take out da funk...pleeeeease

So. True story:

Two Saturdays ago, Brian came home (a couple hours later than planned) from a conference in Nashville. There was some doubt as to whether he would make it home, as there was a giant snowstorm making its way across the country and it was expected to hit Nashville about 12 hours before Brian's 5:30am flight. We didn't know if flights would be running that early in the morning after a big snow - which we all know the South is generally not equipped to handle.

He also wasn't sure if taxis and shuttles would be running at 4am, as there wasn't a way to predict the road conditions. But, it was imperative that he be home because he was being installed the next day. And you kinda need to be present to be installed...at least in the Presbyterian way of doing things, you do.

Someone suggested around maybe midnight (yeah, people were up then) that he go ahead to the airport, while taxis and shuttles were definitely still running. So he did. And what this meant was, he essentially pulled an all-nighter. And then he sat on a plane for 6 hours.

What does all that mean?

He came home sick. And a couple days later, I got sick.

Only, his sick went away in a couple days. Mine is STILL HERE and I'm going on day 9. I spent the majority of last week stuck on the couch, moaning and coughing and wishing I could breathe. Yesterday (Tuesday) and today I seem to be somewhat better - I can manage to care for the dogs (mostly) and I can breathe out of at least one nostril; my appetite is starting to show itself again, and I only cough a little bit. I can more or less function, as long as I get enough breaks. But I still feel pretty yucky.

The posts you saw last Wednesday and again on Monday were written days in advance - I had scheduled them over the weekend while Brian was away (and I wasn't sick!), and I was surprised both times a new post from me showed up in my reader. I have consumed more nyquil in the past week than I probably have in the entire span of my life prior (don't ask me about the fear I get every time I ingest it - how long is this crap going to stick around and screw things up, and there HAS to be something less bad for the body! I just don't have the energy to figure out what that might be.)

I would never describe myself as a 'healthy' person - especially after moving to Denver. I catch a new cold pretty much every time the season changes. I've been a little bit sick on and off since moving here - adjusting to the altitude and the new rhythm of life has not been easy for me and I've probably been 'sick' as much as I've been not-sick. It's been a long time since I was as sick as I am now, though. I had the flu once, senior year in college and I missed about 4 days of classes. So that was...5 years ago. (I AM SO OLD.) And I'll get some nasty bronchitis every other year or so, usually between February and May, but nothing to take me down for more than a week.

My nose is raw. My chest and back are sore from coughing and sniffing. I have a major dehydration headache, despite pumping the fluids nonstop. I can only focus my eyes for a minute or so before I have to rest them (I've been writing this post for 40 minutes already). I've had nausea for days on account of all the mucous making its way down, despite my frequent blowing and hacking. The dogs have un-housetrained themselves because up until yesterday, I just don't have the energy to take them out every time they beckoned.

For some reason I feel the need to share this with you. Maybe I'm tired of being miserable by myself and I want some sympathy. Maybe this is an attempt to be open/honest with you. Maybe I just want to share what's really going on in my life right now. Or MAYBE I'm out of pre-written blog posts and I want to stick to the schedule but I have no brain power to write an interesting post!


Stay healthy, folks. The alternative is not fun.