#2901 the summer cold monster strikes

the summer cold monster attacks

 

Friends, I have had a rough week. It seems I cannot escape the summer cold monster. It will pick on other people, knocking them down for a day or so. I have had to contend with it for several days. My colds are kind of predictable in their story arc, so that's a sort of  gift, I guess, because at least I know where I am in the progression.

Monday afternoon, MT and I went on a hike - more of an easy nature walk for him, but a straight hike for me - and it was fine. The weather was good, and I felt great before, during and after. We picked up some food to bring home. I took a short nap, and went out to the deck to finally plant the flowers and to re-pot some starts I'd been rooting out for awhile. I watered the trees and felt pretty good about everything.

When I came inside to get ready for bed, I noticed my throat felt a little tight and kinda scratchy. I also had some slight pain in my lower back (summer cold signs one and two.) I decided the back pain was from bending over to pot the plants and the throat tightness was from being outside in the cooler evening air. I rubbed some Vicks on my neck and went to bed.

On Tuesday morning I felt a little rough. I took some DayQuil and went to work. I sneezed and blew my nose throughout the day, and said, "Yep, I'm catching a cold." I felt a tell-tale cold sore growing on my lip (signs three and four). That night I made dinner and went to bed by 8:30, loaded up with Nyquil

Sign five of the summer cold happened Tuesday night/Wednesday morning: leaky face. You know when fluids escape out of your nose and eyes and mouth (drool) and you have no control over any of it? Gross. Sometime in the night I'd taken another single capsule of NyQuil, so I was pretty out of it in the morning. Wednesday is a work-from-home day, so I texted my boss and told her I wasn't feeling well and I needed to sleep a bit longer before I logged on for work. I got up around 10:30, took a shower, and logged on at noon. It wasn't a good experience. I was having a hard time focusing, and I know I made at least one mistake (fixable, but still), and my eyelids weighed forty-two pounds each. I called it a day after a couple of hours and went to bed, sleeping from 2:00 - 6:00. I'm pretty sure we had some food that MT brought in. I think I talked to my sister, and I was back in bed by 8:30 or so. 

Thursday is a vague memory. I didn't go to work. I'm pretty sure I texted my boss sometime in the morning. I slept until 2:00 (14:00) - so that's what, 17 hours or so?  I showered - I just felt so gross - and drank some water, and maybe had some toast. I think I slept some more. I think there was food and more sleep. I don't remember. It's all a blur. I might have taken T to work.

Friday I did get up around 5:30. I knew I couldn't make it to the office, so I asked my boss if I could work from home, and she kindly agreed. I did manage to do quite a bit of work, and I think it was quality work, too. I took a nap when I logged off, then got up for some dinner, talked to my mom, then went back to bed.

Yesterday was Saturday. I was supposed to have a haircut, but I rescheduled the appointment, and cancelled all weekend plans. I slept until 2:00 (14:00) again. I ordered pizza, ate, then slept again. I woke up a couple hours later to sit on the couch for awhile. I actually stayed up quite awhile that time, so I knew that the monster was shrinking.

This morning I got up around 8:30. I'd called for a substitute docent at Red Butte - there was no way I'd make it three and a half hours up there today. I showered, got a chai latte from Dutch Bros and some donuts (been craving Krispy Kreme), and now I'm here at my desk. There is a very high possibility that I will nap within the next 10 minutes, but I have high hopes that I will be a medium-functioning human come Monday morning. 

With all of this sleeping, I haven't been awake or had the energy to write, draw, or even read very much. Thankfully, right now I can breathe through my nose with ease, I haven't been coughing as much my body feels fine. My head is still slightly fuzzy, though. 

Take care of yourselves!