The Cleaning Sickness

There's an obvious trend emerging when I get sick.  No, not the gross trend where the cold develops from a small tickle into a monstrous annoyance full of runny noses, sleepless nights and tender glands.  It's "The Cleaning Sickness".

I'm not very good at being sick.  I think I got it from my Dad.  At least if my  Mum had any say in this, she'd agree that my Dad is a bit of a baby when he get's sick.  And so am I.  Of course now that I actually sit here and think about it, I suppose it's a strange opinion.  I don't know anyone who says "Yay! I'm sick! I LOVE getting sick.  Now I can take some time off".  Well, maybe high school students do, but otherwise, many of us suffer through being sick as if it's the worst thing that's ever happened to us.  I'm no exception.  

I get weepy - I'll cry at books.  I'll cry at movies.  Heck, even just thinking about the fact that I'm sick makes me cry.  But it's the last few days of the cold that really surprise me.  On the 3rd last day of the cold (that was yesterday) I am a mess - I lie on the couch, reading books, watching bad TV and movies I've seen umpteen times.  I don't shower.  I eat ridiculously  high amounts of sodium in an effort to drown my sorrows about being sick in a dehydrated fog.  I get sore from lack of mobility.  Basically, the worst version of myself takes up residence on our couch and pouts at the Hubband to please get me Diet Ginger ale and cookies.  He does the first.  He won't give me cookies.  He knows that if he gives me cookies I'll pout at him a week later because for "some reason" my pants no longer fit.  They've shrunk! ;-)

And then the 2nd last day of being sick arrives.  Today.  YAY!  Well, sort of yay.  My voice isn't really up to par and my nose is still runny but I'm a CLEANING MACHINE!  I empty garbages that have needed it for the past week but have gone unnoticed in my daze of illness.  I start organizing - filing, packaging, labeling, reviewing emails long forgotten.  I make the bed.  I get ridiculous amounts of work done for my clients.  I don't know what it is other than my body saying "Ok!  You're almost human again.  To make up for the past week, today you must be SUPER HUMAN!".  And so I go for it.

The last day of the sickness, which is tomorrow, is the day I dread most.  I'm 98.77777% better.  I don't have a stuffed up nose.  My head is clear.  I'm ready to get back to life as usual.  Except, I'm a coughing maniac.  Talking makes me cough.  Sleeping makes me cough.  Cough drops hardly get rid of my cough, though they help a bit.  Sigh...

So, I'm excited about the rest of today.  I shall continue to be uber productive until midnight tonight, at which point I predict the coughing shall commence.  I hope you all sleep well; I know Hubband and I sure won't!