Not a banner day

So.

I prayed that God would help me not to be lazy.

Last night at about 10:30, Shannon said that her stomach hurt really badly.

By 11 she was vomiting.

She was up every hour all through the night. It finally slowed down at about 5 or 6, but then she drank some water which she completely lost, and then some, at 7:30.

So we started the whole 1 teaspoon of water every 15 minutes thing.

She was so thirsty.

After four hours of 1 teaspoon of water every 15 minutes, she had not vomited once, so I started her out with about 4 oz. of Gatorade to replace lost electrolytes. When she kept that down for an hour, I gave her more.

She has now taken in 32 oz. of Gatorade and the ice that was in it, and not vomited.

However, she is not hungry yet, which I do not take as a good sign.

She missed a quiz in her Differential Equations class (otherwise known as "Diff E.Q." which I always thought was spelled "Diffy Q," but what do I know? and yes, this is an attempt at levity). The students are not allowed to make up the quiz without a note from a doctor. Now, I understand that people do lie about things, but really? We have to pay out of pocket for sick appointments, so that would be about $100-$150, just for a doctor's note. And on top of that, what queasy, sick to her stomach person wants to be dragged to a doctor's office to sit in a waiting room with a crew of germ infested patients, only to be ultimately told that she should go home and do exactly what she was already trying to do, but was interrupted in the process of doing because she had to make a trip to the doctor?

I did dishes, cleaned, made beds, did laundry, went to the store for stomach flu foods, baked rolls and made sloppy joes (because it is Thursday, which is youth group night, and we always have sloppy joes, and also there are three other kids in the family who are not sick yet and still want to eat). Usually when there is stomach flu in my house, I preemptively put myself on a diet of black tea and white toast. Today I actually ate a sloppy joe. So either that is faith and grace in action, or it is stupidity. Time will tell.

Among other things, this morning I started to work on renewing Piper's dog license and found that we needed proof of his rabies shot, so I called the vet who said Piper was overdue for a rabies shot, but they could get him in at 10:45 if I could make it over, so of course I did.

The dryer is buzzing at me yet again, even as I type.

I am exhausted, but the kids' bathroom is really, really clean and the dog license renewal is in the mail. That is the good news.

In the mail that the mailman left after he picked up the dog license stuff, Laura received disappointing news about a college scholarship she had been hoping to get. It was not the best of days for me to cope with that. I am thinking uncharitable thoughts about that college right now, but perhaps I will feel more positive later.

So. I prayed that I would not be lazy, and I got a day that gave me no choice in the matter. I can see the hand of God there. Yup. My character isn't the greatest... I'm lazy when I can be, but when I have to work, I do.

Gotta go fold some clothes. It's a nicer job if you get them while they're hot.