Battle Of the Flu Bug

Alas - - the dreaded Flu Bug has bitten the Jackson household. Not me, thank goodness, but Dear Hubby Steve has fallen victim. There has been a nasty bug going around the area, and when it hits you, it hits FAST and HARD.

Monday evening Dear Hubby was feeling like he was starting a cold. By the time he got up for work Tuesday morning, he felt he had a cold. By the time he got off work Tuesday afternoon, it had already worked its way down into his chest, so he stopped at Doctor's Family Practice to get checked out. By that time, his temp was up to 101.5, and he felt AWFUL. The Dr. not only prescribed him an antibiotic and something to break up the congestion in his chest, but wrote him an excuse and told him to stay home from work. At first he tried to argue that - - what a surprise (not!) - - but then decided that one day would probably do him some good.

Good thing he made that decision.

He was up and down all night, coughing, and feeling generally lousy. He got up this morning long enough to call the Absence Line at Cat, and also call and talk to his supervisor, then piled back down in bed for the day.

He felt LOUSY.

The CATS, however, loved it. They had their DADDY home, and he was nice and WARM!

I'm not sure they were too happy when he started sweating out his fever, though . . . :-)

I called and checked on him a couple of times today from work, but was afraid to call too often, because I didn't want to risk waking him up if he was finally getting some much-needed rest. So I stayed busy (not hard to do in MY job!) so I wouldn't "fret" so much thinking about him.

By the time I got home this evening, he looked as bad as he felt. When he took his temp, it was up near 102 . . . so I fixed him some hot chocolate and made him put on some extra clothing.

Then he finally started sweating it out again. *whew*

His skin is feeling quite a bit cooler now, and not as dry - - so hopefully the "mending" has finally started!

He's staying home again tomorrow. And if he's not LOTS better, I'm taking some time off and taking him back to the Doctor.

I'm not putting up with this crap.

That's my BABY - - my HONEY - - my MAN - -

And I want to be able to do SOMETHING to help him feel better!

*Rats*

I hate feeling this helpless . . . .

Wish Dear Hubby luck in his "Battle of the Flu Bug" - - it may have kicked his A** the past couple of days, but he WILL perservere! :-)

Happy Birthday, Babe!!

Today is Dear Hubby Steve's birthday - - and hopefully it has been a good one for him!

My Dad came up from Smalltown and we all went to my in-law's church, where Dear Nephew Travis was preaching today (I like to tease him about having his "student preaching permit" - - *laugh*). Aunt D, Uncle H, and Cousin R came also. Travis did a wonderful job with his sermon! That young man has a very promising future as a minister. We are all very proud of him.

After church service, we all went to my in-law's house to celebrate Dear Hubby's birthday. Quite a crowd there - - me, Steve, my Dad, Steve's parents, Steve's brother and his family, and of course the aunt, uncle, and cousin. Travis also brought his girlfriend with him. So it was a houseful, and it was fun!

Mom-in-law made 5 different kinds of pizza, and had salad and makings for sandwiches for those who didn't want pizza. I provided dessert - - chocolate chunk cookies, peanut butter cookies, and - - OF COURSE - - my world famous BROWNIES! :-) I didn't make anything fancy this time though - - just regular brownies with loads of chocolate chips in them, and then chocolate cream cheese frosting on top.

Then to top it off, I went to Dairy Queen for Dear Hubby's birthday cake. He has been wanting one of their ice cream cakes for a LONG time, so I decided it was time to make his wish come true.

Ever had one of those???

WELLLLLLL - - if not, then you absolutely need to - - they are nothing short of AWESOME . . . . *sigh*

The bottom layer is chocolate ice cream. Then there is a THICK layer of crushed fudgy cookies in the middle, and a layer of vanilla ice cream on top of that.

Then the whole thing is covered with vanilla ice cream "icing", and then decorated to order.

YUMMMMMMMMM . . . . .

It was wonderful.

Of course, I had to send any brownies and cookies that were left over back to Olivet with the nephew - - he can use the calories, he's too skinny anyway . . . *laugh*

Anyway, it was a pretty good day. Dear Hubby enjoyed it, and that's what matters most.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Babe. I LOVE YOU!!

Your "Sweet Baboo"

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Especially my Dear Huibby Steve - - who has been there for me through all the good times and bad for over 20 years now - -

I love you, Babe. Looking forward to the next 20 years with you!

