Day 2: Extraordinary Sushi Kind of Day

Today was a laid back relaxing day filled with pedialyte, runny noses, and of course no sick day would be complete without watching a lot of tv. We watched a Little Princess, and Message in a Bottle amongst the many Dora the Explorer episodes. Rene had "sicks in her belly", that's what she says when her belly doesn't feel well. So, I gave into her request for pancakes for lunch. This was a first for me! I had never had pancakes for lunch before. And, believe it or not it was a bit of a challenge for me... I have a bit of O.C.D with somethings. I'm a very go with the flow type of person with a lot. However, when it comes to running my house, cleaning, and meals I can be a bit neurotic. I had to remind myself over and over again that the reason I was flipping a pancake at one o'clock in the afternoon instead of cutting an apple and making sandwiches was because I'm trying to do "new" things, and my children were sick. As I plated the pancakes, and dotted them with butter, I couldn't get over the fact that there was no aroma of coffee in the air. In fact I almost started a pot of double chocolate roast in order to put my mind at ease.

The girls being sick gave me a lot of free time today. So, I did something I hadn't done in years. I dug up two of my old year books, and cracked their spines for the first time, probably since Rene's birth. I then signed up for a myspace account, and one by one typed in the names of my old classmates. I was shocked to see how some people had turned out, sad about others, but happy for most! I also tried to look up a few distant family members, but had no luck. Apparently Rios is a popular last name in Texas!

So, today's big adventure was: drum roll please : SUSHI! First, let me say that I've never had any desire once so ever to touch the stuff let alone eat it! Mark picked it up on his way home from work. It didn't look appetizing at all sitting in it's little container with a clear plastic lid. But, I took a deep breathe and took a decent sized bite out of a piece of it. As I chewed the sushi my taste buds screamed for a glass of water! I swallowed it, took a gulp of water, and vowed to never eat sushi again! It was everything I thought it would be, GROSS! But, hey, now I can say I've tried it. And, Mark and I found out that our youngest, Steph, LOVES it! But, that's no surprise because that girl will eat anything! I'm not sure where she gets her stomach, it certainly isn't from me.

You know what? As I sit here and write about not liking sushi I realize how lucky I am to even be able to try it... I realize how lucky I am to be able to try what I want when I want... Money aside... My thoughts keep going back to the recent earthquake in Haiti. For some reason I've had an urge since yesterday to hop on a plane and go to Haiti with some sort of relief group. The recent quake took so much, that we're not even sure how much.. We don't know how many lives were lost, and how many lives are forever changed. Where will the survivors sleep? What will they eat? How long will it take for them to get their lives back on track? Here, I'm trying to do something new each day, when the people in Haiti are just trying to live each day. Really, there are people all over the world just trying to live. I mean, seriously, this is heavy stuff. Think about how lucky we all are! Anyone reading this obviously has access to a computer. Most likely you're sitting in a warm room, with a roof over your head, access to running water and food in your refrigerator. Do you know how lucky you are to have those things? I have a sponsor child, Sinovyo, we call her "Sinny", from South Africa. She has no father, no running water, no electricity, and is in poor health. I look at her picture and my heart bleeds for all the children, families, people in her situation, or in worse ones. I wish that everyone that has the capability to do something to help these people would. It doesn't have to be anything huge... After hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana I knew a woman that went to the Dollar Store and bought all the can openers she could find... Something so simple as a can opener could enrich some one's life in a way that we couldn't imagine. Anyway, we are all so lucky! Don't let your life fly by without ever feeling "lucky". If your life is boring, do something extraordinary! If you ever want a "new life", you can have it! We weren't placed on this earth to live boring lives! We were all placed here to do something amazing with it! So, go do it, and have an extraordinary kind of day!