The week before we left for vacation was the week that all three children came down with strep. Out of an abundance of caution, Tim and I both had ourselves checked out as well, but our tests came back negative. So we arrived at the great grandparents house no longer contagious, but antibiotics in hand.

Much to my dismay, C woke up the following morning saying that she did not feel very well. And over the course of the morning she started running a low grade fever. I gave her some Tylenol and she took a nap. While she slept, Tim took the boys out to the lake, and I stayed behind at the house to keep an eye on her. It gave me the perfect opportunity to break out a book that I have been trying to work my way through for the past TWO years!! I had actually picked it up at a grocery store two summers ago when we were visiting the great grandparents, having seen it on the shelf of summer reads. The authors rank among my favorite contemporaries and I always enjoy their novels.

Sitting on the bed in the basement, listening to my sweet girl’s deep breathing, I flipped to the dog eared page of my book. As I started to read, I soon discovered that my mind couldn’t place the characters and the events, so I decided to start from the beginning. I got some good reading in while my dear girl slept and when she woke up she said she felt better and begged to go swimming. She did great, but by that evening her fever was pretty high and she was feeling rather rotten. She slept in the next morning, battled the fever for a few hours and then it was gone. I was so thankful no one else got it, and it didn’t interrupt our vacation too much.

We are home now and I am still plowing through my book. The big kids stayed with my parents, and as I laid Baby E down to sleep tonight he said he was scared, so I let him curl up on the floor by my feet as I sat in a rocking chair and read in my book. It didn’t take long and he was out, leaving me with a few moments of peace to enjoy my adventure.

I used to read ALL the time, but there isn’t time for it much anymore. I still love books. I enjoy holding them in my hands, feeling the pages between my fingers, and smelling the mix of paper and ink as my mind races to keep up with the characters. Hopefully it won’t take me another two years to finish this one up! 🙂