I came down with a cold last week. Or, should I say, I got clobbered by a Monster Cold that started skulking around on Wednesday, and made its full body assault over the weekend.
I went so far as to reach for the cold medicine. There were three different kinds of Thera-flu in my cabinet. Did I have a cold and flu, or just a cold? Was I ready for Maximum Strength? While I puzzled, the Cold turned up the bass in my head, turning a dull cottony ache into a pulsing, piercing throb.
Through the feverish haze, I remembered to check the expiration date. Every single package had expired in 2004. 2004! I've had a 4-year run without a Really Bad Cold, and this one was about to make up for lost time. The Tylenol Extra Strength was good till 2010, so I took two of those, tossed the Thera-flus and went to bed.
I have a bad habit of pretending like I’m not sick. Just power through it and it will go away. But there is a point where you have to concede defeat. Give into it, fully. You win, Cold, I’m going to bed, I’m not going outside, I’m canceling everything I was supposed to do, I will spend all day between the bed, the couch, and the kitchen table. I will forget all the things I was going to do today, and tomorrow, as long as it takes. Even though it’s almost Christmas, and my list included things like, Write Christmas Cards, Buy Christmas Tree, and Clean out the Guest Room before your Guest Arrives.
You win, Cold, I surrender.
The Cold was happy. It asserted its victory by keeping me in bed for another day. I was a pitiful rag in the mouth of the dog, tossed around by coughing fits, flung heartlessly back to the couch, sentenced to a rerun of The Charm School.
The next day, I checked my arsenal of cold-fighting weapons. Tea, check. Garlic, check. Toast, check. Orange juice, Vitamin C, Honey, check, check check. Advantage, Me.
No lemons, no cold-fighting medicine to speak of, no brandy. Serious advantage, Cold.
If it had been a different day, or a different cold, I would have walked to the store to make it more of a fair fight. But it snowed here over the weekend, the roads are wicked icy and we’re breaking records for how cold it is. So I stayed tucked in. The Cold snickered.
What the Cold didn’t know is that I have allies in the fight.
On Sunday my friend Kathy came over with lemons, cinnamon sticks, Daquil, Nyquil and a Christmas tree.
Not just any Christmas tree, the perfect Christmas tree, a 4-ft noble fir that fits on the table in the corner like it was born to be there.
She put on the lights (3 strands!) while I put a presto-log in the fireplace, and then she decorated the whole tree while I sat on the couch sipping tea, occasionally croaking an opinion. The Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.
The Cold and I have called a truce. I’m still on the couch, but I get to look at the tree. I’m having a good couple of hours, but I’m not going to say that out loud. I know who calls the shots.
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Yes, she's a great friend, P.F. I am lucky!
Stellaa, please do email the chicken soup (did you post a recipe on here for that once? I seem to remember...And yes I have a bad cough, so deep it surprises me. And scares the cats ;) Everyone who's had it says it's a ten-dayer (sigh). But that times out right for Christmas...
I'm sorry you are so sick with 'the thing' but I'm glad you have the kitties to keep your feet warm.
If you don't feel better tomorrow, the doctor is probably a good idea. Waiting in the office for an hour to have him tell you it's a virus will kill some time.
I did that 3 weeks ago.
And Gayle, you're right - I hardly ever take the stuff, and I remember buying it kindof recently, ha! The years are kind of flying by ;)
But I did have an hour in the waiting room to catch up on my petri-dish, germ-infected, sticky-paged People magazine reading.
(What I would really like from those sickrooms of yore is a doctor who would rush to my bedside - no matter if it's snowing! - take my temperature, give me something to make it better and promise to come back the next day.)
(I was also thinking this is exactly the same kind of cold that Jane Bennett must have had when she had to lay up at Mr. Bingley's, and over the course of her convalescence of course, they fell even more in love. Pity I'm in my own house ;)
Good news is, at least here in Texas, it doesn't last long. Get well soon, Donna, so you can enjoy the best of the season. You have a terrific friend.
Also love: "I was a pitiful rag in the mouth of the dog, tossed around by coughing fits..."
Melissa - thanks! I always remember that poem when I'm sick, so thought I'd toss it in with the mix. Glad you liked it, and the dog line...feeling a little less rag-like today....
Yes, they surely do ;) I was wondering about the expiration dates, would have taken the old stuff if I didn't have the Tylenol - but thought it might be like baking powder that you try to get away with and the cookies don't rise...anyway thanks for stopping by, stay healthy!
Monsieur! What a delightful surprise to find you here. A very merry Joyeux Noel to you, mon ami, I'm feeling much better already. Hurry back!