Snuffaluffagus

My friend Kim is currently on the top of my hero list.

First of all, some background of why I needed a hero this week. I have been about 62% sick with something since last Sunday. I stayed home Monday afternoon and slept, thinking I'd just take some time to rest and kick whatever this is and be done with it. But it lingered. Sleepy, can't breathe out of my nose, ears popping from the pressure in my head kind of junk that goes around this time of year. Meanwhile I went to work faithfully, went to meetings Tuesday night, went to Youth Wednesday night and then there was yesterday. By about 4:00 I was so fed up with sneezing and sniffling at work and could not for the life of me find where the Schedule C I was trying to reconcile was off, so I just went home. Kim and Caleb were there, watching tv with Trent. I was dismayed as usual for anyone to see the usual messy state of our house, so I hung back in the den for a bit to get some laundry going and try to ward off the onslaught of tears that had been threatening since I left my cube and headed to my car. I had woken up still feeling like crap but had tried to compensate by dressing up in a stylish Ann Taylor outfit and wearing my highest of heels. Turns out being 5'11" for the day doesn't really help you breathe better out of your nose. Anyway. Kim wandered back to the den and sprung into action...after commenting that I looked nice and "had I lost weight?" (Maybe the dressing up did work a bit)

Here is why Kim is my hero:

a) she helped me attack my messy house yesterday and get a lot cleaned. I don't mind them seeing our house messy that much because they are like family and have been there too. But my parents are coming in this weekend to help my brother move out of his apartment. They are going to put some of his stuff here in our "spare room" until he finds a new apartment back home. So our house needs to be presentable.

PAUSE. I just got stung on the toe by a bee/wasp/evil stinging thing! Why is there a bee/wasp/evil stinging thing in our home office???? And now that our house is so clean I had to limp the entire length of it back to our bedroom where shoes belong to get a shoe to squish it. Stinging thing is now squished and flushed and I have ice on my toe. Except we are out of ziploc baggies so I made one out of siran wrap. I hope this sting doesn't turn into three days of swelling like my last bee sting did. UNPAUSE.

So Kim is my hero because she helped me clean my house. She is some kind of weirdo who likes doing things like that and this is not the first occasion she has done chores with me at my house for no reward. Eesh, eternal gratitude is oozing.

b) she took me back to her house with my crafting basket in tow and made me spagetti for dinner. Spagetti is a comfort food to me, one that I grew up loving every time mom made it, which was often, but I don't make it very much now because Trent doesn't really like it. So I gobbled that stuff up. She also made rice krispy treats. I might have eaten about half a 9 x 13 pyrex worth... Yumm.

c) she sat and knitted while I sat and knitted and vented about being worn out and sick and frazzled and we discussed plans for our craft market booths and Etsy accounts.

d) she sent me home with a ziploc baggie of Zyrtec, in case my current snuffaluffagus tendencies are due to allergies and advised me to invest in a bottle.

Trent picked me up on his way back from the Robinson junior high football game and I went to sleep still not able to breathe, but somehow refreshed.

This morning I stared at myself in the mirror for a good five minutes debating whether I should even go to work. I did, because that's what I do. I made it to about 10:00 am. Went back home, knew I should just sleep but had to finish cleaning the house. Did that, ate macaroni (another comfort food) then laid down feeling like I had overdone it. After a bit I literally didn't want to move. Trent brought me water and chapstick (having mouth breathing as one's only option for a week dries out one's lips) then I fell asleep for several hours. I was awakened by the sound of a jackhammer cutting a hole in the pavement right outside our bedroom and I had a bittersweet moment of realizing my slumber was no longer possible but that the pothole by our driveway would soon be fixed.

I am feeling much better now, though still tired. I am currently breathing out of my nose with only a sniffle here and there, which is much more than can be said for the rest of this week.

This has turned into a long sob story post and that is not my intention. I guess my point is that I am grateful for friends like Kim who are willing to pitch in to help me out and attempt to nurse me back to health and also that I need to remember to take time to take care of me. Meetings could have gone on without me, youth group could have gone on without me, my work will be there waiting for me the next day if I need to stay home sick. Earth to Anna, it is ok to take a whole sick day, that's what they are given to you for. Sometimes I run myself ragged trying to tag all the bases and be at all the places or even just achieve status quo. I don't have to do that all the time. I need to just chill sometimes. I made myself do that today (with the exception of finishing the housework). I slept, I knitted, I have blogged, and now I am going to go read.

P.S. My toe is ok I think.