When real things happen to imaginary people

Apparently today is a day where I am too tired and in too much pain to stand for any length of time at my fancy standing desk.

(This was probably not helped by my stripping the bed, trundling up and down the basement stairs doing multiple loads of laundry, remaking the bed, emptying the dishwasher, and doing some other dishes by hand.)

Ow. Ow. Stupid flare-ups.

Let me tell you, I am TERRIBLE at being sick. I know that all I should be doing is reclining on the couch watching movies or reading (especially since things like, oh, sitting up and eating make me feel exhausted), but my traitorous brain is all "ooooooh, go upstairs to the Storage Heap Room o'Doom and get those two garments we realized we could put together to make a great new garment! You're just sitting there on the couch, you should be doing something!"

I am working on ignoring that part of my brain. But I feel fretful and fidgety, which is just a super combo to have with the flu, no really.

I'm making bone broth. (AKA stock.)

No, I don't think it will magically cure my various health issues. At this point, I don't think anything will really cure the health issues*, and that what I'm working toward is a (much!) better quality of remission and management. But I've read good things about it, good and reasonable things about it. And as an experiment, it's not the most difficult thing I could do. So. There's a bunch of beef marrow bones simmering away.




*Lyme, Babesia, multi-chemical sensitivity, and a host of things that are pretty much lumped under the "could be fibromialgia" label. Oh, and migraines. Let me tell you, the amount of meds and supplements I take daily is astonishing. And yes, I want a fancy leech jar to hold all the bottles.

I have managed to be upright and working TWO days in a row now! Thank G-D my job is work-from-home, but still! I had enough brain to do dayjob stuff!

Yeah, this flu that is going around? HORRIBLE. I am looking forward to a time when my ears don't pop and click every time I swallow or try to breath deeply. I'm also looking forward to not coughing all the damn time, but I've been told by folks who've already been through this that I'll be waiting a while on that.

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BATS DAY! Yes, I am going to Bats Day this year! Hotel & flights are booked, whoo! The Stroppy One is not going with me (he's not a huge Disney parks fan), so the StuntHusband is coming along. This will be HILARIOUS.

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Sooooo, I may have spent the evening unstitching the lining of a vintage purse to make it easier to sew the skeleton hand onto the front. What? Everyone needs hobbies.

Went to the doctor yesterday, got nasal spray (ugh), and a prescription for Z-pack.

Work up this morning feeling like all of my muscles and tendons had been tightened by 3 or 4 notches, then over-inflated. Aleve helped, as did going to the spa this evening with theda, but the pain is coming back. So I'm going to spend the time before bed soaking in a tub full of epsom salts. Maybe with some of staxxy's black bath salts, and scented with Practical Occultism from BPAL. While reading one of my "new" Avon Satanic Gothic paperbacks, because if I'm going to feel like I should be swilling laudanum, I'm going to take the cliches all the way.

Guess who's staying home sick for the second day in a row? A combination of looming migraine, what feels like a flare-up of the Epstein-Barr, and hellacious PMS means being upright for very long is Not Fun.

The joys of womanhood: it seems that nowadays I either get PMS that leaves me an emotional wreck and sobbing at everything, or that flattens me with cramps, exhaustion, and nausea. Send cupcakes, heating pads, and laudanum.

Guess who stayed home sick today?

Guess who emailed a co-worker who lives nearby to ask the favor of them dropping off my work laptop after work, because the chances of me going in tomorrow are low?

(Yes, yes, if I'm feeling this unwell, I should be taking tomorrow as a sick day, too. Ha. Not with our current work deadline AND the fact that I'm out part of next week for Steamcon.)

Ugh.

I don't have time to be fighting off a cold. Alas, I don't think my immune system is listening to my willpower. So much for the To Do list I had planned for today. Instead, I am bundled up on the couch and watching Mary Poppins.

Which leads me to ask, how do I forget EVERY TIME how much I loathe Dick Van Dyke in this movie? Especially considering the Stroppy One will rant about his loathing for that actor at the merest mention of the movie? Anyway, Dick Van Dyke's "performance" is the main reason I want to see a remake of the movie. However, Julie Andrews is perfect, and I can't imagine anyone improving her on her performance.

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Oh! My copy of Timeless, the last Parasol Protectorate book, arrived yesterday. I finished it last night, and loved it. I'm kind of sad this is the last book of the series, because there are plot developments I would LOVE to see more of.

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Ugh. I feel wretched. Send tea and cupcakes.

Yesterday I was knocked flat by ... something. A flare-up of the Lyme and its co-bugs? I don't know. I spent all of yesterday on the couch, shivering under a heavy blanket, feeling woozy, achy, and unable to think.

Today I feel slightly better. I'm not under heavy blankets right now, I'm not as woozy or achy, and I don't feel as fuzzily vacant as I did. Of course, I made my classic mistake of thinking I'M BETTER NOW, did a bunch of stuff, and then went "Oh. Whoops. Flopping on couch now." But I feel like I have enough brain to work on job-hunt emails and the novel, so it's progress of a sort.

I'm not sure what brought on this bout of sickly, because it's not like I've been doing a lot of stuff. But minim_calibre reminded me yesterday that hey, this is a month of really stressful emotions for me, which is probably causing this. Oh, right.

(Speaking of really stressful emotions, the off-and-on snow around here has been making me melancholy, because in the past snow meant a phone call from Mom, telling me to stop summoning the snow demons.)

What I really want right now is a butler, who will bring me tea, tasty gluten-free snacks, and perhaps laudanum. Why don't I have a butler, dammit?

Y'know how I was complaining yesterday about feeling awful. Today is worse. I feel like I am fighting off the flu combined with a couple weeks of insomnia. Neither of which is true, but that's what it feels like.

I know one of the causes: I've recently added another antibiotic to the medication regime, and that has spiked a herxheimer reaction. So I'm doing what I can to get the toxins out of my system. But understanding what is going on doesn't make it any easier.

I had two different birthday parties to attend today - that's not happening. I'm hoping I'll have enough energy to get some writing done tonight, or embroider more Cranky!Bloomers for next weekend's Mourning Market. But I'm trying to remind myself that I don't HAVE to do those things, and that rest is just as important as Getting Things Done. Let's see if I listen to myself, shall we?