What a week...

Just finished making some matzo-ball soup, a good thing on a cold winter night. I usually make it vegetarian-style, with some great chicken-tasting soup powder from Bloomingfoods, but this time I put in chicken as well, because Abby's iron is low.

Abby has bacterial pneunomia, which sprang from bronchitis, which sprang from a virus, which she woke up with while at her friend Savvy's for the night, a week ago Friday night.

We had planned to pick up Abby, go to the holiday Farmers' Market, have brunch out at the Encore, then maybe walk down to the IU Art Museum and schmooze around.

Instead, we have spent this week worrying, watching Abby, refilling humidifiers, taking her temperature, trying to get Abby to eat and drink, worrying, taking her temperature, going to the doctor three times, and juggling our work schedules. She had a fever for days and days.

I didn't feel well at the beginning of the week, and then I felt guilty because I wasn't worse and Abby was...

A few days ago, Abby had dark shadows under her eyes, constant chest pain, coughing all the time....it feels absolutely wonderful to see her eating today, and feeling a little crabby because of boredom! She's still weak enough that she isn't reading, but just watching TV. We have watched the entire Ninth Season and Third Season of FRIENDS! Now she is watching a DVD of the tv show NORTHERN EXPOSURE, which Malinda loaned to us.

Tomorrow I will pick up some homework at school for her.

Mentally and emotionally, I am tired. But also, it is nice to think back about how kind people have been this week. One memory is noticing that Bob Z just went ahead and did extra work, formatting columns for the weekend, because I was just going crazy, juggling my schedule, making up for when I missed earlier in the week, and doing an extra project -- a Power Point presentation for Doug Wilson to use at the HSPA seminar. Carol Thompson, my office-mate, was gracious as usual about having to do extra stuff in my absence. Rod also did extra work to help me out, as he always does...friends were emailing me, asking what they could do.

Yesterday, Jordie stayed home all day so I could go ahead and attend the Hoosier State Press Association seminar and contest awards luncheon in Indianapolis. I really enjoyed it -- rode up to Indy with my friend Marci and other friends from the newsroom. And among the awards our paper won were the best editorial page in our division (which thrilled me, because I paginate the editorial page -- and then Bob said afterward "Couldn't do it without you, Lynne.") and the Community Service Award, which also thrilled me! We also got the General Excellence Award for our division. I coordinate the contest entries for our paper, so I love to see my newsroom friends getting awards.

Today, I went to the Y early in the morning, then came home. Jordie had a meeting with some teen mediators (they have a presentation in front of the School Board Tuesday night) and now he is attending a wake for George, a hospice patient where Jordie has been volunteering...he really liked George a lot and wrote a letter about George for his family.

Time for me to go and watch NORTHERN EXPOSURE with Abby, and have some matzo-ball soup. And stay cozy on a winter Sunday night!