Under the Weather

It is a clear, sunny day, and yet I feel less than sunny so I suppose "under the weather" is an appropriate term to use (even though I read online that this idiom actually originated with sailors who got seasick from standing under the "weather deck.)

I've been fighting a head cold and a fever for the past few days.  For the most part, it's been a losing battle except for when my old friend and ally, acetaminophen, steps in.  But even then, the victory is short-lived.

There are those types of people (like my mom) who can be "deathly" ill and still manage to uphold some semblance of productivity -- running errands, fixing dinner, doing laundry, etc.  Not me.  I'm the other type of person-- the type that immediately reverts into useless "baby" mode whenever I get sick.  This usually entails quarantining myself in bed with my PJs on, the TV at a constant drone in the background, my phone switched to "silent" mode, tissues and various water glasses multiplying around me, neglected piles of laundry and dirty dishes, mail accumulating in my mailbox... you get the picture.

I blame my mom for this.  She hopelessly spoiled us whenever we got sick.  We were excused of all chores, given prime placement on the couch and sole possession of the TV remote (big deal for a family of 8), covered in blankets with the heating pad, while she would run to the store to stock up on soup, jello, popsicles, pop, Gatorade, and crackers.  Oh how I miss my mom right now.

Patrick has been out of town this week, so I have been left to my own devices... which means certainly not going grocery shopping and finishing off a bag of Cheetos for dinner last night.  You know, there's nothing like the nutritive healing powers of Enriched Corn Meal, Cheese Seasoning, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Maltodextrin, Disodium Phosphate, Artificial Flavor (my favorite because it's so vague), MSG, and Artificial Color [Including Yellow 6].

I've also been obsessively checking my temperature-- not because I'm neurotic, but just because digital thermometers are fun.

Now I am faced with that age-old dilemma -- to continue taking fever-reducing medicine and risk throwing off my body's natural defenses or toughening it out while my brain still feels like it's being stomped upon by a herd of elephants?

Medicine it is.

Actually if anyone has good advice for curing fevers, I'd love to hear it.

oo,