My DH left last Friday morning for CT., where he was going to be one of the main speakers at a large optometric conference. Merrill was not going to be home until late Monday night, and with much excitement, I planned all sorts of things for ME for those four days.

I was going to spend the time happily working on my recipe exchange lists, watching DVDs, hunting recipes, and taking a couple looooooong bubble baths. I thought I might even bake some, since I really wanted to try out a few new recipes I’d been looking at.

One of those included a coffeecake with almond paste and dried cranberries - and I had a pound of plugra butter in the refrigerator just begging to be turned into something glorious.

Best of all, I had the use of the car my DH generally drove. I actually dared to think of going out for lunch Sunday, perhaps Indian! Oh, I was hungry for Butter Chicken! Also, I had a nice bottle of sherry in the cupboard, should I need it for an emergency.

I ate dinner shortly after 5, and was very happy with steamed shrimp, cheese and crackers.

Around 7, I was typing away when the headache hit and I was suddenly in unbelievable pain. That was the first step. I will not bore you with the details of what I went through that night. By 9, I was talking to our oldest son in North Carolina when I had to hang up quickly. Doug made several calls to family up here, alerting his siblings that 1) I was alone for the weekend and 2) I was seriously ill. Within an hour or so, #2 son Mark arrived to spend the night with me and make sure I would be okay.

What is it that “they” always say? - Ah - “The best laid plans of men and mice oft go astray”. Or better yet, “life is what happens to us when we are making plans”.

Well, if this is life, please allow me to croak!

It is now Tuesday morning, the headache is back again. I still have a stomach ache and the thought of eating is not pleasant, even though I think I may have lost a few pounds. Five pounds is not enough to make me feel good about all this.

It’s been years since I had any kind of flu, so why now? Why me?

The thing is, as my knight in shining armor said when he arrived home from the luxury resort he was at, “Gee, you don’t look that bad”.

He continued with “But you don’t look flu-ish” (an old family joke). I gave him the weakest smile I could muster, and pulled another cover over me. Groan…bad jokes on top of it all…

Fortunately, that man knows how to get in my good graces. It’s snowing here again, but he is coming home a couple hours early, and he said he is buying the ingredients for chicken soup on the way, and will make dinner for us.

I fell asleep dreaming about that real chicken soup, redolent (isn’t that a perfect word?) with chicken, celery, onions, carrots, fresh parsley and noodles, with grated Parmesan and Romano cheese on top…and of that man who makes silly jokes so I will laugh and not feel so terribly sick and knows me so well.

I hope that you are all well, happy and healthy, and NONE of you get this flu or any other kind. And should you happen to get sick, then I wish for you a speedy recovery, and someone loving to make you some chicken soup…

Love and hugs
Cyn