Best Laid Plans

Well the New Year didn't exactly start the way we planned it.  Hmmm, funny how often our plans go awry!  I spent most of the last week of December preparing for our annual NYE party.  I reserved a meeting room at a local hotel so we'd have plenty of room (and parking!).  I spent hours working on decorations and party favors.  I made up what food I could ahead of time, including baking and decorating about 4 dozen cookies as snowmen, penguins and polar bears.  Then New Year's Eve arrived, and Ricky came down with the flu (actually, his fever started about midnight the night before).  I took him to the local clinic (couldn't get an appointment with our family doctor).  The NP didn't think he had the flu.  He had all the symptoms except for a bad headache...his was a mild headache...so of course if COULDN'T be the flu.  She gave him a prescription for antibiotics and cough medicine and put one on hold for Tamiflu, in case he started having a bad headache...making it the flu.  So we started him on the antibiotics and he just got worse.  By time our party would have started (if I hadn't already cancelled it), his temperature was 103.5 degrees and holding.  He and I stayed up and welcomed in the new year, but we sure weren't partying!  Finally, around 2:00 a.m., his fever started coming down to where I felt ok about going to bed.

The next morning, as soon as the pharmacy opened, I called and got them to fill the Tamiflu and started him on it immediately.  By bedtime his fever had broken.  We were able to go to bed early and sleep all night.  He slept until about 3:00 this afternoon and woke up feeling MUCH better.  (I did wake him up this morning long enough to eat some crackers, drink a glass of water and take his medicine.)  Dennis has tried to keep his distance to avoid catching it, and I have been diligent at washing my hands and using hand sanitizer, so we HOPE we won't get sick.

Since I've been somewhat restricted for the past couple of days, I've gotten a lot of "paperwork" done.  I worked up my goals and "game plan" for this year.  I mapped out our vacation route for the trip we are planning in May (more about that in a later post).  I closed out my files for 2013 and started new ones for 2014.  Now I'm working on getting all of Ricky's bedding washed and everything disinfected.  I'm hoping for a nice, non-eventful weekend!

Now with the holiday season behind us, it is time to get back on our healthy eating and exercise routine.  I still have food that I had prepared for the party that I need to get rid of.  Dennis and I have been eating on the cookies, but I finally wrapped up the rest of them and plan to take them to the kids at church Sunday.  I'll probably send the Peppermint Oreo Truffles with the girls to take to work.  Those things are too addicting to keep around the house!  Ricky has been eating on the cheese ball and cheese-stuffed pretzel bites.  I'm sure he'll finish off all of that (he isn't a sweet eater).  I finally threw away the last of the candy that Dennis got from his customers.  From here on out, we are getting back to low-carb, low-fat foods!  *sigh*

Well, I hope the rest of you had a better start to your new year.  I'm hoping things will be "uphill" from here on out for us!

James 4:13-15 Go to now ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain. (And yet ye can not tell what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and afterward vanisheth away.)  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, and, If we live, we will do this or that.