Aches and Pains

On Fridays, our office goes out to lunch. Today, I was enjoying a nice bowl of minestrone at Orso in Berkeley when my cell phone rang. (I never give out my cell phone number, so when I do get a call I know it's important.) It was M, complaining that he didn't feel well. So, off I went to pick him up from school. He had chills and aches, so I made him a cup of tea, gave him some children's Tylenol, and let him sleep on the couch. After a 30-minute nap, he felt well enough to have some lunch. He's been lying on the couch ever since, with occasional forays into the kitchen, and a second dose of Tylenol at dinnertime.

Whenever anyone in our family is sick, I become obsessed with handwashing, to the point where my knuckles are usually cracked. I guess it's time to stock up on hand lotion again...

We also gave Otto a bath tonight. It wasn't on the schedule, but when I opened the garage door after dinner, something smelled horrible. Like rotting fruit. Like the pear I gave Otto a couple of days ago and forgot about. So, DH very kindly dragged the whole winter home (a grape bin, 48" x 48") outside and hosed it down, then carried Otto into the bathtub. I used the handheld shower to spray him down with warm water, and he actually seemed to like it! I then let him soak in the tub for a while--it helps tortoises to poop if you soak them, and we hadn't given Otto a bath for ages.