The Little Things

A friend of mine recently wrote on her Facebook page, "I need to learn to appreciate the little things. I already appreciate the big things."

Lesson well taught.

Lesson I'm still learning.

But today, I'm very appreciative of the little things.

I just got hit with a very bad cold--the worst cold I've had in several years. I grumbled about stopping at CVS for the second time in two days as I drove home from work. Last night I stopped to buy cough drops, thinking all I had was a bout of post nasal drip.

Oh, how wrong I was. I was so very wrong.

Last night I went to bed at 8:30, Kleenex box in one hand, and fell asleep with a snot rag in the other. I didn't sleep well at all last night, in spite of taking the last dose of Alka Seltzer Cold Tabs in my medicine cabinet.

I started blowing my nose almost immediately upon awakening. It continued even after I took the 12-hour Sudafed.

So far, I have gone through three boxes of Kleenex today.

I am not kidding.

So I stopped at CVS today, ready to stock up on cold supplies. This is where appreciating the little things comes in.

I bought the following supplies:

• one box of DayQuil, 12 tabs, $4.99 on sale (Yeah!)
• one box of NyQuil, 12 tabs, $4.99 on sale (Booyah!)
• 2 boxes of Kleenex anti-viral tissue: buy one, get one free (This made my freakin' day!)

So I drove home, happy with all my cold supply purchases. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed that the construction workers posted the Aldi sign at the main entrance. It's coming soon!!! That made me happy.

And as I drove up the hill to the condo, there was this gorgeous, pink sunset. Yeah, it's almost winter, and it's dark and gloomy, so this splash of color made me smile.

So now I am at home, with my feline nurses, who cuddled up to me in bed the whole night last night. Isn't it amazing how animals seem to know when their human companions are ill? They just gravitate towards them and really, really care for them. I'm going to make a pot of tea, curl up in bed, solve some crosswords, and then wait for the NyQuil to kick in.

And tomorrow, I'm making a fresh batch of chicken soup. I'm making a few new additions to it; I will post it tomorrow, if or when I have the energy.

Tea. Crosswords. Homemade chicken soup. The loving companionship of one's pets.

Yeah, I think I can appreciate the little things.