January 2007

Things I am grateful for as I lie here in a feverish pool of my own snot:

• my blessed husband who, despite being under the weather himself, came home again today to walk the dogs so I could stay warm.
• my optical mouse. I can use my own chest as a mousing surface while lying down. sweet!
• the LCD moniter on the coffee table. I can move it around so I can read blogs lying down.
• I have an “I’m sick” schedule of TV watching from 2pm-9pm when Coffee arrives home.
• the schedule starts with Oprah and Dr. Phil and the rest is all CSI episodes on various channels.
• the dogs are keeping me company. And keeping me covered in slobber.
• there’s a big stack of fresh library books in the house.
• President’s Choice kleenex with aloe lotion.
• linux has plenty of built-in games for me to mindlessly click.
• whole wheat english muffins. I can’t taste anything, but they feel good in my mouth.
• being unemployed is a really good thing when you’re sick.
• napping is a marvelous thing.
• my attention span is even shorter than usual, so I feel fine about slacking.
• Tylenol really does help bring fevers down fairly quickly – even when you’re at 102.2.
• I will be feeling better shortly. RIGHT?!

I feel worse today than I did yesterday. How is that possible? HOW?! Bleh.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You’re being compelled to get reacquainted with forbidden dreams and buried secrets and hidden truths. Be honest: It’s not so bad; it’s probably even a bit thrilling. Though it may generate some pungent and poignant dramas, you’ve got to admit that the dramas are pretty entertaining. And besides, if you can find a way to feel amused as you cooperate with these forbidden dreams and buried secrets and hidden truths, they will ultimately dissolve obstacles that have been postponing your future.

(Freewill Astrology)

Earlier today, when I was overcome with the urge to double-up on my duvet coverage, it occured to me that perhaps – maybe, just maybe – I should break out the digital themometer and cram it under my tongue for a few minutes. I did, and discovered that I was not actually freezing to death, rather, my blood was beginning to boil within my body.

After watching the degrees rise and rise – until I hit 39.2C – I decided that my next best step might be to get over my aversion to Tylenol and pop a few caplets. It’s not that I’m specifically stubborn, it’s that pain meds of any type are not good for people with ulcers (or healed ulcers) and I find that taking any pain med causes me to experience more pain the next time I’m injured or sick.

So, anyway, I swallowed two extra-strengths and I changed into a tshirt and light cotton pants – all while staggering and shivering and trying not to either vomit or pass out. Did you know that being an adult, while sick, really and truly sucks? Because it does. All I wanted to do was huddle underneath my big fluffy feather duvet. Perhaps while wearing two sweaters and a scarf.

Coffee informed me that he was coming home during his dinner hour – to walk the dogs and make me something to eat – and my body apparently lept into action to kill off the fever. He had threatened to drag me (kicking and screaming and shivering) to some sort of medical facility if I didn’t stop burning up.

He arrived and I ate some ice cream and drank some water. And betwen the time he told me he was coming home and the time he left, my temperature dropped from 39.1 to 38.1. Clearly the answer to my problems is: ice cream and the presence of my beloved husband.

I think I like this remedy.

Well.. there you have it. I’m.. unwell.

I am stuffed up and my sinuses are gooey and I feel wobbly and nauseated. I have a cough that rattles deep inside my chest. My beloved husband has gone to work with a promise to return at dinner time to walk the dogs for me – he is feeling better, but still not perfect.

Now that I’ve notified you as to my current infestation-level, I am going to crawl back in bed for a little while. Flannel gnome sheets can only help, right?

Monday morning has arrived (hello!) and Coffee is still sick. He’s home, in bed, and is ill enough to not even attempt working from the sofa today. Given that he’s the one in this relationship with the unbelievably strong work-ethic (and I’m the slacker) you know he’s really and truly feeling like crap when he doesn’t drag himself into the office.

Me? I’ve got the sniffles and sore throat that I’ve had for a while – I’m still feeling okay, if a little bit tired. I’m celebrating my immune system today and staying positive and with plenty of (candied) ginger to eat, lots of water, handfulls of vitamins to snack on.. I shall prevail! I shall kick some germ-ass!

When Coffee is feeling better, I’m pretty sure he’ll try to convince you that I “took care of” him in his sickness. Please rest assured that he’s feverish and delusional and has no idea what he’s talking about. It’s a well-known fact that I don’t have a nurturing bone in my body when it comes to caretaking the ill. He’s obviously deranged from the cooties.

