1. Like my former co-worker Steve, I never get sick.

That is an exaggeration of course. I am human (I know you all thought I was actually divine, right?) and therefore susceptible to disease. But I rarely get sick. I take no special immune-boosting vitamins, drink no cleansing teas, do not eat an all-natural diet. I'm just blessed with an extremely hard-working immune system, I suppose.

2. Now that I've got my bragging out of the way, I have to admit that right now I have a horrid sore throat, and a cough, and my voice is nearly non-existent today. It's somehow managing to be both squeaky and scratchy at the same time. If I can get any words out at all, I sound like a hard-core, life-long smoker. Or like Minnie Mouse. Maybe, Minnie Mouse after she realizes that Mickey never loved her in the first place and that big bow on her head looks ridiculous, and she kicks off her stupid high heels and spends the rest of her life sitting on her couch chain-smoking. That's how I sound right now.

3. While I may not have a voice, I am blessed with an amazing husband, and he got up with the baby when she cried at 5:30 a.m., and again at 6:30 a.m., and then made breakfast for everyone, and then walked Beth to school and took the younger ones with him, leaving me to sit alone at the table reading and eating still-warm made-from-scratch pancakes with real maple syrup and drinking hot coffee. I really love this man.

4. But then he left, because he does have this little thing called a job, and he kind of has to actually go do it in order to pay for the maple syrup and coffee and high-speed internet access that we enjoy around here. But, seeing as how I am a stay-at-home mom/freelancer and therefore I am my own boss, I declared to myself that I was taking a sick day today.

5. Of course, that doesn't mean that I get to stop changing diapers and making sandwiches. I wish. It does mean I'm going to ignore the nagging thoughts that I have actual articles I ought to be working on, because hey--how am I going to call and interview anyone, or even attempt to arrange an interview with anyone, when I can't even talk? Off the hook.

6. It does mean that instead of trying to do anything else productive today, I got dressed in comfy clothes: a big wool sweater that I stole from the back of my dad's closet at age 15 and now keep in the back of my own closet for days like today, and warm, fuzzy socks. And pants. I am wearing pants. And I have no intention of doing anything today other than drinking tea and finding non-strenuous ways of entertaining my children.

7. I am hoping that taking a sick day will do miraculous things and heal me quickly. Because I think that if I do this a whole bunch of days in a row, my house will implode under the weight of all the accumulated laundry and dishes in the sink. Also, I think there's a name for people who just lay around and never do anything all day, and that word is: lazy. But right now, my kids are asleep, the house is peaceful, my book is interesting, and my tea feels good on my throat.

I might need to start getting sick more often.

More quick takes at Conversion Diary.