Friday, September 24, 2010

Boredom Is…

Being sick. Okay, in all fairness it’s not really being sick that defines boredom but rather the lack of options when one is. I guess it was my body’s way of saying ‘oh no, I think you had plenty of excitement last weekend down at the Jersey Shore to suffice for an entire week of laying around.’ So lay around I do.

This week we got back from our long weekend in New Jersey and all I brought back was some awesome arcade booty and a killer cold. Thanks for that New Jersey. I was already on the fence about you, so this just pushed me right over the edge.

Tuesday morning I woke up and just knew something was off. I could feel the first rumblings of a cough in the upper area of my chest and my head had a slight tinge of an ache way in the back recesses. But since I never stop, I plunked myself in front of my computer instead of on the sofa. Mistake number one.

Hey, I finished 9 chapters and got all the pictures from our trip edited so I was feeling pretty good. But as the day progressed my eyelids started getting heavier and so did my cough. I made myself tea and repeated the ‘I’m healthy’ mantra over and over but by dinner time I had to admit it -- I was sick.

So I should back up here and say that being sick just isn’t in my vocabulary. I have a pretty healthy immune system and because I generally try to eat well and get decent sleep every night I’m able to fight off whatever germs come my way, even if Matt caught it first. Sick baffles me and I start to consider just how I could have picked up this nasty viral bitch.

Perhaps it was the hotel room door swinging back and forth in the breeze even with the deadbolt on (in the most ghetto part of town mind you) that kept me up at night, causing lack of sleep so I wasn’t well rested. Maybe it was the 5 beers I drank in four hours at the local townie bar while watching the Patriots lose to the Jets (its $2 pints every day and all day at Riggers woo hoo!). Or maybe, just maybe, it was the very drunk, and very sad, birthday girl crying on my shoulder in the ladies room that brought on the germs.

Then again it could have been from playing skee ball for 2 hours in the arcade with all of those under ten germ machines (high score 340,000 in one game…I rule!). It wasn’t like I was carrying around a bottle of hand sanitizer that I used every time after I threw a ball. Mistake number two.

Regardless of where the little bugger found its way into my system, by Wednesday morning I was toast.

And because I don’t get sick often I’m really no good at it. Like, really no good. I set up my laptop table and a cup of chai tea and decided that if I couldn’t be at the computer, there was at least going to be a little work done on my book that day. I was on a roll from Tuesday and wanted to finish everything this week.

Insert hysterical laughter here.

I barely made it through one chapter. One chapter I’ll have to go back and re-edit again that is. I thought it was just my body that rebelled against me but my brain wasn’t functioning either. I couldn’t get clear enough to wrap my head around my characters so every word I wrote sounded stiff and forced, and that was exactly what I was trying to get rid of in the first place.

Between flushing out the fluids, downing cough medicine like it was the latest drink craze and stirring chicken soup, I was spent. With a sigh I closed my laptop and admitted defeat.

But my next move was unthinkable. Even I couldn’t believe I was doing it but I went to the free movies list in my cable provider’s ‘On Demand’ menu and started cherry picking the best of the best.

Insert sarcasm here.

I let myself watch such classics as Single White Female, Sister Act, and Jury Duty (that’s right, the one with Pauly Shore). And just when things looked like they couldn’t get any lower I thought ‘huh, I’ve never actually seen The Blue Lagoon…’

Oh yes, I definitely went there. And it was everything I knew it would be. Luckily Matt came home shortly after that and distracted me or who knows where my viewing lows might have gone. Not that I could talk to him or anything, every time I opened my mouth to say anything I went into a coughing fit.

Insert Matt’s glee that I shut up for five seconds, and he got an entire night of peace for once, here.

With all of the best bad movies already watched on Wednesday, on Thursday I decided to go with the House marathon. I was hopeful that maybe some patient would get a rare case of the common cold so I could heal myself and stop watching television all day.

No such luck. But it was nice to see that Mackenzie Astin and D.B. Sweeney are still working. The Facts of Life and The Cutting Edge were a long time ago after all.

Today is better, I’m not as snuffly or heavy-chested but even just the hour it’s taken to type this up has caused me to wear out a little (okay, a lot but I’m still in denial). So look, I gave you two good long days body, now its your turn to give back because if I don’t get out of this house and to my drum lesson today or Town(ie) Night fireworks in Arlington tonight I’m sure to go mad.

Seriously. Don’t make me pull out Encino Man, because I will.

9 comments:

Almost Precious said...

Sorry to hear you've been down with mankind's biggest nemesis ... the common cold. Of course whenever we personally have it, it no longer is just common. Sounds like maybe it's starting to go away, just take it easy and don't push it (cold have nasty tempers and have been known come back with vengeance). So drink lots of that chai tea, maybe curl up with a good book and forget about the boob-tube. Hope you're over this in record time. :)

Almost Precious said...

Can fingers catch a cold ? After reading what I just wrote, I'm sure that's not what I wrote. =O
Well when you get better you can edit it for me. LOL

Anonymous said...

Hope you are feeling much better, and could enjoy the fireworks.

Anonymous said...

Think good thoughts of sun for us this week. We are coming to Boston. The weather doesn't look the greatest!

Karen said...

Ugh - hope you're feeling better soon! I picked up germs when we went to Glacier a couple weeks ago and it kicked my butt. I'm still not 100% - it's so annoying!

Bridgete said...

Ugh. I really hardly ever get sick too. Well, at least, hardly ever the knock me on my ass kind of sick. I definitely catch colds here and there but I fight them off pretty quickly and I'm generally still functional through the whole thing. Ugh...I really hope you were able to make it to your drum lesson and enjoy the fireworks, and that you're feeling better! ♥

Judi FitzPatrick said...

Just got around to reading this. Glad you are feeling better.
Speaking of drum lessons, forgot to tell you Sue and I spoke with Gil at Townie Day, he said to say "hi" - so "hi"!
Talk soon.
Hugs, Mum

Jenn Flynn-Shon said...

Thanks for all the love gals! Yeah it was definitely the knock me on my ass kind of sick and I'm with you there Bridgete, rarely do I get that bad. And I suck as a patient because I feel a glimmer of hope so I get all excited & push myself too hard. So this time I just went with it. I don't think I'll turn on my TV for a week now though lol. Can't read when I'm sick, my nose runs too much, haha.

Anna I knew exactly what you meant, no worries heehee. Karen hope you feel better soon too! Joan I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but...um, have fun anyway. Thanks mum, have to call him to reschedule today, that's cool he was there!

Rosebud Collection said...

Now I want you to listen to me..vicks/socks on feet at night..if you have a cough..Crazy as it sounds..I have never seen anything work so well..someone told me this and I thought they were nuts..Well, I was wrong..it works!
When all else fails..call me..ahhh, I will be there..ha, ha..
xoxRosebud/Carolyn