happy birthday to me

well... today i turn 26. today is also the first birthday i have ever spent alone. i have the flu, and am being passively quarantined by my friends. i.e. none of them are coming to see me, and they have all shunned the idea of taking me out... probably a good idea since i'm sniffling and suffering from chills and aches and pains and am generally pretty damned whiny. thank god i dont have to be back at work til the 3rd of january, so i'm not cutting into any sick leave or anything...

my trip to NY was hellish, as predicted. i got sick there, after being subjected to night after night of awkward holiday parties full of people that i dont know, have never met before, and dont ever care to see again. actually, i think what really did it was going to NYC in 20 degree weather, in clothing that wasnt quite warm enough, and be dragged all over the place in the snow despite the fact that my nose was going to fall off due to frostbite, and my fingers had frozen solid curled into claws. me, being the loving mother that i am, had given my gloves to my son because his hands were cold... and i'd made sure he was bundled up as well as possible, but forgotten about myself in the mix. and let me tell you, a leather jacket is just not enough against 20mph winds in the snow. so now i'm miserably ill. and there is nothing worse than spending 6 hours on an overbooked flight at 6:30am when you've got a fever of 103.5, and you're not allowed to smoke. thats what i did yesterday.

today... today has been spent on my couch. alternating between chills and hot flashes... shivering and sweating... and wishing that whoever stuck that knitting needle in my ear would have shoved it in far enough to pierce my brain and kill me, instead of stopping at puncturing my ear drum and causing me massive amounts of pain. but i'm finally getting an appetite back, so i suppose thats a good sign... in a little bit i might actually find the strength to take a bath.

so happy birthday to me.