Hot Toddy

The best part of getting sick is the license to do nothing except lie around in a pool of self pity, surrounded by boxes of Puffs nose friendly tissues, the remote control and the softest, most comfortable pajamas on the planet. And, until a few years ago, the Road to Wellville was not complete without this special stuffed toy from childhood that was Gramma's interpretation of Humpty Dumpty - it was soft, well-used, well-loved and handmade. Excellent company for the Down and Out me. Somewhere in my early 30's I outgrew Humpty Dumpty, who in the meantime, graduated to treasure trunk status, and is awaiting to emerge upon the birth of our as of yet unconceived first child.

Now it's all about the hot toddies.

The American Lung Association says the traditional hot toddy, which includes your liquor of choice only serves to dehydrate you. Pffft. Dehydration. What do they know?

I was really looking forward to making a hot cup of tea and truly testing the myth that alcohol can 'kill' the germs - modernity be damned! But we're out of everything except a coffee liqueur, and a marsala cooking wine. Ummm, no thanks. We are also out of lemons. Things are not looking good.

However, necessity is the mother of invention, and my overlarge cup currently runneth over with hot Sleepytime Celestial Seasonings tea, two sticky but generous globs of honey and a lemon drop. Fragant, steamy and comforting. And supposedly nondehydrating. *Happy sigh.*