Catching Up

Well, it's officially Autumn here in SW Idaho--I don't really pay attention to what the calendar says, equinoxes/solstices/whatnot; for me it's what the thermometer says, what the sky looks like, what the pollen, etc. is doing to my allergies. With the exception of a couple of days last week, the dying gasps of Summer '08, it's been Fall here for two weeks.

The last couple of years I've been very susceptible to whatever airborne diseases are flying around, so I took the bull by the horns this year, and when temps started diving, I started popping Vitamin C and Echinacea.

Fat lot of good that did me.

Last Wednesday, I got knocked flat by a common cold--I lost as much work due to it as I did my ureteroscopy and lithotripsy back in June. By Friday, I had to run to a doctor for relief--I was sure my coughing had done some damage to my ribs. He didn't think so, but my oxygen levels were low enough I got a nebulizer treatment, along with some steroids and an inhaler to keep me breathing properly til I can shake this. By that afternoon, Arnold and Samwise had likewise succumbed to the cold, and The Princess and Frodo sniffled a bit. Needless to say (yet, I'll do it anyway), Frodo's birthday festivities didn't end up looking like we'd planned them.

The Offspring and I didn't really begin to feel human again until Sunday evening--still not at 100% (in fact, as I write this, am a little worried that my coughing is going to wake the clients at work). TLomL somehow has remained healthy in the midst of us all--Vitamin C works for some people, apparently. Not only were Frodo's celebratory plans aborted, but so were our 12th Anniversary plans. Instead of me wining, dining and romancing my beloved on a quiet night--she was treated to me whining, hacking, and grousing.

Not even close to romantic, but it was real life--and we were together (not too close, lest I infect her). Romantic is nice, but real and together trump that any day.

Any hey, I should have little trouble topping this one when #13 rolls around, right?