I have been home sick with aches/chills/fever/sore throat/congestion/etc. all week. I finally went to the doctor today and got some antibiotics since it appears whatever virus I had originally has become an upper respiratory infection of sorts. I'm hoping to go back to work tomorrow, which is kind of shocking, because I always think not going to work is better than going...but I've learned that, despite my previously held beliefs to the contrary, The Today Show is best viewed irregularly, my couch DOES get uncomfortable after a 72-hour sit-in, and my poor dog is exhausted from having to "nurse" me (basically, just check on me whenever I move, or stand, or groan in discomfort). A few other things I've learned:
No more "Quil"s
I will no longer be taking full doses of anything that ends in "Quil". NyQuil, DayQuil, knockoff generic DayQuil--that means you. I spent the first several hours this morning trying to get over the NyQuil-induced grogginess that lingered from the dose I took last night at 10. Then, I took DayQuil and spent the whole next SIX HOURS in a foggy, dizzy, almost-fainty haze--although I was not feverish or stuffy. But should I have to trade my ability to think coherently and stand steadily for clear nasal passages? No thanks.
I hate 'The View'
The View is a horrible show, and I don't want to listen to those ladies banter anymore. I do like Whoopi Goldberg for hosting in a sweatshirt yesterday.
Tea can be good
I don't really like tea. Not at all. Every so often I make a vow to try to start liking it because I know it's good for me and so many people swear by tea. But I always end up turning away from tea in the end, because it just doesn't taste good enough to be worth it. But, the combination of my intensely sore throat and the wonderful blend of tea my friend Janeen offered me last night may have finally done it--the tea was some sort of caffeine-free spearmint/peppermint/citrus/something and it was SO GOOD and wonderfully soothing. I even asked Brad to go buy me more last night. Once the sore throat goes the tea might too...but it stands a chance this time.
Staying home by yourself is boring
Maybe everyone else knows this already. I always look forward to time home alone, because I'm a private person and an introvert and time alone refreshes me. Plus, there are plenty of things I don't like trying to get done when other people are here. Like cleaning. Or eating things that contain vegetables. But when you're home alone and you are sick, that is a different story. I have been bored out of my brains, ready to blow up the TV and my couch, but unable to because of the aforementioned dizzy aches. I am ready to interact with the world again.
So tell me this: what are your favorite things to do when you're home sick? What kind of tea do you like, and what would you recommend for me? (note: I think I really like minty teas) What do you find lovable about Joy Behar?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
What am I doing?!
I am normally a pretty big fan of the snow, and I love it that Spokane has four distinct seasons--it's one of my favorite things about living here. But the weather is gray again today, and we got another inch of snow a couple of days ago, and the old snow still isn't gone yet but instead is constantly oscillating between melt and re-freeze. Yuck.
I have fallen three times in the last month, all on Wednesdays. The first time I can't really blame on the snow, although right now I would like to be able to. I was running on the treadmill at the gym and I wanted to adjust the fan. But I hate stopping and restarting the treadmill, so what I always do is lift myself up with my arms, put my feet on the edges of the treadmill so that they're no longer on the actual conveyor, and then jump off. No problem. Then I do whatever it is I got off for, like have a drink of water, tie my shoe, move a fan, etc., and jump back on the same way.
Well, I got off the treadmill without incident, and adjusted the fan, but then it was like my whole mind went completely blank (and stupid) and the next thing I remember, my foot is just inches away from stepping directly on the moving treadmill--I'm trying to get on it the same way I would if the conveyor were motionless. I had one split second to think, "What am I doing?! I am going to fall! This is so stupid!" and then I did. One foot down, one huge fall off the back of the treadmill, three undesirable spectators, and two huge gashes of skin missing. I didn't get very hurt, but I think I might get out of this with two nice scars. It must have looked so funny, because it really was just the stupidest thing in the world. It clearly wasn't a balance issue, a speed issue, or any of the other things that contribute to most falls off treadmills (and that, in fact, contributed when I fell off once before...), just pure unadulterated idiocy.
Two Wednesdays later, I fell in a parking lot after youth group. I was just walking to the car, not taking any foolish chances, and then I was lying on the ground. I think I escaped that one without a single scrape or injury though, and only had two witnesses that time.
But then...I fell when I was running last week. There's a foot bridge that goes over Hamilton and I run over it quite a bit. I was out for a run with someone I work with and two guys she is friends with who I don't really know. Going over this bridge right now means essentially running down a hill covered in a sheet of ice, so we had just slowed down to walk, and then, right at the very moment I started walking instead of running, down I went. Five witnesses this time: the three people I was running with, plus a homeless man WHO HAD ALSO FALLEN right there and was still lying on the ground, plus the EMT who was there to rescue him!
