The sniffles, coughs and bloody eye

One of the pitfalls of working in retail is that you are exposed to a lot of different germs. When you interact with that many people, 5 days a week, you are going to get sick. It's just a fact. And when you work with cash and interact with a lot of people, your chances of getting sick are higher. I am currently getting over my second cold this fall. I suspect that I never really got over my first cold so that is why this last one was worst then the first. I actually had to go to the doctor. Something that I avoid. Why go for just a cold? They can't do anything for that. Well, I popped a blood vessel in my eye so the doctor I went. I didn't go because I thought I needed to but everyone told me I had too. I have to admit it was a good thing because I do have an ear infection (Surprise!) and "yuckiness" in my lungs. My eye however is fine and will clear up on it's own. The other good thing about this visit, was I finally found a doctor in Brooklyn I really like. Dr. Azad was so nice and very warm. I really felt comfortable talking with her. So maybe, next time I get sick I won't need a blood vessel to pop to go the doctor.

In other news, I am watching Iowa vs. Michigan on TV. I miss watching my boys play. It's kind of funny. When I went to Iowa, I could have cared less about watching them play. I voluntarily worked on game days because they were the easiest days to work. We were dead during the game, giving us plenty of time to get work done that we normally get done on a Saturday but since leaving Iowa, I've become attach to the team. I guess it's one thing that keeps me connected to home. It's something that I still have in common with my friends who still live in Iowa. I know we have more in common then that but it's comforting to know that they are at home cheering on the Hawkeyes, while I am here. Iowa Alumni have a New York chapter that meets every Saturday in a bar in the upper east side to watch games. I have always wanted to go but didn't want to go alone. I haven't been able to convince anyone to go with me and I mostly have to work on Saturdays anyway. This Thanksgiving, with my Sister and Dad are in town, we are going to try to go for the Iowa-Nebraska game. I think that will be fun and get a chance to meet some fellow Iowans in New York. So, with that I say, Go Hawkeyes!!!

Sick

I'm not a very good sick person. I'll admit I am a wimp. I am very whiny and needed and feel like I am going to die. So, it goes without saying, I really hate being sick. Since Saturday, I have had a very bad cold or at least I think it was just a cold. I had a sore throat and stuffy nose. I was achy all over and very very tired. I think that was the worst thing was that I was just so exhausted but I couldn't sleep because I was always sneezing. I'm always been afraid of taking Tylenol PM or NyQuil or anything that is supposed to knock you out because what if something happened? What if there is a fire in my building and I slept through the alarm or a friend needed my help and I slept through the ring? Plus, after years of living in Iowa, where one has to sign away their life just to buy Sudafed, I have gotten used to just letting the virus taking it's course without drug interference. So, I didn't take anything. I called out Sunday and tried to sleep for most of the day. When I did get sleep it wasn't very good and had the weirdest dreams. I had to open on Monday. I still didn't feel very good but it's a such a hassle when the opener calls out. It just throws the whole day off. I figured I would go, do all the morning paperwork and deposit and sit in the back until noon when Lourdes, who was the mid, came in but as things happen. I wasn't the only one who wasn't feeling well. We had people call in late or had to leave early in the cafe. So, some of my cashiers had to be moved in the cafe to cover and I had to be at the registers to help ring. When Lourdes came in, I was sent to Lunch. My manager Laurie, is a saint, tried to move people around so I could leave and finally was able to get every where I covered so at around 2 I was able to leave. Thank You Laurie. I know that I could have lasted another two hours but I was so relieved to be able to come home because as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out. I got a solid five hours of sleep before I got out of bed to watch House. (I forgot that the President was having a press conference) So, I watched him for a bit before flipping the channel to the Westminster Kennel Club. I went back to bed after that I had another 14 hours sleep. I'm still feeling a little under the weather but I do feel better. The sleep is what I really needed. I have to close tonight and I have tomorrow off so I think I'm going to be ok. I just want to be able to breathe through my nose again!

It looks like I have falling back into old happens. I'll try to post more often. I really will try but you know me.

Not to be overly dramatic but I felt like I was going to die!

My ass got totally got kicked by some stupid microscopic virus. I had the flu and a cold and I was absolutely miserable. When you live in retail and are in constant contact with other sick humans and money (Money, is filthy ya'll.), you're going to get sick every now and then. It's prety inevitable but usually it isn't this bad or a least not for me. At first I thought I just had a cold. So, even though I felt pretty crappy, I went to work on Sunday. All week long, I felt it coming on but worked through it and hoped that it would just go away. Not to be. I was at work for about an hour and put up the white flag. I was supposed to close and I knew I wouldn't be able to make it 8 o'clock, let alone midnight! So, I went home. I stopped by CVS to get Sudafed (so cool to be able to buy cold medicine without having to sign your life away) and more kleenex and then went home. I tried to go to bed but with my nose constantly running it made it awfully difficult. I don't know when I eventually fell asleep but it was short lived. Around 5am is when the flu bug hit and Monday was spent between my bedroom and bathroom. I was really starting to get worried because even though I was trying to drink as much water I could so I didn't get dehydrated, pretty much everything I put in my body was coming back out (not to get to graphic). I don't have a doctor here so I wasn't exactly sure what to do. Make an appointment with whoever could get me in or is this something that you just go to the emergency room? and if that is the case, how long should I wait to go? So you can imagine how relieved I was that around dinner time, my stomach felt settled enough for me to eat and all was well again. Or at least better. I called out from work on Tuesday just because I was so exhausted from the previous days that it really was best for everyone if I just stayed home. I am better now. I'm still a little congested and still constantly blowing my nose but considering on where I was I'll take it.

So much for posting every day. Oh well, I did a lot better then I thought I would do. The reason why I didn't get around to posting something yesterday was I got sick. I knew I was coming down with something and as much as I tried to deny it, I still got sick. It really sucked because mom and I went to the Mall of America and I have been looking for it for like a month! On Thursday, when we got there, I was freezing! I think mom wanted to turn around right then and go home but I stuck it out. Yesterday morning, my throat killed me but I took some painkillers and I was good to go. I was fine for most of the morning but by the afternoon I was fading fast. I don't know how much actual Christmas shopping we did but we did have fun despite the sickness. I decided to call out sick from work today because I didn't think I would be able to make it through a whole day and as much as I hated given up a whole day of zone time I wouldn't have got that much done the way I felt last night and this morning. It was the right decision. Especially with Thanksgiving coming up and the Holiay season, I need to be at my best. I really needed the day off to sleep and rest. I spent the night at my parents house. Mittens, our cat, slept with me while we were watching movies. I really miss that. I'm still not a 100% but I feel a lot better now then I did this morning and a whole lot better then yesterday! I'm not really looking forward to going to work tomorrow but at least I won't be hacking and coughing all over the place. So, that's good.

Shopping!

I wouldn't normally be up this early on my day off but today and tomorrow are going to be busy days. In a little over an hour, I'm going to get my hair cut. Just a trim, you know to clean-up the ends and reshape my layers. It's amazing how fast hair grows. Mom is getting her hair highlighted after me and when she is done we are going Christmas shopping at the Mall of America. We are going to shop today and tomorrow and come home tomorrow night because I have to work on Saturday. We usually do our Christmas shopping at the beginning of November because it's a little less crowded then the week before Thanksgiving but pushed back out trip for someone we love, who ended not coming. That's ok. It's still be a lot of fun.

Yesterday, when I woke up, I had a sore throat and today is still hurts but not to bad. I really don't want to be sick. This is not the time to be sick. So, I have been stock piling on the vitamin C, so hopefully I won't get worse. *crosses fingers*