Rallying the Troops and Mustering the Cavalry...

"What do you need from the grocery store?" Charlie welcomely asked me tonight during the Coke and smoke ritual. "I know you have to be hungry."

I ate my last bowl of beefaroni and cereal this morning.

My father was riding shotgun on this venture. He is still coughing and carrying on in a sickly manner somewhat, but he is out and about. He actually worked this morning. Personally? If you have caught this junk, stay home and don't spread it around.

I made a simple and modest list of nutritional needs with pen and paper and gave it to Charlie -- mainly breakfast style comfort foods and lots of fruit juices with tons of vitamin C.

"Please get Maggie the True Instinct Smart Blend of Purina One dog food," I then urged and told Charlie. "That's her favorite variety and it doesn't have poultry by-product meal as the main ingredient."

I explained to Charlie what poultry by-product meal was and it is not a good thing. Basically, it is what is left of chicken after it has been processed for human consumption -- innards, bones, cartilage and all such, dried, ground up together into a meal and added to many pet foods.

I am still not quite up to snuff. I have a lot of chest congestion and a hacking, rattling cough. I've also been running a high fever for the past two days. It has taken my father over a week to get over this mess and he is still pretty sick. I hope it doesn't take that long for me. I literally drink a gallon of water a day as usual and as encouraged. I've cautiously taken a few over-the-counter flu remedies and they have helped some as well. I am popping cough drops like candy.

It hadn't been 30 minutes when Charlie and my father arrived back at my house. We all three got busy unloading all the groceries from the back of Charlie's Caprica. Charlie got me all kinds of treats that I didn't have on my list for which I was overjoyed. Lots of comfort foods and very interesting foods as well. I thanked Charlie profusely and gave him a big hug.