You know that scene in �Little Women� where Beth is dying and has not even the strength to hold a pen? Well, I�m not dying but I think I could play it well. I have the exhaustion part down perfectly. As Day-Hay told her father yesterday when he asked how I was, �I think she�s non-existent.� The good news? Well, I wasn�t as depressed as I thought I was on Thanksgiving.

I slept much of Thanksgiving. I thought I was depressed. No, actually, I knew I was depressed. I just couldn�t believe I was so depressed that I would keep hiding in sleep. I wasn�t. I have a case of the galloping crud. Headache, joint aches, sniffles....but mainly exhaustion, total exhaustion. Yesterday even sitting up on the couch seemed like too much work. I didn�t write because typing hurt and besides it required concentration I did not have.

Today I seem to be doing better. I�m upright and I can type. My head only aches�it doesn�t throb. I am energetic enough to get up to eat breakfast but I�m not pushing my luck. Mr. Philately graciously offered to take Kat for her blood test and a flu shot. Have I mentioned recently just how wonderful the man is?

Me, I�ll spend a quiet day at home. I don�t want to let this vacation go without doing something fun as a family but we are aiming for tomorrow. I�m not sure what we�ll do but we�ll do something. The girls have been wonderful�particularly Day-Hay who has pitched in and done laundry just because it needs doing.

So today I am grateful. I�m grateful that I can lift a pen�and even more so that I can type. I�m grateful that I have a wonderful husband and wonderful kids.

And if I�m really doing so much better, I�ll even be able to stay awake to enjoy them all.

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