Happy 2014. Yes, it’s a week and a half into the new year and I am just now passing along my greeting. Why? Flu.

Bottom line: I had a flu shot but, for some reason, it didn’t protect me like it has all the years in the past…and all the years in the future. The last two weeks have taught me that I want to do EVERYTHING in my power to not get this again. This might be shocking, but I don’t care WHY I still got it, I do care that  no one in my family did.

Two weeks- really sick. Not the way I had planned to spend the kids’ winter break. When life got really busy, I’ve often thought, “Some day I’ll break my leg or get sick and then I’ll be forced to slow down. THAT is when I will (insert sedentary activity here…like uploading pictures to snapfish and creating albums, or work on our podcast Pinterest boards). Did I do any of that? No, I did not.

I slept.

And I woke up and whined on facebook.

And I slept some more.

I am married to a germaphobe of the highest order- he took good care of me and my germs by quarantining us in the master bedroom. He’s not much of a cook, so most of my meals looked like this.

Which was fine since I had very little appetite. Mostly I ate to shut up his nagging to eat. 

I saw high fevers and broke out in hives; I had to work hard to keep from getting dehydrated. I was a mess.

A mess, I tell you!

It sucked.

Sick bed selfie. The flu is not pretty.

But I’m lucky.

First off, the flu can kill or send you for a hospital stay. It’s no joke.

I had people to take care of me, and I didn’t have to be any place. My family does not rely on my income for the necessities of life. I wish I could say I took one for the Mom Team and got it for the women who don’t have that luxury, but that’s not how things work. What I DID do is keep the germs to myself. I followed the CDC suggestions to stop the spread to a T. No one in my family got it from me, and I didn’t spread it to anyone.

Of course it looks stupid, but it kept my germs away from people. (And fogged up my glasses)

It’s all I could do, and I am grateful that I could.

Now….back to 2014.  I have a theme. Admittedly it is crass and quite unlady like- but it has a certain simplistic honesty that appeals to me right now. This year is pedal to the metal- I want to see what I am capable of.  I want to toss my excuses and fears that hold me back down the crapper. If I’m heading down the wrong path for me, I want to know it. I’ve learned a lot from this path, but I have to find out if there is more. This year I want to find that out and the only way that I can is to work hard, smart and with purpose.