on the upswing

I was ready to write a lovely post yesterday about how I went home on Monday night and crawled into bed at 9:40pm and didn't wake up until 8:45am and how much better I felt, and then I had insomnia last night and didn't get a wink of sleep. Sigh. I AM feeling better, though, so hurray for that!

I went to the doctor yesterday and she said it looks like I had the misfortune of getting two viruses in a row. She doesn't think this is allergy related, and said it is typical for a person to get between 3 and 5 illnesses per year, so I am apparently not a sick magnet. Just to cover all our bases she did some bloodwork to make sure there are no underlying immune problems, since I was complaining about being sick all the time, but she thinks all is well on the health front. Phew.

I also discovered Advil Cold & Sinus medicine, which takes care of many of my aches and congestion complaints without the woozy feeling. I heart Advil.

Josh has requested that I detail for everyone all of the lovely things he did for me this weekend while I was sick, to combat his image as a lunch mooch, and so I shall. He made me bagels with cream cheese at every request. He went to New England Soup Factory and bought me several containers of soup in different delicious flavors like tomato, butternut squash and ginger, and sweet potato and caramelized onions. YUM! He made me tea many many times, brought my pillows up and down the stairs, served all snacks and food on trays while I lay on the couch, dispensed many hugs and bounteous pity on my plight. He also rented several movies and didn't even complain when my choices were scary movies, even though he hates them. He baked a pizza and then didn't say a word when I wouldn't eat it. He was, in short, an excellent sick nurse throughout the weekend and into this week.

Josh even prepared gourmet lunches for us over the past three days! Monday he put together the portabello chipotle sandwich* I told all of you about- delicious! Tuesday I had artichoke risotto- fancy! And today, I have vegetable pad thai! All made by him! The risotto and pad thai are from a kit, but who cares! I am very impressed and may start complimenting him at random to see if this keeps up.

Thanks for all of your well-wishes, and here's hoping that I have reached my quota of illnesses for this fall. I am TIRED of being sick and tomorrow morning I am set to go out of town for work. No fun when you are not feeling well. I need to enjoy all trips to New York, and I need a full appetite in order to shovel in all the cupcakes I can get.

And, of course, I need to start preparing for Halloween! I only have a month and a half left!!!
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* Unofficial Chipotle Portabello Recipe

Preparation for the Portabello Mushrooms:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Take portabello mushrooms, slice into half to 3/4 inch slices.
Place mushroom slices on a baking sheet.
Crush one clove of garlic into 2 tablespoons of olive oil
Brush mushrooms with the garlic/olive oil mixture.
Bake mushrooms 4-8 minutes on each side, turning over halfway through (for a total of 8-16 minutes depending on how you prefer your mushrooms cooked)

Sandwich Preparations
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I found this in the Mexican food aisle at our grocery store)
Lettuce
Tomato
Red Onions
Mild cheese (mozzarella was our choice)
Italian bread or other roll type bread

Mix the mayonnaise, lime or lemon juice and one or two tablespoons of adobo sauce and chipotles together. We had to chop the peppers into tiny pieces because WOOOHOOO it is spicy. Spread on the bread, arrange the lettuce, tomato, red onions and mild cheese on the bread, top with the finished portabello mushrooms.

Enjoy!