Today I went “out of the house” for the first time in a week. Seriously.  No, I’m not a prisoner.  Yes, I have been quite sick.

In the grocery store I was THRILLED to walk by a display of Pepsi Max CANS and included in their display was VANILLA Pepsi Max.

You just have no idea how happy I was. I was a bit tired and feeling weird after not being ‘out of the house’ for a week - but in spite of that - I was excited - in a “low key sort of way” (I even drank one on the way home from the store - even though it wasn’t cold!)

Actually I probably haven’t been THIS sick since maybe about 2012 – about when we quit having our Children’s Homes Christmas parties in December. I used to get very sick either right at Christmas time or in January – I’m sure due to the stress and size of the outreach.

Anyway, last Tuesday I went to bed, not feeling super “hot” and when I woke up at about 6 after having a bad night’s sleep, my body felt just weird. Like it was all made of wood. I kind of stumbled to the bathroom and went back to bed.  I told myself, “Fine…I’ll be fine.”  At 7, I was still quite “dead to the world”. My husband had been sick since Sunday (well, really Saturday) and I had figured it was coming my way. He let me sleep – and at 8 am, I rolled over, gave the clock an eyeball and rolled back over telling myself, “9 – I’ll get up at 9”.  I guess you must understand that in our house, my husband gets up by about 7 every day.  I’m the loafer who tries to steal an extra 10 or 15 minutes of just “resting” in bed.  He actually doesn’t like me to, or want me to sleep in, since we eat breakfast together – nowadays between 7:15-7:30ish usually. (He wakes up hungry.)  When the kids were home, I aimed for breakfast between 7 and 7:15 am. However, this day, at 9, I just rolled back over and went back to sleep, telling myself, “Surely, I’ll feel like getting up at 10.”  Didn’t happen.  I’m not sure I even saw 11 but at noon I was starting to feel a little bit bad about being still in bed, but still felt like I could still sleep. So, once again, I rolled back over, closed my eyes and went back to sleep. I actually didn’t get out of bed til 2:45 pm.  I really can’t say I EVER remember doing that before in my adult life.

I managed to get up, be up for about 6 hours and then went back to bed and slept the night through. I figured if I could sleep that much, that I must have needed it.

That was how I spent last Wednesday - a week ago now.

The next day, which was a Thursday, I did get up about 8:30 or 9 am.

And for there on it’s been getting better.

What did I have? 

I suppose it’s the flu though I’ve not actually been this kind of sick for what feels like “ages”. I believe I had a fever – at least off and on.  I can’t find a working thermometer so I just go by the fact that I was cold and then too hot, etc. I also have a cough and congestion in the lungs, which made lying down to sleep a bit tricky because if one breathes deeply while congested, coughing ensues.

Anyway…thankfully, no sore throat.  A bit of a runny nose. Sinus congestion.  No nausea. And that’s about it. Just feeling “badly” in general. 

No, I didn’t go to the doctor.  I had some medicine called “gripex” which I took 2 capsules every few hours on Thursday.  The word “grypa” is the word for “flu”. It’s an over-the-counter medication sold in stores like Lidl and Biedronka or the local pharmacy. I had figured I was running about 2 or 3 days behind my husband since he had first started showing symptoms the Saturday before after a trip into Warsaw on public transport the day before where he got chilled.

Each day since then I’ve been doing a bit more and getting a little more energy and strength. Today was the first day I went “out” and to the store.

I actually went to a couple of stores. I got mostly just groceries.

And I overdid it.  I’m exhausted and it is only about 5:30 in the afternoon.

I’ve been sewing, albeit much less focused than I would have liked to be during this period of time.

But I’m on the mend now.

I had the week’s worth of blog posts already written and scheduled before I got sick. That was a bit unusual, but Rachael had helped out by writing two which I had scheduled during the week. That took the pressure off for blogging.

I’ve been working on the “Mystery Quilt” which I’ve been asked to do - but I believed that I needed to get the top together before I told you the colors and/or yardage. I’m slowly making progress on that! The flu kind of set me back a week or so. Each day I would think I would be able to get more done than I actually could rouse myself to do.

I actually do have things to write about on the blog - just need the energy to do a decent job. I have several completely finished quilts - some require a pattern and/or pictures or both.

Those of you who are praying friends, I’d appreciate your prayers for continued increase in strength.

It’s a bout of being this sick that reminds me how grateful I am for my health! It’s a gift that I have been given by God normally every day. Without it, it is hard to function.

I think this brief interlude of the flu has been an effective reminder to me to be more gentle with the sick and/or those who care for the sick. And I’m reminded to be more compassionate towards them. Sometimes I forget about that. Sometimes I’m so caught up in my own little world I forget to care.

And that’s ENOUGH of my illness and sickness. I’m already tired of thinking about it.

Oh…and you didn’t think I got just ONE can did you?

Hardly. This store had about 5 cases. I bought about 3.5 of them. Another lady was buying some. The last case is buried underneath all the Miranda, Pepsi Max (regular), Mountain Dew, etc.so that I’ll go back in a couple of days and see if people have bought some of the other types so I can get to that last flat. :) I just didn’t feel good enough to move all the other types of soda to get to that last flat. Normally I might have. Who am I kidding? I definitely WOULD have!

Have a great day wherever you are!

I trust you say safe and healthy in your spot in the world!

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store!