A Sick Day

My blintzes sweetened with homemade blueberry sauce.
There's nothing better for the holidays or for when you are sick!

Sam had a sick day today. He called his school last night and told them he needed one more day of rest. He had a real reason to miss classes this week.

My son made the right decision staying home. He is not contagious or anything but with his weakened immune system recovering from an invasion in the operating room, he would likely catch any germ the kids would sneeze in his direction.

"I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead!" -author unknown

I also had a sick day today. If I am retired, can I still call it a sick day? I thought once I stopped working that I would not get sick. Isn't it just another gift teachers get by working with drippy noses and coughs? All these years I blamed my head colds on the communal bucket of crayons the little ones reached for in art. Today I woke up with cold, even without that excuse.

Q: Does an apple a day keep the doctor away?
A: Only if you aim it well enough.

If I was not retired, I would have set my iPhone for 5:15 am, much too early for a body that needs its rest. There was no fever keeping me home, just a feeling of wooziness, a deep voice, and a thick head that felt way larger than my frizzy bed hair made it appear. I would have gone to school anyway. Instead, I got to lounge on my pillow an extra few hours this morning, climbing back into bed after letting the dog out. Just like in the commercial, "Dads don't take sick days, they take Nyquil." Same goes for moms of a Shih Tzu.

I should have known something was up. I never last on a fast, even when Yom Kippur dictates that as a thing. I never even skip breakfast. Today I had no desire to eat much. At least my fridge was filled with yummy leftovers from the holidays, making it easy to grab a bite without much fuss. Yesterday I dreamed up a recipe for a cheese blintze that this vegan could eat. Mine were not as pretty as the rest of the traditional blintzes but they were amazing.

My "uncheese" blintzes, a modern twist on traditional medicine

My gluten-free and egg-free crepes were made from oats so the outside was a bit darker than the others. Still, I loved them. Instead of a potato filling as I made last year, I created a homemade cheese out of cashew nuts! That sounds weird, I know, but for someone who can't have dairy, it was heaven. My blintzes made me feel Jewish yesterday and they helped me to feel better today. So while chicken soup feeds the soul of the rest of the world, I have to say that a forkful of anything homemade is perfect for a sick day. Food is the best medicine. That, and a day of rest.

If anyone would like to know my recipe, just ask. I'll type it out when my head clears and I can remember what I did!