Sickies ... again

The day after we returned from our long Thanksgiving trip my son woke up with a runny nose and grumpy as hell - a sure sign of a cold.  Grrrreeeeaaaaattttt.

I really shouldn't be that surprised.  We always come home from our So Cal trips with some sort of illness.  Between my two little germ vacuums (aka - kids) and being in a new place with a different schedule, messed-up sleep cycle, and a slightly skewed diet, it's always a recipe for sickie fun.

Surprisingly, my boy seems to be the only one really affected by this ick.  While he's had a runny nose, fever, and grumpy as hell, my daughter had one night of low-grade fever and grumpiness before returning to her cheerful self.  I've had that "fighting off something nasty" feeling on and off for the last few days - you know...the "tired / brainless / what was I don't again" feeling you get the day before some germs nails you to the ground - but nothing really major.  I'm crossing my fingers and praying that my diet is helping my immune system fight off the ick.  I can't afford, financially or psychologically, to be sick right now.

Of course, it doesn't help that it seemed everyone around here is sick too.  My usual Friday night dinner with friends was canceled last week, thanks to one getting over a sinus infection and the other coming down with the flu.  Everyone I see either has a runny nose or hacking up a lung.  Where did all the well people go???

So, until this ickiness leaves my house, I'm popping garlic pills (these helped in the past to keep colds from going into my sinuses and setting up camp for the winter), drinking lots of hot tea, and washing my hands as often as I can.  I know it's probably all for not (he is three after all...and we're still working on the "use kleenex not your hands!" idea) but I can dream, can't I?

Got any good tips for keeping away the ickies?  I'm all ears.  ;-)