Admitting to paranoia before I write this post, I begin.

I've been carrying around hand sanitizer for a few months hoping to avoid any flu germs that might be lurking around. I see them everywhere.

At our favorite breakfast place, a sneeze from across the restaurant sends my hand over my coffee cup. A blown nose in a department store repels me from any rack of blouses that person is searching through for her size. I haven't touched a restroom door for months, either shoving it open with my shoulder, waiting for some one to enter (which conceivably could take an hour or more) or using paper towels to grasp the handle. Last Sunday in church, after what we call the "meet and greet" which is as it sounds, a time to "welcome those around you," I quietly used the alcohol spray I carry.

My husband, ever the pragmatist, insists that a few germs are good for us, building up immunity for the really bad stuff.

I'll keep you posted on how flu season goes in our family. And that's what I'm thinking about.