Gentle Reader,
It’s anarchy up in here. For the final Five Minute Friday of the year, Kate lets us choose our own word.
Madness, I tell you.
Go.
I didn’t plan to wake up Tuesday morning with a raging case of strep throat. It’s the time of year when everyone shares lovely little bugs, so I wasn’t particularly worried when my throat began to feel sore on Monday. Figured it was just a cold coming on.
So very wrong.
I can’t remember the last time I had strep. Came on nasty and fast. Low-grade fever, swollen glands, sore ears. Swallowing? Forget that. Chris found me hunkered over the commode in the predawn hour because…well, anything I catch makes me do that now. Pleasant.
The poor urgent care nurse. She tried to jam that uncut log they call a tongue depressor into my mouth. Nope. Not happening. On a good day I have the world’s fastest gag reflex. I kept pulling away from her. (Yes, I know I’m an adult who should practice self-control). She said she wasn’t even going to try anymore, that the doctor could deal with it. He just had me open wide and then said, “Yeah, lets get you some antibiotics.”
Penicillin is my friend and I want to marry lidocaine throat rinse.
Going into day four without a voice, though it’s been upgraded from a whisper to an annoying squeak. The medicine is working; there’s not much pain anymore. I’m beat. There’s a strong possibility that multiple naps will happen today.
Chris is out with a group of guy friends indulging in Star Wars: the Force Awakens 3-D glory. A few inches of snow covers the brown grass in freshness. Sky and rooftops and ground blend together in tones of gray-white. The heat is cranked up to 70 degrees. I’m cocooned in two heavy blankets, sucking on a gross herbal cough drop. Doggy nurses are attentive, though without thumbs they are more cute than helpful.
I may be sick, but I’m cozy. It’s quiet and comfortable here.
Like living in one of the houses tucked inside a snow globe.
Stop.
