THE PLAGUE!

The plague made an appearance at our house over the weekend. After a visit to Mammoth Cave with her dottery parents and a weekend trip to the mountains of north Alabama to go wild pig hunting with her brother, my youngest finished off a week of spring break camped out on the living room sofa with a bucket.

NOT the way you want to end spring break and head into midterm exams.

Instead of said youngest's fab cooking, we have been serving up lots of Gatorade and Sprite, applesauce and Jello, chicken noodle soup and saltines here at Kendallville lately.

Our patient is about out of the woods - just exhausted now after a rough couple of days and weak from a lack of calories. She has three days worth of eating to catch up on, which is not an easy assignment for one so small.

Okay, I admit it: most days, I am discontent with my weight. It gets uncomfortable having to bend over this spare tire, and for once, I'd love to discover that my jeans were too loose instead of too tight.

But...

When the plague hits, I am genuinely thankful for my built-in energy reserves. Genuinely thankful.

When the little chicken can't keep food down for a day or two, it's a big, scary deal.

When Mama can't keep food down for a day or two, it's really not a problem. I haven't caught the plague this go round, but I'm ready, just in case.

I guess there's an up side and a down side to everything.

Most days, I'd rather not be a chub-a-muffin. But today - being a chub-a-muffin suits me just fine.

Loving on her favorite patient - Nurse Kitty takes her job very seriously!