Inauspicious

The new year has not gotten off to the best start here in Liz-land. All last week I had a bit of a sore throat. I had no fever so I just ignored it and took some ibuprofen, even though my skin and hair hurt as if I was running a fever. So on Thursday I finally wake up to discover that I do have a fever now, although only a little one. Still, I pop a couple pills and head to work anyway. Thank goodness Erica sent me home at 11:30 anyway because of our low numbers and the snow that was quickly piling up outside. And still I ignored the sore throat and fever. Alan and I went up to Waterbury for fondue, because I knew that there I would be allowed to act at least a little like a zombie. When we got home I slept badly, tossing and turning, waking up with my mouth so dry I actually had to consciously think about swallowing. Friday I wanted to go to the doctor and quite clearly needed to, but couldn’t because of the holiday. I took more drugs and after some wallowing in my misery for a while, we went to the mall. We didn’t stay long because I got very exhausted very quickly. But I did manage to return the stuff Ava’s mom gave me for Christmas (Sensual Amber from Bath & Body Works… so very not me it’s frightening). Another night of bad sleep, punctuated by frequent trips to the bathroom. I was drinking a lot of water and tea and soup all day, not to mention I needed water every time I woke up. I really should have gone to the clinic on Saturday, but did I? Of course not. Instead, like a suicidal fucking lunatic I took the train into New York and went to the Museum of Modern Art to see their Tim Burton exhibit. We got there a little early, so we also saw the Contemporary Galleries and most of Photography. Alan would’ve liked to see the whole museum, but I really couldn’t make it. I did manage to walk back to the train station. We had some lunch while we waited for our train, most of which I didn’t end up eating. I was hoping to go to the clinic before it closed, but for some reason our train hit some heavy traffic on the way back (seriously?) and we didn’t make it. When we got off the train, the cold hit me like a tidal wave. I started shivering and couldn’t stop. My body was so tensed up and shaking so hard it felt like I was having a seizure. I was crying. Turns out I was running a fever of 103. No wonder that cold seemed so extreme.

When Alan told his mom I was sick, she offered to drive to the airport in the morning. We could drive up to Waterbury that night and I could just be a passenger the next day and rest on the couch on Sunday. Unfortunately I couldn’t even manage that. Zach ended up coming down to get Alan that night, so unfortunately I lost my last few hours of Alan time and didn’t even have the ability to cry about it sufficiently because whenever I started crying I literally started choking. My tonsils are so swollen that they actually touch my uvula. I went to the clinic yesterday morning. Turns out I have tonsillitis and a mild ear infection. The quick strep culture was negative. So now I’m on cefadroxil, which I’d never heard of before. And fortunately my fever broke very early this morning. I woke up drenched in sweat. Yay! Obviously, I called out of work. I actually called out Sunday afternoon. I figured the sooner the better. So now I’m just all stuffed up. My throat hurts less, but is still very irritated, especially by any change in temperature or humidity. It also hurts to yawn or cry. I did manage to sleep for a whole night last night and only got up once to pee. Go me! And with all my medically necessary rest, I managed to read an entire book.

Lisa called this morning to check up on me. I really appreciate that she drove Alan to the airport, although I wish I could have done it. Then again, I wasn’t even sure I was going to make it to and from the walk-in clinic without incident, so Bradley was probably out of the question. And after four days of hardly eating anything, I finally have my appetite back, which is nice. Even sick people get tired of soup and tea.

I’m going to give my body another week of recovery before I head back to the gym. It’ll probably be a bit busier for a month or so while people are still all gung-ho about their resolutions. I’m not making any.

Alan’s graduation is only a month away. Lisa’s already made reservations for the hotel. I’m glad I didn’t have to think about that. One problem we’re all pretty much in agreement on is that Alan’s grandparents should NOT come. His grandfather is extremely heavy and has mobility issues. I’m also not sure they realize that the Army has no sense of humor. Lisa says she can see him walking up to a drill sergeant and asking why Alan hasn’t been promoted to general yet. Sadly enough, he probably would. Also, Lisa has offered to take herself, Kurt, and Zach off for a few hours so Alan and I can have alone time. We wouldn’t get that from the grandparents. I don’t think they’d understand why we wouldn’t want to hang out with them. And the fact is, they make Alan uncomfortable, and that’s not what he needs on such a big day. I’m also thinking of the fact that there’s going to be a lot of walking and neither of them is really up to it. I think I’ll let Lisa and Alan come up with some excuse though.

For now, I’m off. Back to work in the morning. I’m tired of working. It sucks. A few more months really. That’s not a lot. I’ve started stuffing money into our savings accounts and upping what I pay on our credit card balances. I should have them down quite a bit before May. I have some issues with Alan’s pay that need resolving, but I’ll call Sgt. Freeman when I can both talk and hear like a normal person again because he speaks very quietly on the phone… or maybe I just can’t hear over the phone as it is. TriCare has gone through for me, so yay for that. Now. Time for dinner and letter writing. ^_^

~Liz