When I get sick, I force myself to make one big batch of chicken noodle soup and that way, we both have dinner until I can get better and make something else. I usually cook almost every night, so when I'm out of commission, we both suffer gastronomically.

This couldn't have come at a more appropriate time for me as I am home sick today. Ugh.

Poor thing. So sorry.

Thankfully when I'm sick the hubby makes me soup and rents me movies. Staying home from school was the ultimate perk as a kid in my family!

one thing I can swear by is this stuff www.umcka.com...the minute I start feeling even slightly ill I start taking big doses of it and miraculously no cold...not sure about how it works for the flu but I rarely have either! check it out

oops that URL didn't work it is www.umcka.com

I'm home sick, too. Funny... I agree with everyone who says it's sort of pointless to scrub everything AFTER you're sick (because you're not going to give yourself the same cold), but I like to clean anyway. Somehow it acts as a marker between the gross days and back-to-normal.

Every year between Halloween & Thanksgiving I do a big illness stock-up. Lotiony tissue; maiitake and astragalus; canned soups; cold medicine of choice; bath salts: feeling prepared makes it so much easier.

And one thing I hate about a cold is how torn up and red my nose gets ... even when I'm using the "fancy" tissue (although that helps). Last winter, a coworker turned me onto using a zinc-heavy diaper rash cream on and around my nose! It totally soothes and brings down the redness. I like Boudreau's Butt Paste. Really, I'm being totally serious here. It makes me feel better that once I'm on the mend my sensitive skin isn't totally trashed for another week.

I keep a pen/pad handy and write down what meds I take. This is a trick I learned from a nurse about post-op care but I use it whenever I'm sick enough that I might not remember that I took something. This keeps me from taking too much of something or letting the dr. know what I've been taking.

I'm a bit bedridden this week after a bit of an accident and so far, what's been important to me is having flavored seltzer water nearby, my laptop, phone charger near my bed so I can just leave my phone plugged in and not worry about the battery dying, and something like a bag of cereal (Cheerios are the best) so I can nibble on food when I'm hungry.

What I take away from this post - those are nice sheets. really nice sheets.

i'm home sick too!

I like to keep Tamiflu on hand just in case it's the flu and not a cold. I like to have soup bases for chicken noodle and tomato soup, almond milk, soda crackers, sugared Coca Cola for nausea, along with Tylenol for fever, and clean sheets as often as possible.

My sympathies to all those who are sick. Chills and fever are the worst.

I make a crockpot full of egg drop soup. (It's very easy to make if you have chicken broth, eggs, cornstarch and fish sauce to hand.) Then I sip mugs of it off and on for a couple of hours. Gentle on the tummy, pure protein and really delicious.

Seconding the Boudreau's Butt Paste suggestion for rough scaly post-sneezing nose!

A hot toddy before bed is a must!

I make sure I shower, even when I have the flu, because nothing is worse than sick pajamas. And change the sheets if I can (good reason to stay on top of sheet laundry). And then beg my husband to stay home with the kids so I can crawl into bed and sleep!

Source for that bedding, please? It's gorgeous!

I enjoy just not having to do anything...so what if the house gets messy....you'll clean it up when you are feeling better. I will say that I do insist on taking a hot shower though, because it helps open up my sinuses so I can breathe better, and it makes me feel a little better to be clean and out of dirty, sweaty PJ's.

I'm really sorry to hear everyone is feeling so bad!

My advice is go to bed, sleep as much as you can and DO NOT WORK if you don't have to. I wish everyone had that luxury. Unfortunately here in the US it IS a luxury.

Yes, please!

Lots of hot jasmine tea.
Double-Feature: Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Dirty Dancing (Jennifer Grey and wellness a spurious correlation?)

I just had my first cold as a new mom. What I did was wear a new disposable face mask every day for seven days (whenever I was near the baby), change my pillowcase daily, and change my bath towel every other day. I also kept hand sanitizer next to my bed and by my computer. I am so grateful that my baby and husband didn't get sick this time!