The Cost of Illness (and a cheap alternative to fast food).

Monday will mark two weeks of being sick with a cold/congestion/sore throat/everything-but-the-sink. If you work in an office, having a cold only affects your coworkers. I waitress. My cold is seriously unsanitary in the workplace. Even with constant hand-washing, I'm sure some of my germs have been launched airborne.

I went home early today... again. That's the second time this week. I need to get better. I HAVE to get better. This is starting to cost me some serious dinero. By not working today, I lost out on 120 dollars in tips and seven to eight hours wage. Furthermore, this is affecting the income/expenses tracking I've been doing. I need to have a rough view of what I make each month. I don't get sick often. We're talking once a year, maybe twice if I'm unlucky. But, when I do, it's like my immunity system took a trip to hell.

On the upside, my houseowner's daughter needed someone to babysit her daughter last minute. She gave me twenty dollars for lunch and told me to keep the rest. Seven dollars got spent on lunch for the both of us (with leftovers) and the rest is going to go towards gas.

How did lunch end up that cheap? Well, the adorable little girl wanted chicken strips, fries and soda. Fast food is soooooo expensive. My alternative was the grocery store. We bought half a pound of chicken strips, half a pound of potato wedges and strawberries. We have juice at home, so we skipped the soda. I have never seen this child eat fruit or vegetables. She ate half of a chicken strip, one potato wedge and half the container of strawberries (mind you, this was a larger carton)! It was adorable to watch juice running down her chin while she bit into those succulent strawberries. The kid acted as though it was candy. Seven dollars bought lunch for the both of us and I have leftovers for tomorrow.