An exciting event on an otherwise boring day

Paul was sick today. Not the really sick with a fever and "I'm going to sleep all day" kind of illness, but the "I have a headache and my throat hurts" and "I threw up last night" kind of sick. Since he has a history of strep throat, I take him seriously when he says he needs to see a doctor. So I took off work and he took off school and we went to the Pediatrician's office. They examined him and took an instant-read strep culture, which was negative. Big sigh of relief. But still here was Paul not feeling up to doing much of anything except driving Mom crazy. Did I say that? No, no, what I meant was wanting Mom to hold him and talk with him and do something with him to keep him from being bored silly while dealing with his hurt stomach and head and throat.

Well, not everyday is exciting and this one wasn't. We were already feeling stir crazy from being "ice bound" at home all day yesterday and now we were "sick bound" at home, at a time when two of the rooms in our small home were under renovation. I did come up with a cool but quiet craft to do with him, and it was sweet to sit and watch tv and read to him. But still, sick days are just boring days, and I just pray they never get more exciting than that. I never endure a boring sick day at home -- no matter if it's Paul or me or Ben who are sick -- that I'm not grateful that "boring" is the worst you can say about it.

On a happier note, it was very exciting today when the kitchen crew cut out the new window. Many years ago we placed a kitchen cabinet in front of a tall window, covering up the lower half of it (first photo). We are replacing that with a window that sits nicely above the counter and is much wider, giving us a great view of our "pasture" and bird feeders. It was very cool to see the contractors cut and frame the space for the new window and to imagine looking out it at the pretty scenery outside (second photo). They had to cover it up since the new window itself won't arrive for another week or so. But it was wonderful to check out the new view for a few minutes at least.