Nathan's still sick. My stepdaughter also sick. John and I - so far, knock on wood, cross our fingers, whatever it takes - are still healthy and washing our hands like crazy (a la Suz). Enough with all of this sickness, it's time for spring! And at 6:30 a.m. today, a lovely cardinal agreed with me, woke me up in fact, singing a decidedly spring song, I had to think about where I was for a moment. A little sign, so sweet!

Nathan's not hungry for much of anything, but I figure the first thing he'll want is some sort of toast/bread/crackers, so I think I'll bake bread today (challah dough baked as rolls). Maybe he can help me out a bit. He is a bit b..o..r..e..d with hanging with his mommy, although grateful too. He got the chills from his fever right before bed last night, so I soaked him in a lovely, warm lavender bath (Thymes Ltd.), blew his hair dry on high heat (makes me sweat every time I attempt it to straighten my hair), and tucked a hot water bottle into his bed to warm it up before he climbed in. He was buried under fleece and down and fell asleep immediately. I knew he would wake up at some point sweating but for the time being he was finally comfortable. Not fun for him! Poor little guy!

My oh my, a nice little lunch (for me...). Chopped steak with onions and mushrooms (from last night) on a homemade roll. As John would say, kill. Reminded me a bit of the naughty little tenderloin sandwiches at Ike's. Or the FAB brisket sandwiches at Maverick's, OMG, they are insanely decadent. Good (great) for takeout but amazing when you eat in, with their crinkle-cut diner fries, and/or onion rings. Nothin' fancy, but so damn good. Nathan (when he's healthy) loves Ike's, the burger. It is pretty incredible. Makes me think of when he was a baby, first learning to talk, I've got him on video, in his bath, saying, "Food." That's it, just "food." Hilarious. That's my boy! I hope he feels better soon...

Basically ate alone again tonight - awww... Couldn't wait for John, who will be home soon, and little Nate just wasn't into eating much. After a lovely, hot shower, I made roasted chicken, spicy beans, rice, and an avocado/tomato/onion relish (recipes for chicken and beans are at right, relish is in comments). Delicious, nutritious, and super-easy. Good combo, ha! Nathan had a few tablespoons of rice with beans and a couple of bites of chicken, but that's all. And I think John's going to skip the chicken and go for the same chopped beef sandwich I had for lunch! So I'll be having chicken, rice, beans, and avocado for lunch tomorrow as well. (I had bought the chicken thinking we were having our usual Wednesday night - both kids. As sometimes happens, ha, that plan fell apart, and I didn't feel like freezing the chicken, so I went for it. Can't say I've ever roasted an entire chicken for myself before, but I'm happy that I did.)