It’s October…the time of year for crisp fall mornings, baking pies and bread, picking apples, going on fall hikes, dressing up and eating candy, and…getting sick from the germs of one thousand children.

I hate being sick. It ruins my life and my plans. However, for me, it has been a sign to slow down, get rest, refuel on fluids, and eat well. It’s a sign that, hey, I may be good, but I’m not Superwoman–sinus infections can inflict themselves on the best and the busiest of us.

This weekend alone, I have slept for 23 hours–12 hours Friday night and 11 last night. I needed it all. Friday night I went to our high school football game–we won!! I came home and Justin and I had breakfast for dinner, and then proceeded to watch four episodes of CSI on DVD! I also got the excellent news that Andrea, my MK recruiter, finished up Director in Qualification (she’s a director now!) and earned her car!! Woohoo!

So, after 12 hours of sleep, I worked out yesterday in our new-and-improved gym, went to the bank, mailed some items, and did my grad school homework. I cleaned up and had some snacks, then went to hang out with my friend and former co-worker Megan, her mom (a MK consultant), and my co worker Jocelyn. We ate at the Pike Pub and Brewery (no alcohol consumption–no worries!) to fuel up for an afternoon of shopping downtown at Ross and Nordstrom Rack (can you say “sales”?). I rarely go shopping like that, but it’s fun to go with friends and family. I was starting to feel sick, though, so the brown paper “towels” that the Ross dressing room supervisor offered me for my runny nose was not as appreciated as she would have liked.

We dodged the rain from Ross to Nordstrom Rack (a bit more upscale than Ross) and shopped there for a while-so mcuh to see in so little time. By then, I should have already been home to clean up for movie night, but the bus I was going to take ran late. I waited on the corner with a dozen other people for the 42, and fortunately, one of my senior girls was there to keep me company and commiserate in our respective illness.

The bus took a good 30-45 minutes to arrive near my house, and by that time it was already close to 8 p.m. For film night, we watched Born into Brothels, a hopeful documentary following the lives of 8 Indian (from Calcutta) children of sex workers as they learned about photography and gained opportunities to get an education at boarding schools.

I had to leave midway through to take care of some nausea. Blech. I came back feeling a bit better, and left the discussion early for sleeping action. I awoke with a headache this morning and decided to stay home to rehydrate and keep others from getting infected. I treated myself to chicken broth, white tea, water, and cream of wheat. Woohoo.

Now, I go to relax and read my bible and blow my nose repeatedly.