Your "Sweet Baboo"

Food Pantry Work

This is actually a story about my Dad. He has volunteered for many years at the local Food Pantry in his hometown of "Smalltown, Illinois" - - putting in lots of hours every week, picking up donations from churches and meat lockers, counting, sorting, and putting away cases of canned goods. I was pretty concerned that it would start being too much for him. When I tried to talk to him once a few years ago, he told me a little story - -

[Once when I was about 12 years old, my family took a trip up to Iowa to visit some relatives in the Quad Cities area. We stopped at a small town diner around lunchtime. There was another family sitting in the diner, travelers like we were, stopping to get a bite to eat. One of their children (about 7 or 8 years old) said to his Dad, "Gee, Dad, these ketchup sandwiches taste really good with meat in them!"

I was only 12 years old, but that really hit me. I never forgot that poor family who couldn't afford to feed their kids anything but meatless ketchup sandwiches. And I promised that if I could ever do something to try and keep other little kids from having to eat plain ketchup sandwiches, I would. That's why I work at the Food Pantry. I'm helping families feed their kids.]

I never said a word to Dad again about all the hours he puts into the Food Pantry.

And when Mom passed away 3 years ago, he stepped up the hours he spent there. I'm glad he has that place - - it really kept his mind busy and kept him "grounded" during his grieving process.

Wish I could have had something like that to keep my mind occupied . . . .

But anyway - - this past weekend was the Boy Scouts Annual Food Drive. They called my Dad, who met them up at the Food Pantry, so they could drop off their collections. They pulled up in a panel truck - - full - - and 8 people started carrying in sacks of food.

And carrying . . .

And carrying . . .

And carrying some more.

By the time they finished, the Pantry was so full of bags of food you couldn't even walk through the place! Dad just locked the door and decided Sunday was another day - - he would start counting and sorting items then. He got home and called Dear Hubby and me, and proceeded to tell us the good news. When I asked him who was going to be helping him sort, count, and put away items, he didn't have anyone. He tried to make a couple of phone calls, but came up empty-handed - - lots of people had church events planned for that following day.

SO - - Dear Hubby and I drove South and met him at the Food Pantry to help. In just under 2 hours, we had counted, sorted, and put away over 850 items.

And we were not through yet - - there were still plenty of sacks left! *sigh*

Then the Service Learning Class teacher from the Middle School showed up at the Pantry, and told Dad that she planned on having the students work on the food collections, because they needed the community service hours for their grade. She had not been sure who to call. Dad told her from now on to just contact him, and he would make sure to meet the kids there so he could supervise and also sign off on their work sheets. She told him they would be back up at 4:00 to finish up the rest of the work.

So we left, and went back to Dad's house to rest up a bit before heading back towards home.

It's a good feeling, helping other people. Dear Hubby and I had some other things planned for yesterday, but decided to push them back a couple of hours so we could help out Dad.

I'm glad we did.

I'm also VERY glad I have a husband who treats my family as if they are a part of his - - he adores my Dad, and would do anything to help that dear man. He also adored my Mom, and probably cried as much as I did when we lost her 3 years ago. And my *Grandmother*, well - - don't get me started there! She adored him, and always threatened to steal him from me! And he loved her just as much. I'm very lucky!

Oh - - Dad called us last night when he got back home from the Food Pantry. There was a total count of 1,367 items donated by the Boy Scouts Food Drive! Those young men should be very proud of all they help they are being to families in need!

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Before we left to go help Dad, we saw a house for sale in the paper, that had been for sale before we bought our present home (about 11 years ago). It was having an open house that afternoon.

I had loved that house, and had been totally heartbroken when the deal fell through and we could not buy it.

SO - - We decided to go through it and see how kind (or not) the years had been to that house. I have the whole story posted on my "other blog "- - go check it out! :-)

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Today is Lincoln's Birthday, and Campus is closed. It's been nice to have an extra day off! I got up REALLY early this morning (4:30 a.m., when Dear Hubby took off for work) - - went to the Gym and worked out for an hour (LOVE the morning crowd! They are zany and fun!). Then I got back home, showered and changed, and went out to run some errands. Made it home by lunchtime, and have just been kinda puttering around the house catching up on little odds and ends projects. Just a nice, relaxed day - - I need *lots* more of these!

Only problem is - - it's in the mid-30's, but the wind is gusting up around 25-35 mph - - and it's DAMN COLD out there! Glad I'm inside where it's nice and toasty warm!

Well, so much for this latest "novel" - - didn't mean to get so wordy, but it had been awhile since my last post and there was some catching up to do.

Thanks for stopping by!

Back To The Old Routine . . .

Sorta.

Right now I'm just hoping to find my desk by the end of the week! *sigh*

It is COVERED in papers - -

Somebody send me a shovel, please - - a BIG one!

Wish me luck . . . . .