Not a single one of my three children is dressed or left the premises for school and it is 9:06 a.m. on a Thursday morning. Sarah, who was supposed to be out the door first & in the car with me crawled into my bed at 7 and promptly asked me to rub her stomach. She didn't feel well and then shared that her science teacher just got over some horrible intestinal virus. Ten minutes later Jacob arrived, climbed in on the other side and announced he didn't feel well either with a whole host of ailments extending from a headache, to his throat and stomach. Neither one appeared feverish. Meanwhile, amazingly, James had made breakfast of scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast for Sarah but now that she is "too sick to eat anything!", he brought me her breakfast to eat in our bed. Comet jumped up on the end ever hopeful that the eggs will eventually be his. Well, it's not how I imagined this morning going at all. Welcome to my world. Nora has an excuse for being a layabout- her final is scheduled for noon and she has no other school obligations today. The snowing is falling in huge clumps and the house shows a few signs of life. I hear James stirring a spoon in a china cup, having a sip of something hot before he walks the dog. And thus the day begins.