I suppose it was too good to last, this avoidance of colds and sinus infections and all the joy that comes therein. With the way the weather has been swinging from cold to hot and then back again these past few weeks, the unseasonably late rain storms, and the resulting rapid growth and release of all manner of new pollens and allergens in the air to assault those of us sensitive to them, it was probably only a matter of time. Monday I woke up with an odd sore throat that felt almost as if I’d been swallowing too hard. By Tuesday I was exhausted and achy – all the signs of having a fever – and my nose was stuffed up. Wednesday I went in to work for a few hours, hoping that the cold meds might keep this thing at bay long enough for me to get through the day, but then gave up and went home. Yesterday I didn’t even try to go in; instead I decided to just stay home and see if this thing might finally go away. These past few days I’ve mainly spent alternately napping, or shuffling listlessly around the house, counting down until I could take the next dose of over-the-counter cold meds and make all the annoying symptoms go away.

I was supposed to have today off as part of the new flex work program in our company, but after being gone so much earlier this week, and knowing how much work was piling up in my absence, I decided since I was feeling a little better I really should go in. Okay, and one of the main reasons I went to work today was because after sitting at home so long I was starting to go a little stir-crazy.

It’s frustrating, being exhausted and sick at home. There are a million and one little chores that I could be doing with all that free time, but simply shuffling downstairs to feed the cats wore me out. Yesterday I had a little more energy, so I camped out on the sofa downstairs and knit. I picked something fairly easy – an open mesh bag meant for farmer’s markets and other types of shopping - which had the added benefit of using up some yarn that’s been in my stash for quite some time. So I suppose that was at least vaguely productive.

It hasn't been all hacking and wheezing this week, though. Tuesday (which was before the worst of it hit) Richard and I met a lawyer in Davis and finally got the ball rolling on setting up wills and durable powers of attorney and advanced directives, establishing who would be the executor of our estate, and who is given responsibility for assessing whatever cats we might have at the time we both kick off to figure out who can be adopted and who should probably be put to sleep (that may sound harsh unless you knew some of our cats, since Zucchini, for example, is so terrified of everything and everyone that to try to put him in a shelter or another home would be cruel). We left with a bit of homework to do in terms of names and lists and that sort of thing, and it exhausted me completely, but I wasn’t willing to give up the appointment just for being sick. It’s something we’ve needed to do for quite some time, and even though it still isn’t done, at least we’re a lot closer than we were before.

I came home from work early today – but then so did everyone else in the office because I’m not the only one who’s lately been sick – and I can feel this settling in my sinuses. I am popping decongestants in the hope that I can stave off my yearly trip to the doctor for antibiotics, but I’m beginning to think this, too, is inevitable. I am doomed to suffer from a nasty bout of winter ick at least once a year, even if it had to wait until it wasn’t technically winter anymore to hit.