Friday Blog 49: Sick

Been sick for a week, it's been pretty great

I didn’t feel great going into my story telling show on Friday. This isn’t uncommon on show days though. There’s stress from being both host and one of the producers/promoters, magnified this time around because getting people to a show on a Holiday weekend proved difficult and we were doubling, maybe tripling our efforts in the final two weeks leading up to this night.

The show went well. I forgot a pretty important detail in one of the stories I told, but it didn’t stop the conclusion from hitting the way it was meant to. I felt hotter than usual in my wool suit, and I don’t mean sexy. I was sweating and by the time I got home I was ready to collapse onto the couch. I ate a bowl of cereal and watched an episode of That 70s Show (my post show ritual). I went to bed, and I woke up sick.

I had a dry cough and a fever and I was exhausted. After working so hard to make the show go, it was almost a relief to have this excuse to stay in my pajamas the next day. I’ve gotten so many colds in the last year. The only time I remember being sick this often is when my daughter first started school. I’m incredibly depressed at the state of the world, made worse by the fact that we democratically chose it. It’s infuriating on a global level, but also on a very personal level. We worry about losing our healthcare. We worry about our daughter having access to a quality education. It makes you just want to stay in bed for four years.

I got to stay in bed for a large part of a week. I drove my daughter to and from school, but other than that I stayed home. I watched TV, and read, and wrote, and coughed. There’s something pleasantly nostalgic about the rituals of being sick. The daytime TV watching, eating soup, taking extra steamy showers. Its like a vacation with no pressure to have any adventures.

Maybe I should occasionally give myself a week like this before I get sick. Maybe this is my body just making me stop and take a break. Or maybe I got a virus and it made my immune system freak out. I’m starting to feel better. I have a show tomorrow.

Oh, and being sick meant I had to put my colonoscopy off until September. Hopefully I still have medical insurance then.

Have a good weekend. I hope you’re healthy, but if not, have some soup, take lots of naps, watch some TV in the middle of the day.