Thanks everyone. Much better today but it couldn't have gotten worse LOL Nice to know that in a pinch they won't starve. Thanks for all offers to help. My bff did bring over some chicken soup on Monday night so that helped a lot too. I had no idea how much worse Tuesday was going to be, though. I'm going back to bed for a quick nap before everyone comes home from school. Wish they would eat PBJ sandwiches but none of them like them - not even for school lunches.

Two days before Newtown, we had a shooter at one of our local malls. Everyone I talk to is nervous to go out to the malls right now. I work for the State, and I worry about nuts coming into our building and firing off shots. There is a young man who claims to have a CCW and he allegedly drew a bead on the mall shooter, claims to have made eye contact but he didn't shoot because there were other people near by. Then the story goes on to say that after that the shooter killed himself. I say this is 'allegedly' because law enforcement has given some conflicting reports. Regardless, if he did or didn't, the mall is posted as a Gun Free Zone...so that didn't stop a CCW carrier. I don't think these assassins chose gun free zones for that reason, they go where they KNOW they're going to be able to cause mass casualties. Another thing I try to point out is that very, very few people posess the absolute control that a tactically trained person has. All these shooters wear body armor, therefore it'd require a sniper kill shot to the head to take them out. Good luck getting some weekend paper target shooter to make a shot like that, much less someone who rarely, if ever draws a weapon. We all like to think we will be in command if an emergency crisis occurs, but it's just not in our nature! Having to kill someone is not something the majority of citizens has ever had to comprehend in real time. And to have the ability to identify a danger and act? Yeah right. My very first instinct would be to take cover and run, get to a safe place and then, and only then, take offensive measures. I think everyone who thinks they should walk around with a gun on their person try this experiment. Go into a public place with a friend, one that is well populated. Instead of your gun, have a rubber band shooter or some other non-lethal 'gun'. Have your friend shout out KITTY CAT! and turn to point to a 3rd person who is wearing a clown wig and has a similar 'gun'. That person is a shooter. Now, whip out your 'gun' and 'shoot' the shooter. Of course, it's going to be at a random point in time, you're in on this...but you don't know when or where it'll happen. Now, lets time your reaction and see if you actually hit the target and/or were YOU or someone else hit. A non-lethal exercise to gauge just what a Dirty Harry you are. I hate that people need to have a gun in the home for protection, but in some cases it is needed, if you live in a rural area where law enforcement is far away. In that case, I'd certainly hope you have a couple of big, loud dogs as an early warning system. But if you have a gun in the home, why does it have to be a weapon capable of shooting more than 6 bullets at a time? Really, if you're in a situation where an intruder has a semi-auto-chances are you're already going to kiss your hind end goodbye.

noinwi, thanks. I couldn't sleep Saturday night. I did feel little feet walking across the bed as well as hearing the sweet sounds of kitty talk when the house was quite. I don't know if I believe in visits by those who have passed, but my mind was certainly on Peter. gssh, I am so sorry about your cat as well as the heartbreak and pain you went through. Yes, our time was precious, I hope yours was, too. Sally, thank you. I appreciate every word of advice, and I tried just about everything. I must say the chicken wings and sauteed liver were mouthwatering to my dog, lol. Judy

This year I've been sick more than anytime in my life. I'm working on my third cold, and had a stomach virus in between. I'm guessing that for the first time in several years, I'm exposed because my grandson is living with us, and he's in Kindergarten this year, and he's been real good at sharing. For the first cold, I was very careful, didn't cook, didn't clean, (the only thing good about being sick!) but it didn't do much good. Now, I'm still being careful, but not nearly as worried as I was at first, because as was pointed out, everyone got sick with the colds, anyway. DH gets a flu shot every year provided free by the city. He works at the library, so he's exposed to tons of germs. He's the only one in the family that didn't get the stomach virus. Jessy, if you have a chronic cough, please, if you haven't already, get it checked out thoroughly. Sally