Despite my hoping otherwise, this damn winter cold (which has definitely become more than just a stupid cold) has simply gotten worse instead of better. Today we were supposed to go to the in-laws for the traditional Christmas Eve stocking stuffer and present exchange. But when I woke up this morning I could not breathe out of my nose at all, and the pressure behind both ears was so bad my eyes were tearing constantly and I could not make them stop, and oh, did I mention the occasional coughing fits so bad that I felt as if I was going to throw up?

Richard wins points for being the nicest, most wonderful husband this week for a lot of reasons, not the least of which for quietly supporting me in my knitting-induced panic of trying to get several very complicated projects done by Christmas, and by being willing to wrap every single present so I wouldn't have to worry about them. Today he called the pharmacy and went off to find some cough suppressant for me so at least that would be taken care of, and he volunteered several times to stay home because I was feeling so horrid. But I figured it did not make sense for both of us to miss out on all the fun, and I really wanted him to be able to go spend time with his family, because they are very cool people. So he headed off to San Jose and I stayed home. At some point I decided that enough was enough and that a week of this damn thing was long enough, so I called the urgent care clinic and by some miracle they had one appointment left. My parents very nicely drove me because I wasn't sure how well I'd drive, what with the wheezing and the hacking and the involuntary weeping and all.

The doctor took one look at the notes on my chart from the nurse who took me to the little room, and said "oh, I see you have what everyone else has". And then he peered into my nose and my ears and poked at my head and declared that not only do I have a sinus infection, I *also* have an ear infection. This earned me a prescription for Zithromax, which we went and picked up immediately. And my dad also very nicely volunteered to cover me for the late service tonight, since I was originally supposed to play the piano for the service, but came to the realization that this just wasn't going to work. I do not even want to try to imagine how hellish it would have been to also have tried to play the recorder when both ears are so pressurized that I can hear my own heartbeat every time it thuds, and every other noise sounds as if it is coming at me down a tunnel.

Richard came home after dinner, bearing a pile of all my stocking stuffers and presents from his family. A little while later, our friend stopped by, since he was going to crash at our house for the night, on his way from school to wherever it was he was going to end up for Christmas. Since I'd finally managed to get a little sleep (something I've not gotten the past few days, thank you stupid winter ick) I was able to come down and be social for a short period of time, and also open my presents. There were some wonderful things, including a small pile of sock yarn (yay!) and two gorgeous nightshirts and a knitting-themed murder mystery, which I am looking forward to reading, and even two crinkly catnip-filled toys that the cats decided were quite possibly some of the coolest things ever.

Now they are sitting downstairs talking about gaming and animation things. The cats are lolling around, a little stoned from the catnip. In a little bit I will get back to the knitting because I am determined to have these things done by Christmas, and not even the combination of a sinus infection and an ear infection is going to stand in my way.

Happy Holidailies