The Way I Am
If you were falling, then I would catch you.
You need a light, I’d find a match.
Cuz I love the way you say good morning.
And you take me the way I am.
If you are chilly, here take my sweater.
Your head is aching, I’ll make it better.
Cuz I love the way you call me baby.
And you take me the way I am.
I’d buy you Rogaine if you start losing all your hair.
Sew on patches to all you tear.
Cuz I love you more than I could ever promise.
And you take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am.
–Ingrid Michaelson
I would like to take a “moement” from our regularly scheduled program to wish my dear freind Kate a very happy birthday. She has accomplished so very much in her time on this planet and I am so proud to count her among the people who are dearest to me. This is truly a day to celebrate…so happy you were BORN!
So, today I am actually feeling a whole lot better than I was feeling yesterday. I didn’t get much sleep last night but I could be sleep-saturated at this point seeing as how all I could do the first 2 days was saw z’s.
Now, I am stuck in this in-between phase where I am really motivated to get moving but too much action makes me hack and cough relentlessly. I mean, seriously, walking to the bathroom…the rush of air created by me moving through space and simultaneously inhaling was too much for my raw throat to handle and I began a coughing fit that threw out my neck and pulled a muscle under my ribcage.
So, in trying to recover, I flung myself on the sofa with my head pointed in the vapor trail created by the humidifier and within a minute Ally had curled up with me using my legs as her pillow and that just confirmed to me that I shouldn’t move…at least for the duration of her nap. 
Yeah. I just sneezed and she gave me an ugly look.
Ok, I have to get up and get something to eat which brings to mind the other problem. We have drained our grocery resources during our sickfest…and I, somehow for the second time in as many weeks, forgot my keys in Issa’s car and he is at work which leaves me with the option of trying to find nourishment in our cabinets. Right now, the contenders are a “meal replacement shake” and a pillsbury biscuit…..the downside of the biscuts are that I have to cook them which means I have to bend over and pull out the cookie sheet which undoubtedly will bring on a coughing fit…the downside to the shake is that it is made of milk…so, that will also bring on a coughing fit.
Oh man, its not like you want to hear this….so, I am going to go…
So it took me a while to go back to sleep but not quite as long as I had thought it would. Last time I looked at the clock it was seven something and I was finishing my last coughing bout…then at about 9:30 I woke up to find mysef draped over the arm of the sofa…in other words, I was on all fours with my arms underneath me on the arm of the sofa and my head danglig over the side. Apparently, in my sleep…I found this position to be the best for the drain-cough cycle…
Anyways, I think the fever has set in whereas before I was under the impression that I had bypassed this whole entire flu thing and just got a regular old run of the mill cold…however, after getting a couple of hours of solid sleep, I woke up and I was sweating profusly. I felt better, though…so I hopped up and got in the shower and realized that because I have been out of comission for a couple of days, there are somethings that really needed to get done….like she shower seriously needs a cleaning and laundry has piled up and we are all out of trash bags….so, I was in the shower and I was making all of these plans to get the laundry started and then run out to the grocery store and pick up some things and then come home and fold laundry and stuff. So, I got out of the shower and I put on my clothes and I went to work wiping down the sink and mirror and then–WOAH! You know when you stand up suddenly and you get a headrush and everything goes black and tingly for a second? Yeah. I had to sit down, right there…on the floor and wait for a second. I had about 20 minutes of total activity and I was spent. Now, I am sitting here and heat is rushing through me. Issa and I sound like dueling coughies….and the dogs are seriously taking advantage of the fact that we don’t have the energy to stop them from doing anything and so Erin has incinuated herself between us on the sofa and refuses to move…and Ally takes a break every now and then from finding one of our used tissues and turning it into confetti to get into a bag of her bones that she pulled off the table and help herself to another one despite the fact that she has six or seven strewn throughout the house.
I have no idea what I am going to do, the laundry just finished and my hair is still wet. I have to put the wet clothes in the dryer and do something about my hair but the idea of doing anything other than sitting here and staring at the lump of uneven stucco on the wall seems to be too much for me to handle.
Well, I don’t mean to complain. This is more a mini documentary of how horrible I feel so that I can truly appreciate NOT being sick.
So, after a rather restless night I find myself awake and wondering why they don’t manufacture these cold viruses to be better responded to by the over the counter cold medicines (hee hee hee). I have to say that the only thing the night cold medicine is doing for me is knocking me out and the real bummer is that by the time I wake up and realize that I need to take another dose so that I can get back to sleep, it is too late…the symptoms (choking, coughing, stuffy nose…) have already taken hold and I must sit and wait to become drowsy enough that the urge to cough is overpowered by the urge to sleep….further, I believe that I am burning a hole in my stomach with that wretched stuff…
Ugh, it’s 6:19…no, wait…6:20 and the sun is coming up. My cough has abaited and my eyelids are getting heavy but the suction in my face just won’t quit and I am afraid if I lay down that I wil choke on my own mucus factory…Ally and Erin are exchanging zzz’s and I am seriously jealous of my dogs who aren’t at risk for catching this terrible thing….my nose is red and raw from blowing and my lips are chapped from all my mouth-breathing–oops! make that chapped and split thanks to that sneeze just now….I fear I might be up for good…at least for a little while…but staring at this screen won’t help sleep come, so I am going to close…
I hope that today marks a day of feeling better….
So, dear hubby has been struggling mightily these last couple of days and while I was planning on this being a run of the mill cold….I seem to be wrong and the FLU has invaded my home. Poor thing. He is sweating bullets and shaking like a leaf…and this whole brush with the bonafide virus has made me reconsider my position on flu vaccines…not only because he is suffering so much but because he is bound to give it to me no matter how many times I wash my hands or disinfect the hard surfaces….no matter how many vitamin c tables I chew or orange juice I down….I know that the virulent stuff flowing through him is coming for me next….
So, all I can do for now is make sure that I clear my schedule for the next several days….because it doesn’t look like it is going to be pretty.
So maybe this song is a little played, but nothing better explains how I feel…today was just a bad day…
Where is the moment we needed the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
You tell me your blue skies fade to grey
You tell me your passion’s gone away
And I don’t need no carryin’ on
You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You’re faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life’s been way off line
You’re falling to pieces everytime
And I don’t need no carryin’ on
Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don’t need no carryin’ on
You had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day
(Oh.. Holiday..)
Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I’m not wrong (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeeeah)
So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You’ve seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
