Red Hash Marks and other Good Things at the end of an otherwise sorta Mercury Retrograde Day

stumpCan I just rant for a minute? “Are you feeling better?” “I hope you feel better soon!” “Have you tried ginger/OTC-cold-med/whiskey for that cough?” I know that all of these people mean well but… I DO NOT FEEL ILL!!! I AM NOT SICK! I had a cold virus last week and my kick-*ss immune system fought it off. That’s what immune systems are designed to do when they are working properly, which mine seems to do.

I had one day of achy joints. That indicates low-grade fever and it was over a week ago. I did everything I normally do on a weekday that day *anyway* (including walk 8K steps before 7:00 AM) because I didn’t feel ill. The achy joints were gone the next day but I was tired enough that I left work 45 minutes early. After that I felt reeaaalllly good but the congestion set in. If I am not mistaken (and I may well be), doesn’t a lot of the coughing and runny nose stuff indicate that your immune system has kicked the dern virus to Timbuctoo and all of that snotty crapola is involved in getting rid of the virus? Or is that magical thinking?

Anyway, I continue to have intermittent coughing fits but every day is a little better and I was doing pretty well today and then… Dun dun dun… I took a sip of water… And it went down the wrong dern pipe… And I started choking… I was okay, I could breathe and say things like “CRAP”. But the dern choking kicked off a whole ‘nother round of coughing and people were all “are you all right?”, etc., etc. I was definitely all right except for the part where I was embarrassed about the choking and making all that noise and getting people worried. Jeebus. All I have to say is that you do *not* slodge five miles through varying depths of increasingly wet, slushy snow if your lungs are compromised in any way. I did that last Saturday. I coughed the entire time but I was still one of the pace setters. Channeling my old coot there.

Okay, I have had my say. I *love* all of the people who have bugged me about my lingering cough this week. They all mean well. I just wish they would 1) Do some research into cold viruses and symptoms and 2) Walk a mile or 10 in my shoes.

And then, at the end of the day, the people in my “row” at work were all talking and I said that my daughter was coming over to my house for dinner tonight. “Are you gonna cook? Do you cook?” Yadayadayada. I liked these questions much more than the ones about coughing and being “sick”. I told my work friends that 1) I cook most week nights 2) I love when my kids come over so I can cook for them 3) I am not a fancy cook 4) I didn’t know what I was gonna cook tonight (eggplant p and friends). When the conversation devolved (just a bit) into who should pay when parents and children go out to restaurants, I had the answer to that. The Commander and Grandroobly ALWAYS paid at restaurants up until, well, I was over 50 when Grandroobly died. We may have paid a few times in there but mostly that’s what they did. They had more money than we did (through diligent work and some sacrifice throughout their lives) and they loved taking care of their kids. The last couple years of The Commander’s life, we switched it up a bit. She could certainly still afford to pay but sometimes the mechanics of picking up the check were a bit beyond her. I (we) just took over. We could afford it by that time. One of my mantras is “pay it forward” and I do that whenever I get the chance.

I was gathering up my stuff to leave at that point and I gather that I am going to get some more red hash marks on Louie-Louii-ii-ii’s whiteboard (those are the good kind) for cooking dinner for my daughter. I’m not sure that I deserve those hash marks though. I love cooking dinner for my daughters.

Oh yeah, after a whole winter of wondering when the school district was gonna remove the bent-over chainlink fence pole that impeded the entrance to the north side of the woods, yesterday it was gone. And then this morning… Dun dun dun… Something else was different. I couldn’t figure it out at first and then I looked up and they have removed the big frickin’ tree stump, what was left of the tree that fell during the sleet storm last December. I’m not all that happy about the stump removal for various reasons (kids had made a “fort” out of it) but I am glad to have unfettered access to that side of the woods. What’s next? Stay tuned…

3 Responses to “Red Hash Marks and other Good Things at the end of an otherwise sorta Mercury Retrograde Day”

  1. Margaret Says:

    This is so familiar. My dad always pays when we go out, although I can well afford to pay. (my brother not so much) However, my parents have lots of money and LOVE treating us to dinner. We draw the line when it’s his birthday or Father’s Day! Glad you’re feeling better!!

  2. Sam Says:

    Charge on, KW! Don’t let stumps stump you, I always say (not).

  3. jane Says:

    you need to give your co-workers a little slack for asking if you’re alright. you are and you know it, but they’re just expressing some concern, regardless of their understanding the inner workings of the immune system. embrace the fact that they care enough to inquire! it might not be your comfort zone, but the opposite could be the case, which would be worse. you have interesting and interested co-workers — YAY!

    and I can attest to KW picking up the check. she declares me the ‘baby cousin’, and has bought many a drink and dinner for me at Oscar Tango — love you for that and so many more reasons!