This recipe turned out quite nicely. Coffee, being sick, cannot taste anything really so he rated it a 4/10 and said it was “bland”. Heh. I give it a solid 7/10.

Adapted from “Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home”.

Peruvian Quinoa Stew Recipe.
Serves 4

Ingredients
1/2 c quinoa
1 c water
2 c chopped onions
2 garlic cloves (minced)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, cut on diagonal into 1/4″ slices
1 c cubed zucchini
2 c chopped fresh tomatoes (with seeds and liquid)
1 c water or vegetable stock
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
pinch of cayenne (or more, to taste)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano (1 teaspoon dried)
salt to taste

Prepare
1. Rinse quinoa well. Place in a pot with water and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes (or until soft). Set aside.

2. In a covered soup pot, saute the onions and garlic, in the oil, for about 5 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often.

3. Add the bell pepper, zucchini, tomatoes and water/stock. Stir in cumin, chili powder, cayenne and oregano and simmer, covered for 10-15 minutes (until all vegetables are tender).

4. Stir in the cooked quinoa and add salt to taste. Top with strong grated cheese if desired. Serve immediately.

Lately, I am in the mood for cooking. A recent purchase of some of the Moosewood cookbooks has me all worked up about vegetables, and I’ve been happily flipping through the pages of the book looking for foods I can make during the week that will taste good as ‘leftovers’ for Coffee. He’s not home for dinner (or lunch) and, thus, anything I make has to be edible a few hours later at least.

I’m still waiting for my cupcake-makin’ urge to return. The recent purchase of a vegan cupcake recipe book may assist in re-sparking that!

Tonight I’m making Peruvian Quinoa Stew for dinner – a healthy combination of grain and veggies – and I have a recipe for a spicy curry that looks quite yummy. I’ll make that later this week and see how it goes. (Recipes will be posted here if they turn out well!)

I miss cooking on a regular basis – making foods that are fantastic and kind of fancy and trying new ingredients. I don’t enjoy cooking just for myself – perhaps, once Kelly moves in, we can start having some dinner parties! I’m in the process of restocking the cupboard with all the usual ingredients (grains, spices, broths, etc.) and while it’s an expensive endeavour, it’s a worthwhile one.

Anyone want to come over for some food?

My husband is sick.

As I type this, he is curled up on the sofa under a thick blanket, a half-eaten bowl of chicken noodle soup cooling on the table beside his nearly-full (and also cooling) mug of coffee.

I know he’s really sick because Coffee is the King of The Anti-Disease. (He’s also the King of It-Didn’t-Hurt.)

He’s very good at bringing home cooties for me to nurture and incubate and ultimately collapse under, but he magically avoids contaminating his own immune system. (Bastard.)

Unlike a lot of men who suffer from “man flu” or “man cold” – which basically means they turn into big sucks and regress to age five and collapse, whining, into bed for a week – Coffee is rarely ill. When he feels under the weather, he’s usually fine a day later – two, at most. He shrugs off illnesses. He laughs in the face of the pox.

For a few days, I’ve had the sniffles and a mild sore throat – nothing to write home about. Just ‘winter’ sinking in for a bit. Coffee was feeling fine and dandy and I wasn’t the slightest bit concerned that he might get my ‘sniffles’. I mean, really.

But.. He started to feel unwell yesterday afternoon, just shortly after lunch. We had been out at a restaurant and were seated near a large glass window overlooking the street. He started to feel chilled and the chill just wouldn’t go away. By the time we got home from running errands, he was looking more than a little woogy.

We had originally planned to go out in the evening. I was feeling tired, however, and Coffee was shivering and huddling. Cancel THOSE plans.

At bedtime, he was still chilled and sniffly and not feeling terribly great.

This morning he’s not much better, but having just ingested some of the Benylin crack All-in-One he’s looking at a bit perkier. His eyes are opening fully!

The kicker, of course, is that he’ll likely feel better by tomorrow morning and I’ll be catching his newly-created hyper-cooties. Did I mention he does that? Takes the minor cooties, incubates them overnight, then expells them as hyper-potent cooties-on-speed? No? Well he does. And then he toddles off to work, healthy as a horse, leaving me a crumpled heap of used-kleenex on the floor.

Cooties just don’t play by the rules. Dammit.

“Women are like wolves. If you want a wolf, you have to trap it. You have to snare it. And then you have to tame it. Keep it happy. Care for it. Feed it. Lovingly, the way an animal deserves to be loved. And my animal deserves a lot of loving.” – Dwight K. Schrute