I had the flu this week. For five days, I moped around the house with severe body aches, off-and-on fever, chills, and various other unmentionable horrors. When Happy started vomiting the other night, I hit a pretty low point of self pity, I'll admit. It's really hard to hold your kid's head over the toilet as he pukes up his guts while your own stomach is churning and your arms are shaking with chills.
But we survived, and when I stepped outside for the first time today, the sun seemed especially bright, the breeze especially refreshing. And I started thinking, maybe a week with the flu isn't totally awful. I mean, it did have it's good points:
(5) Sleeping. Do you know how long it's been since I had a full 8-hour night's sleep? A really, really, really long time. So the 30-hour night's sleep on Tuesday-Wednesday was especially awesome.
(4) Reading. I love to read, but with two little monkeys running around this house, I rarely have more than a few minutes at a time to snuggle up with a book...and usually when I do sit down to read, I fall asleep (see above re. lack of sleeping). This week, I read an entire novel. A new, good novel that I enjoyed, despite my fever and cold-sweats.
(3) No cooking. There was no way I could even think about raw chicken, let alone cook it up for my family. So it was all PB&J or Pop Tarts 'round the clock 'round these parts. I heard no complaints, either.
(2) Snuggling. Although it really sucks to watch your kids suffer through the flu with you, a marathon snuggle-and-nap session in my giant, fluffy bed was really a treat...despite the puke bucket in the middle of the bed.
(1) Weight loss! Today I walked out of the house wearing baggy shorts cinched by a belt on its last loop, thanks to the whopping SEVEN pounds I lost this week. Woot!
Don't think for a moment, though, that I'm clamoring for another flu week any time soon. No, thanks. But I wonder if maybe there's a way to have a few slow-down days every now and then, guilt-free, while remaining perfectly healthy.
But we survived, and when I stepped outside for the first time today, the sun seemed especially bright, the breeze especially refreshing. And I started thinking, maybe a week with the flu isn't totally awful. I mean, it did have it's good points:
(5) Sleeping. Do you know how long it's been since I had a full 8-hour night's sleep? A really, really, really long time. So the 30-hour night's sleep on Tuesday-Wednesday was especially awesome.
(4) Reading. I love to read, but with two little monkeys running around this house, I rarely have more than a few minutes at a time to snuggle up with a book...and usually when I do sit down to read, I fall asleep (see above re. lack of sleeping). This week, I read an entire novel. A new, good novel that I enjoyed, despite my fever and cold-sweats.
(3) No cooking. There was no way I could even think about raw chicken, let alone cook it up for my family. So it was all PB&J or Pop Tarts 'round the clock 'round these parts. I heard no complaints, either.
(2) Snuggling. Although it really sucks to watch your kids suffer through the flu with you, a marathon snuggle-and-nap session in my giant, fluffy bed was really a treat...despite the puke bucket in the middle of the bed.
(1) Weight loss! Today I walked out of the house wearing baggy shorts cinched by a belt on its last loop, thanks to the whopping SEVEN pounds I lost this week. Woot!
Don't think for a moment, though, that I'm clamoring for another flu week any time soon. No, thanks. But I wonder if maybe there's a way to have a few slow-down days every now and then, guilt-free, while remaining perfectly healthy.
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