Mindless Monday

Good Monday morning!

What a weekend! After spring storms Friday, the rest of the weekend was, in a word, "glorious." Cool, beautiful and spring-like. The Gallery Pics this morning begin and end with the Time of Day Shower I helped host for Cam's son and her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. To have gone so long with no showers taking place in my day-to-day life, I am so happy this season of life is going to be full of parties. That almost makes turning 50 worth it... almost!

RANDOMNESS #1 - In case you haven't heard, the Pioneer Woman will soon be cooking on a regular basis on the Food Network Channel. She's going to have her very own show. I'll let you know when it's going to air. I'm pretty sure I'll be adding it to my "must watch shows."

RANDOMNESS #2 - I left off Friday with Part One of a story about me and Mikie and how we survived his first illness as husband and wife. I guess I should say how HE survived his first illness with me as his wife and primary caretaker. NOTE - I was surprised to discover I was NOT a good primary caretaker. Mikie was a little shocked, too.

After he had informed me he would be sick TEN days (no more, no less), I couldn't help thinking days five through ten were in his head. There was no hard and set rule about being sick for ten days... no matter what. Sometimes people are sick just one or two days. I know. I'm one of them!

So as my role of loving new wife, I decided to give him five days. FIVE.

Every night I would come home. Every night he would be on the couch... wheezing and coughing.

Every night I would make him crawl to the shower. Every night I would make him soup and cheese toast.

Every night I would try to make him go to bed early. Every night he would tell me he was "tired, but not sleepy."

Every night I would try not to hit him with a baseball bat when he finally did drift off.

This is how I reacted to fever and a raging sinus infection. Little did I know, on Day Five of his Ten-Day Illness, Mikie usually started throwing up.

This was a test. Would I become more compassionate because my mate was huddled on the bathroom floor hugging the toilet... or less compassionate? I wasn't sure myself until it happened.

I'm not going to go into great detail because I know some of you eat breakfast while you read A Simple Life. However, Mikie is EXTREMELY loud when he is sick. I was getting ready to leave for work (since it appeared I was now the sole breadwinner of the family) when I heard a terrible scream and other sounds coming from what became that day "Mike's Bathroom."

I stood outside the door listening and cringing. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"No. I'm dying. I need a cold, wet rag," he replied.

I quickly ran to the other bathroom (which was named "Belinda's Bathroom" from that day forward), wet a rag and ran to the Mikie's bathroom.

"What do you want me to do with it?" I asked.

"I need it on my forehead," he instructed.

Hmmm. I had NO desire to walk in that bathroom, much less hold a wet rag on his forehead. This was a WHOLE different set of symptoms, and if only one of us was currently working, I didn't need a stomach virus. I had to bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan... You get the idea.

I cracked open the door, and tossed the very wet rag toward the horrible sounds. When I heard the "WHOP" sound, I knew I had found my target. I set out Sprite and crackers on the counter, checked with Mikie to see if he needed anything else before I left for work and I headed to the car.

In answer to the question I asked above, I was upset to find I was even less compassionate on Day Five of the Ten-Day Illness.

I'll finish this little story tomorrow, and I'll share another one with you to show you I've improved greatly over the years. The main reason I'm a better caregiver is because Mikie has shown by example over the years "how it's done."

I will say, 15 days into my marriage I was not enjoying the "self-discovery" portion of the journey. It was making me look bad. Real bad!

It's Mindless Monday, so enjoy the short post and the pics. I'll have the Pinwheel Sandwich recipe for you tomorrow (along with how-to pics), and a little more Randomness.

Take care, and I'll talk to you Tuesday.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda