving end of some promotion, but when I looked up at the woman holding the card, I realized she wasn't a Target employee, and the people standing around her were members of her family. She wished us a happy holiday season, we expressed our mumbled, confused thanks, and the six of them continued on their way, and we on ours.

That made my day. I've been so wrapped up in preparing for my conference it hardly feels like the holiday season. My in-laws asked how Derrick and I were dressed, teasing us we probably looked so ragged the family assumed we were needy. I suspect they chose us because of Sylvia. In any case, I'm grateful for their kindness, and for whatever spirit possessed them to perform this small kindness for us. While physically and financially we're in good shape, emotionally I was in need, especially right now, and especially because I didn't even recognize the lack until something was given to fill it. We're not even going to keep the card--we have a much better and much more important use for it--passing it along to, we hope, bless the life of someone else!

Happiness is

Did you know a happy friend is worth $20,000? Here's to hoping I enrich the lives of those around me by that amount.