Today, they were giving out free flu shots at work.  I didn’t go though. I’ve only taken the flu shot twice and both times, I had the worst case of the flu soon after. I’d rather take my chances, thank you very much. On the years when I hadn’t taken the shot, I got a cold with coughing and sniffles, but that was it.

 By this afternoon though, I was starting to second guess my decision. Jade called about an hour after they should have been picked up to tell me that they were still at school. Their dad hadn’t picked them up yet. That got me worried because he is usually pretty good about remembering their schedule and sticking to it. I called the house repeatedly and got no answer.

I called the girls back, thank god they have cell phones, and they said that their dad finally got there, an hour and fifteen minutes late. Thank God for that! When I finally got to talk to him, he said he is sick. Jade has been running a bad cold for weeks now, and it finally got to him. He is running a low grade fever and is coughing. He also feels exhausted. That’s what happened this afternoon. He was feeling sick so he laid down to rest for the few minutes. Next thing you know he had overslept. He didn’t even hear the back to back phone calls I was making. I think he’s got the flu now.

This is so early for us to be sick! I am hoping the flu bug doesn’t jump on me next. I hate being sick! I am a very grumpy sick person.

So, for the meantime, no kisses, lots of hand washing, lots of cleaning and sanitizing, lots of orange juice and vitamin C rich foods, crossing of fingers and lots of prayers to get this flu bug away.

So tomorrow, I’m also cooking chicken soup for the sick folks and as a preventative measure for me. I hope it works. How about you, how do you keep the flu bug away?

I won’t say anything about this, I’ll let them tell you about it…

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If you’re still unsure whether you should sign, read some of these:
Bush Vetoes Health Measure - on the Washington post
On MSNBC
On HuffingtonPost
A Funny Perspective - well, not reallyI don’t know whether to laugh or cry…..Mr. Bush claims this legislation, which proposes adding $35 billion over 5 years so that an additional 6 million children will have health coverage, is too costly. He proposes a $5 billion increase instead. That’s reasonable, isn’t it?In the meantime, the Iraq War has now cost American taxpayers $456 billion and counting.

I suppose, if you are going to send your young people off to die in an unwarranted senseless war anyway, why bother keeping them healthy if they’re going to die young anyway?

Makes perfect sense, don’t you think?

A recent study showed that certain food can make cigarettes taste terrible thus making you smoke less. I don’t know how true that is, but I do know that certain foods or drinks and certain activities stimulate the use of cigarettes. For me anyway.

Ever since I got that cold and dropped smoking, I decided to continue with the non-smoking even as my cold and coughing abated. It has been a little over three weeks since I stopped, and it actually hasn’t been that bad. I don’t think I’ve been irritable as others who are quitting smoking claim to be when nicotine deprived. I did notice that I’ve been eating more especially at night time, after dinner, when I usually had my ritual smoke on the patio or the porch. Now, I start looking for dessert or something sweet to eat immediately after dinner which isn’t helping my other problem with sugar.

I also noticed that when I stopped smoking, my coffee drinking also dropped to almost nothing. Coffee just doesn’t taste as good to me anymore. I used to drink a cup of black coffee and have a cigarette before I could even start getting ready in the morning. Now, I stay in bed an extra thirty minutes then go straight in the shower without my morning victual. And yes, I was one of those people who claimed I NEED my black coffee and cigarettes to get me started. That is why I didn’t really understand how my taste or my need to taste suddenly changed. Now I suppose this article explains some of these changes.

Now the eating more vegetables part, I am glad to hear it. Eating vegetables to quit smoking, I have to problems with that. That part is easy. Another weird thing since I stopped smoking, and I hadn’t noticed this until I read this article, is that I have been eating more vegetables lately. I thought it was just part of the craving to munch that came with quitting smoking, but I suppose it must be something intrinsic in our body that switches on when something triggers it, like lack of nicotine. I thought that was pretty interesting.

So eat your vegetables, whether you’re trying to quit smoking or not!

Like wine not only do we get better with age but apparently we get sweeter too. That’s right. That is what my recent blood test indicated, anyway. I have joined the ranks of middle aged, overweight, hypertensive and diabetic population. How exciting.

It is a shock to come to terms with the reality of aging. I can’t be so arrogant about my youth anymore. I can’t take for granted that I will always be healthy and fit without trying. Those days are gone. The partying days, although they’ve been shelved for a while, always held the promise of possibly being relived again when the children are older. That’s gone too.

Maybe it was auspicious that I’ve had this terrible cough and had to lay off smoking for the past week. Now that I received word of my deteriorating body, I might as well continue with the cessation. I think those vices (smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and sugar) I can easily give up for the sake of keeping healthy for a few more years, many if I’m lucky.

The hardest thing for me to give up will be food. Starches to be more precise. Food in all its forms and glory is my lasting vice and passion. I don’t think it will ever go away. Although I have never been one to crave sweets on a regular basis, I do have occasional violent cravings for it. I think that will be manageable though. The ones that I will have more trouble with is on cutting the salt (I love salty snacks and well-seasoned dishes), cutting back on the fat (I’m just partial to fatty cuts of meat as I believe that is where all the flavor is) and cutting down on the portions.

I have never been one to use dietary products. I have always said if I can’t have the real thing I’d rather not have it at all. I think I am still of that belief so you won’t be seeing artificial sweeteners or low fat stuff on my food blog. I’ll just be cutting them out…OR NOT. Help me!!

I really am sweeter now that I’m older….but aging still sucks!