In Sickness and in Health

Lots and lots of people are sick right now, including a couple people that are quite close to me, so I've had the chance to see and hear what they are going through. Basically all they can do is lay down huddled under some blankets and have someone else bring them what they need - food, drink, medicine, change the channel - you name it. 

And I caught myself, for a very brief moment - wishing I could be sick. Isn't that a horrible thought? No, no, no, I don't really want to get sick but what my irrational brain liked was the fact that their main goal is to look after themselves and to get better. Other people do what they can to help them with this goal and many people, such as employers, co-workers etc - leave them alone because they are sick. They get to just fixate on themselves and they are excused from everything else. 

I must find a way to take time to look after myself - without a horrible flu or nasty cold - because I always have something to do for someone else: plan and cook dinner, feed and walk the dog, get the mail, put out the garbage. Most days by the time I've done all these 'chores' I only have the energy to wash my face, brush my teeth and go to bed. 

Is there anything wrong with taking a 'sick day' from work to look after yourself as IF you were sick without actually having a flu or cold etc? 

Sniffles and Coughs

Remember when I told you that I had a cold and it was lasting longer than I thought? Well it took 3 weeks and remnants of it are still lingering! Wowza, that's a long time. At least it wasn't 6 months like my brother joked. But I'm grateful that I didn't get the flu that's going around, it sounds pretty nasty. Just before we left for our trip we had the flu vaccine. I found that this time the cold medicines didn't really work as well as they had in the past, but as the medical professionals say, there are 4 things that you need to get over a cold: fluids, rest, TLC, and time.

I'm very glad that I'm not sick for Christmas. When I was in high school and college, I used to get sick on the Christmas and Spring/Easter breaks. In fact I even had the flu for high school grad. Yes, that's right - while my classmates were out partying all night going from one house to another and staying up for the pancake breakfast, I was home sick. One of my girlfriends would phone me every couple of hours, to excitedly tell me where they were at, and to see if I could join them - I had to flu for at least 3 days and didn't leave the house. The effects of the flu started during the Grad dinner, and my poor parents had to drive to downtown Vancouver to come pick me up. Before they picked me up I was in the bathroom getting sick, a teacher made a snide comment to me saying something like "serves you right for drinking". But I hadn't had anything, I was 17 years old. The theory was that I had pushed myself so hard for finals and exams that when I finally had a break my body 'allowed' itself to get sick.

But I was always better so I could be the designated driver for New Years. I always seemed to "pick" the short straw - I swear my friends rigged it that way because I was the DD for 5 years in a row!

Wishing  you a  happy and healthy holiday season!

I am trying so hard -

- to get into the Christmas spirit. I'm quickly finishing some gifts and I have the lights on the house, and the radio is tuned to Christmas music at work during the day, but I just not quite ready to start decorating the house yet. I keep telling myself I'll do it on the weekend. Instead I keep looking at the shells we brought home and the brightly painted tchotchkes as I put away the bright swimsuits and flip flops and I just can't let go of the bright sandy beaches and the blue skies - maybe because a friend of mine is still down there and she emails me everyday telling me about the dolphins and the hot weather and....

(sigh)


Oh yes, and of course this dang cold is still hanging on. It's kinda hard to get in the mood when you're head's all full of crud.

"How long do cold last these days?"  I  asked my wise brother.
"Oh anywhere from a couple of days to six months" he tells me. What the what???!!! 6 months? I sure hope not. I'm into the second week of my cold and I'm about done with it, thank you very much! The only thing red and shiny around here is my nose!

And I really don't think anyone in my house is too eager for me to start the  Christmas baking when I'm blowing my nose and coughing - would you? I don't blame them one bit. Hey? Do you want to send me some homemade cookies?

How's your Christmas decorating and shopping going?