The fortunate thing for me is that I have been able to get back up on my feet and soldier on after each of my embarrassing falls, because the only thing that has been really hurt is my pride. I have seen other falls though...one particularly funny/tragic one about two weeks ago. A large middle-aged lady and what looked to be her much smaller but equally middle-aged spouse were crossing the street downtown, and they walked onto one of those vast sheets of ice that you can never get any traction on. So the lady goes down, and she's frantically reaching out to her husband to try to catch her balance, and she drags him down with her. So there they are, both lying flat on the sheet of ice He manages to get up, and he's trying to help her, but she can't move! And since she can't get her feet down on anything that's not icy, he starts DRAGGING her across the sheet of ice to a clearer part of the sidewalk. She didn't seem to be hurt at all so it was mostly just a tragically comedic moment for me...one I think I deserved after all of the fall-related entertainment I've been providing others with recently.
(Note: I've also fallen twice in Albertsons, but those falls weren't on Wednesdays and were more than a month ago so I'm not going to share those embarrassing details here.)
I have fallen three times in the last month, all on Wednesdays. The first time I can't really blame on the snow, although right now I would like to be able to. I was running on the treadmill at the gym and I wanted to adjust the fan. But I hate stopping and restarting the treadmill, so what I always do is lift myself up with my arms, put my feet on the edges of the treadmill so that they're no longer on the actual conveyor, and then jump off. No problem. Then I do whatever it is I got off for, like have a drink of water, tie my shoe, move a fan, etc., and jump back on the same way.
Well, I got off the treadmill without incident, and adjusted the fan, but then it was like my whole mind went completely blank (and stupid) and the next thing I remember, my foot is just inches away from stepping directly on the moving treadmill--I'm trying to get on it the same way I would if the conveyor were motionless. I had one split second to think, "What am I doing?! I am going to fall! This is so stupid!" and then I did. One foot down, one huge fall off the back of the treadmill, three undesirable spectators, and two huge gashes of skin missing. I didn't get very hurt, but I think I might get out of this with two nice scars. It must have looked so funny, because it really was just the stupidest thing in the world. It clearly wasn't a balance issue, a speed issue, or any of the other things that contribute to most falls off treadmills (and that, in fact, contributed when I fell off once before...), just pure unadulterated idiocy.
Two Wednesdays later, I fell in a parking lot after youth group. I was just walking to the car, not taking any foolish chances, and then I was lying on the ground. I think I escaped that one without a single scrape or injury though, and only had two witnesses that time.
But then...I fell when I was running last week. There's a foot bridge that goes over Hamilton and I run over it quite a bit. I was out for a run with someone I work with and two guys she is friends with who I don't really know. Going over this bridge right now means essentially running down a hill covered in a sheet of ice, so we had just slowed down to walk, and then, right at the very moment I started walking instead of running, down I went. Five witnesses this time: the three people I was running with, plus a homeless man WHO HAD ALSO FALLEN right there and was still lying on the ground, plus the EMT who was there to rescue him!
The fortunate thing for me is that I have been able to get back up on my feet and soldier on after each of my embarrassing falls, because the only thing that has been really hurt is my pride. I have seen other falls though...one particularly funny/tragic one about two weeks ago. A large middle-aged lady and what looked to be her much smaller but equally middle-aged spouse were crossing the street downtown, and they walked onto one of those vast sheets of ice that you can never get any traction on. So the lady goes down, and she's frantically reaching out to her husband to try to catch her balance, and she drags him down with her. So there they are, both lying flat on the sheet of ice He manages to get up, and he's trying to help her, but she can't move! And since she can't get her feet down on anything that's not icy, he starts DRAGGING her across the sheet of ice to a clearer part of the sidewalk. She didn't seem to be hurt at all so it was mostly just a tragically comedic moment for me...one I think I deserved after all of the fall-related entertainment I've been providing others with recently.
(Note: I've also fallen twice in Albertsons, but those falls weren't on Wednesdays and were more than a month ago so I'm not going to share those embarrassing details here.)
Saturday, February 09, 2008
caucus today
I am going to caucus today for the first time ever and I'm a little nervous about it! But excited. Obama '08, right everybody? I'm preparing myself by drinking about 12 cups of coffee. We had a sleepover at our house with Autumn and Ross last night and Brad made a whole bunch of coffee this morning, but no one drank much of it so I'm making up the difference. Also, I'm going to run to the caucus, which I think is funny. We're pretty much down to one car, which Brad has to take to work today, because Brad's red Nissan is lost, lost, lost in the snow--it's almost invisible, totally covered in snow, actually, and plowed in, and even if it wasn't it does not drive well in the icy, snowy winter at all. Our caucus location is only two miles away so running seemed like a good alternative mode of transportation. So there I will be at 1:00 today at Ferris High School, sweaty, jittery, and probably mildly to moderately confused. But excited about an election and a candidate for the first time in my life.
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