Caught the Crud :(

I have not been feeling so great this week.

It started Sunday evening....stuffy nose, headache, earache, feeling all around blah.

Got worse Monday...but I was still functioning.

Tuesday, I had to call in sick, maybe because instead of resting, I  worked most of my PTO day Monday. So much to do, so little time. At least that is what project management is telling us.

I did not actually take all of Tuesday off, either; I slept most of the morning then worked about 6 hrs.  After work, I turned into a couch potato. I read a little.  I surfed a little.  Thankfully, I came across this video  (laughter being the best medicine and  all):

Wednesday, I made it into the office.  And I made it home.  That was about it. I did not walk. But I did read.  In fact, I have read quite a bit this week. I have read two hard copy books, two kindle books, and two  downloaded PDFs.  I am appreciative of and thankful for the the two public library systems that I use the most.

        

Thursday I made it into the office and did pretty good in the morning.  But the day took its toll.  By 2:30 I was ready to head home.   I made myself a concoction of my favorite tea and honey and cinnamon.  Have I told you how thankful I am for the medicinal benefits of rum?  Yeah, I added a bit of that to the tea.

Unfortunately, I  do not think I added enough rum.   When I woke up this morning, I knew I was not going to make it into the office.  My ear hurt something terrible.  So back to bed for me.  I finally got it together about noon and worked a few hours.  My earache keeps coming back.  When it gets unbearable, I  put a few drops of warm witch hazel in it which seems to help for a while.  A few minutes ago I shut the work computer down and am now vegging on the couch, surfing - medicinally.  

Tonight, I want to thank Sweden for this gem:).

This post may get me in trouble...

There are a lot of people posting on Facebook about not shopping on Thanksgiving because if there are shoppers there are workers who cannot be with their familiy...

I am not one of them...

Granted, I probably will not shop on Thanksgiving...

Not because I do not believe in family...

I will be  busy running around, cooking, picking up parents, etc....

And after the festivities, I will be too exhausted to do much, except maybe to go see a movie...

Hmmm....

OK, so here is what I believe.

I believe some people do not mind working on Thanksgiving.  They may not have family in the area or any family or any family that they are thankful for or care to celebrate with.

I believe some  people may need the money more than they need to be with their family...and are actually thankful to be able to work on Thanksgiving or Hanukkah or whatever holiday their family is celebrating.

Some may not need the money, but may want the money if they are saving for that fantasy vacation (family or not).  

I believe, for some, shopping can take the lonelies (new word) away...

I remember working at a theater when I  was in college.  I worked most  holidays and I actually enjoyed it. Sometimes holiday family stress can get to you. Having the work excuse was pretty welcome at times. 

And the most important reason I will not promise to not shop on Thanksgiving...

When I realize that I forgot that critical ingredient (or spill it all over the floor) I will be so thankful that there are stores open with employees willing to ring me up...

I am sorry if you are working on Thanksgiving and do not want to be...

But thank you for being there for me and whoever else may need you.

So...where has the week gone???

I have not posted for almost a week:(

It is not because I quit being thankful - too many good things going on in my life for that.

Last Wednesday, I was once again thankful to have a job...even tho I had to work til 7:00 PM in order to summarize the status of the several projects that needed completed while I was away for a few days.  
I could not complete the projects before I let because nothing was ready...nothing! But they all had to be completed immediately when they were ready. I am anxious to see what, if anything, even got ready to  to complete in my absence.   So often, it is realizing that I am going to be gone a couple of days that makes everyone think they are going to need me..It's the old :Why didn't you tell me you would be gone?  Why did you not tell me that this week was crunch mode for all of your projects that you do not have ready???

Thursday, my first scheduled day off, I was thankful that I had made breakfast plans with a good friend/co-worker who happens to be on medical leave.  We spent the morning sharing office war stories.  Which only left me 6 hours of my scheduled day off to work on a couple of the above mentioned critical projects and a brand new one that popped up...ugh...

I have back up...that would be my boss.  He is awesome, but he has so much to do that we try really hard not to leave too much extra for him...because he will do it - if he has to be online 24/7.

I am not even looking at my work email tonight to see what is waiting for me.  I will do that tomorrow - on my third scheduled day  off...  I am also working on breakfast and lunch plans...

Friday was the start of our family getaway weekend.  I am so thankful that my kids still want to getaway with me sometimes.  I reserved a cabin for the nine of us: my three kids, one son-in-law, one almost daughter-in-law, and my three grandpuppies - who are not really puppies anymore.  They planned the meals and  entertainment...well mostly we entertained ourselves with hiking and hot tubbing and imbibing.  But the meal prep was awesome.  Carrie and Kevin made Non-Parmesan Chicken Friday (because they forgot the parmesan) and bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin Saturday.  Larry and Margo and Gary brought drinks and breakfast and snack food.  Carrie brought her MixMaster and made home made toll house cookies and real mashed potatoes. Do not ask me where she got her domesticity; just know it was not from me.  Also know that the rest of us lover her for it...

Saturday, I was thankful for the realization that the hike thorough Old Man's Cave was a one way ordeal.  We got all the way through it and stopped to take a picture when I commented something about dreading the return trip.  I was pretty winded.  As I have mentioned before, I am sooooo out of shape.  Larry enlightened me that our cars were parked "right over there...we are done".  My smile for that picture just got a lot more real...

And now it is Sunday, and I am back home, resting, drinking tea laced with rum to try to combat this cold and the blues.  I was not ready for the weekend to end.  But I am thankful that the  nasty NE Ohio weather held off until after I got out of the hocking  hills.  OMG, what the hell was I thinking??? Short me driving a small car on roads that I am pretty sure were designed as a blueprint for the coasters as Cedar Point.    I could only wonder (very fearfully) what was going to be staring back at me when I got to the top of each hill. Was I going to slam into a stopped school bus full of kids?  Was the road going to curve 90 degrees...with a drop off directly in front of me????  Friday, after I finished the roller coaster there, I drank heavily.  Today, I took a way home that avoided a couple of those treacherous hill-top scenarios. But it was still pretty bad.   The triple shot of rum in my tea is 151.