February was quite a memorable month. So much so, that I had to wait until March to talk about it. The waning winter months are often riddled with the flu and other illnesses. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to leave the month of February, the love month, untainted. Just in time for Valentine's Day, I was flat on my back with bronchitis and the flu; not exactly romantic activity. But the husband followed in my footsteps, so at least we walked through it together. Lots of soft tissues in every corner of the house, with trash bags in strategic spots for easy disposal.
It had been a long time since I was flat on my back. I always take some satisfaction in being able to get the house cleaned and run my errands, keeping the things moving along for the family. It's always a given (at least you hope) that you don't get sick as a Mom, so you can take care of things. So at first, I was a bit frustrated by this serious delay in responsibilities being fulfilled. The first week I didn't even think about being bored. I was just too busy sleeping and watching my cat Sophie check on me every so often and meow at me like, what is the problem here? Sometimes she would stay and sleep on the bed and keep me company. She didn't do as much tearing about the place, since I wasn't up and running myself.
Week one passed in a blur; week two was tiresome and frustrating since I was still dealing with dizziness and fatigue. I didn't want to experience the black spots in my vision, or the hot vibrations in the back of my neck again, telling me to sit down or lay down, before I fainted. Hanging onto walls, attempting to make my way to the kitchen was a slow moving process.
What really amazed me about the whole experience is that the muse only went to sleep for the first week. My mental energy revived before my physical energy did, much to my pleasant surprise.
My husband recovered more quickly than I did, which was a great advantage, since he has an electrical contracting business to run. He took care of the food shopping for a time to give me the extra rest needed for full recovery.
After having such a month of the unexpected, it's been good to be back in the swing of things. I never thought I'd be happy to clean my house again and run my usual errands. It's amazing what a bit of perspective will do. One thing I realized in all of this was that there is a time for everything. Sometimes it's good to relax and do things you enjoy instead of working all the time. It felt good to just sit and read a enjoyable fiction story or write a bit of poetry or the next scene in my novel without thinking first about what else needed to be done.
Of course, I don't want to just take this realization for when I'm under the weather, but all of the time. There is a time and purpose for everything under heaven. When I see a moment of rest awaiting me, or a few minutes to do something enjoyable and relaxing, I'll seize the moment, put up my feet, and thank God for another blessed day.
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