What do you do when you’re sick?

I find that with a decreased amount of energy and having headaches, I don’t desire to do much.  I gravitate towards mindless activity such as watching some online tv episodes, watching movies, etc.  I don’t usually desire to read.  Or cook anything particularly labour intensive.  What easily results is vegetable soup or cereal and milk.

Some things I crave while being sick: ginger ale (we’ve got lots), my pillow.  I also kind of crave congee but I have no clue how to make it. Maybe I should pay a visit to the Chinese restaurant with the stairs to get some familiar food. Or T&T to get some grass jelly and chrysanthemum juice.

On the upside I’ve been bored enough to do some much-needed paperwork.  Reimbursements, health care forms, etc.  Hooray for money back!

Oh Man, I woke up with a headache which may be a fever and the stuffy nose and sore throat that I thought I had passed.  I do believe this is known as a forced day of rest.  And I don’t want to stay home, I would rather be on campus…

Seems like somehow I managed to deceive myself into thinking that I could have the same capacity right now as I did in October or November.  Wrong.  My capacity right now is almost zero.

Note to self, when I’m sick, try not to isolate myself too much but spend quality time with a few people I know very well.  When I’m sick, I tend to ignore anyone and everyone who aren’t involved in any of my tasks, and it can come across as if I’m, well, ignoring them.  However, they might think I’m ignoring them simply, when in fact all I really want to do at said time is to sleep and ingest Chinese cough syrup.

Also a note to self: after a Conference of high task activity and high social activity, do something intensely personal alone.  After Conference I did some skiing, but I also still need some alone time.  I haven’t had enough, and now it’s back to campus time.  Still need to have more time to process and recharge.

Final note to self: remember to thank everyone who have helped me tremendously through the past few weeks.

Last night felt like my throat (inside) was cut up.  I talked quite a bit more today.  I just realized that there are solutions to alleviate this, such as drinking more water, Fisherman’s Friend, Halls, and Nin Jiom Chuen Bei Pei Pa Goh.  Unfortunately it’s pretty hard to find the latter of that list.  I love that stuff.

Back in Toronto.  Lots of snow here.  Not quite what I would expect to be dumped on Ottawa regularly, but enough that the Zondervan got stuck on our street when I returned home.  However, that very night some plows came by and cleared our street.  Pretty fast eh?

So I drove for about 7 hours from Ottawa.  Usually it takes 5.  I was stuck behind a gang of highway plows for at least half an hour at one section after Kingston.  It made it safer, but much slower.  I would say the driving wasn’t too dangerous, just warrented caution.  Although I was driving straight into the storm, the roads weren’t covered in snow for the most part on the right lane.  The passing lane was a bit more treacherous.

Right about when I arrived home I started having a headache and as I went to bed early, I plunged into a fever.  Woke up midway through the night and popped some acetaminophen tablets.  I’ve been taking those every 4-6 hours since then.  I have never been a big proponent of pain-killers but the last time I was sick I refused to take drugs until a friend told me that the pain-killers will lower my core brain temperature and allow me to battle out the sickness quicker (I think that’s what it means!).

Went to a wedding for Elvin and Carol today, saw many supporters and friends, but didn’t really feel like had enough energy to engage much or even smile…. that part is a bummer.

I’ve slept most of the other hours of the day.  I’m quite determined that I get better soon so that I won’t be sick through these holidays and Winter Conference.