Sick.

Last week, my son came home with a cold. I didn't think much of it--he only had a stuffy nose when he woke up in the morning, and was slightly more laidback when he got home. Never complained that much or seemed that sick. Matt made the comment that he was betting the cold would sweep through our house and make us all sick. I laughed him off. Sam was, after all, not even sick. If anything, he was more manageable, tamed by the tiniest wisp of a cold.

On Saturday night, I spent the evening making hot dogs and hot fudge cake at the elementary school's Fall Festival. And I came home feeling poorly. I thought it was because I had spent the last 4 hours on my feet, making hot dogs and misguidedly wearing a sweatshirt from my alma mater in the hot elementary school kitchen. I watched some tv and then went to bed. Matt, who had stayed home with Alice, said he was feeling a bit sick too. But he always says that. In Matt's mind, he is sick from November until April. I'm not even kidding. He has one long "cold" that goes on between that time--every sneeze, every sniffle, every headache is blamed on the plague that he gets, without fail, every year.

But then yesterday we both woke up sick. None of the kids, thank goodness, seem to have gotten it. Sam has long since returned to his normal self, running around in his underwear yesterday and trying to lick his armpit (and yes, he can do it, which he considers something to be very much proud of). Matt, I guess, is used to being sick on some level. Not me. I don't get sick that often (I do have allergies, which suck), but I have a fairly awesome immune system and bolster it with running and drinking a lot of that Trop50 stuff (seriously...try it. I really like it, and it is a very healthy alternative to my daily OJ habit).

The thing is, being sick just annoys me. I want to plead and yell and remind the world that YES, I HAVE SHIT TO DO. I need to work, and I need to exercise, and I need to cook and I need to remind my daughter that no, it is not polite to tell someone that you don't like them because they are loud even though, yes, I did say that honesty is the best policy. So I try to ignore being sick, which makes me feel even worse. Here I sit, at my desk, wrapped in a pashmina, WEARING FLATS and an old Old Navy cotton v-neck sweater that I didn't even know that I owned (When did I think it was a good idea to buy a cabled sweater? The mind boggles.) and just wishing that I could be at home in bed, which I very well could be because I have a flexible job and a laptop. But I'm not. I refuse to give in to the cold. I will go about my daily business and just pretend that everything is normal (except for the flats thing--I walked in this morning and at least three people commented on how "short" I am) even though I look like a zombie with chapped lips.

My husband, who does not have the deathwish, I mean, resolve that I have, is only working half a day and is on his way to pick me up for lunch and to give me medicine and Kleenexes. Which is amazingly sweet, I must admit, especially from someone who has convinced himself that his body is a battlefield, populated only by enemy forces whose only wish is to smother him in his own mucus.

At any rate, I didn't post the menu yesterday because I felt icky, and I should have posted it last night when I was up between 2:00 and 4:30, but it was much more worthwhile to lay on the couch and watch Keeping Up the Kardashians and moan. So here it is:
Saturday: Loaded Potato Soup
Sunday: Smoky Beef Stew with Blue Cheese and Chives, Spicy Autumn Crisp
Monday: Thai Honey Chicken, rice, broccoli (Oh sweet vitamin C!)
Tuesday: caprese paninis, fruit
Wednesday: Baked Ziti with Gorgonzola and Spinach (will be having a small portion of this with a big salad)
Thursday: Prosciutto, Pear, and Blue Cheese Sandwiches, sweet potato fries
Friday: spaghetti with homemade marinara, salad, garlic bread
Treats: pear clafloutis (have you seen the pears at the market? They are gorgeous.), oreo cheesecake cookies (these are for my kids and my husband because we were gifted a very big thing of oreos for Halloween, and they are tired of just eating them as is. I actually am not a huge fan of oreos, as I have spoiled myself making homemade ones.)
Breakfasts: Ellie Krieger's Cheddar Apple quesadillas because I have a whole bunch of apples and a whole bunch of cheddar left over from last week and from my grandmother visiting Amish country and bringing me back the spoils. You would be amazed at the food items that I end up with because people know I cook. For example, just in this past week, I have inherited:
*2 lbs. of pecans
*3 Mason jars of honey (with comb)
*1 pound of pepperoni
*2 butternut squashes
*3 sugar pie pumpkins
*1/2 lb. farmer's cheese
*a bag of nameless, faceless apples from some guy's farm
*some really salty cheese made with green onions that my oldest daughter may be obsessed with

Hopefully I will feel like doing some stuff with all of that. Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. Oy.

I hope everyone is well, and has had a good (non-sick) weekend. When I get my crap together, I am going to be doing some shopping this week, so I will be posting some reviews of things. Until then, stay away from people with colds! Especially if they are cute 7 year old boys. Those guys are the worst.