I went over 9 months I think, without having a serious cold. I had a few “under the weather” days and a couple minor stomach bugs, but I’m well into day two (or three) of a nasty cold, and I feel pretty generally lousy all over. I turned today into a “sick day” (I was bummed to miss a really cool violin teaching workshop and quartet rehearsal, but I’m seriously weak and need to be surrounded by massive amounts of kleenex at all times…it’s just not a pretty sight.). Of course, tonight the show must go on, so three hours of Opera it will be. I’m also hoping to rally and attend Celebrate Fitness tomorrow morning, but that might be the sun outside making me entirely too optimistic. Fingers crossed though!

I’m taking some time on the couch here (imagine me with my laptop on my lap) working on a few teaching related things and just trying not to pass out from exhaustion. I might be being a little dramatic, but I’ll tell you: showering was difficult—I’d thought it might help clear out my head—and moving around at all just isn’t much fun. Woe is me, right?

My brain wants  all kinds of comfort foods, the sort of things I might eat when I’m sick. Mainly canned soup or cereal, neither of which I am “allowed” to have on my diet. Last night was a homemade chicken veggie soup which turned out surprisingly delicious, as best as my compromised taste buds can ascertain. Today I have had eggs for breakfast and that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far. I don’t have too much of an appetite anyway, though I’m sure I could murder a pint of ice cream…

(I ate about three bowls of that.)

I am in a slight panic  over my (ha, surprise) lack of training for the fairly upcoming Go Half Marathon. I plan to run nonetheless, and while I haven’t been running as much as I should be, I’ve been working out much more regularly, and I figure it’ll be cathartic nonetheless. I’m not going to worry about time at all, and just enjoy being out there. I still have a few more weeks and I’ll be able to get a few short and long runs (run/walks to be fair) in and I’ll be just fine. Dropping ten or more pounds will definitely help, and I just don’t care enough. I care about getting back in shape, I care about getting my work done, and I care about having fun running, but I don’t care about sticking to a training plan that I am just not able to fit into my life at this time. And the ice and snow we’ve gotten this winter has certainly been a deterrent. Either way I’m in, I’m doing it, and I’ll finish, and that will tell me that I am still here.

Quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (p. 649 in my edition):

Luna: That’s right, Harry…come on, think of something happy…”

Harry: “Something happy?”

Luna: “We’re all still here. We’re still fighting. Come on, now…”

I often think of that quote. For me it’s not fighting as in violence,  but fighting as in just keeping going, keeping moving, keeping pushing through. When things seem hopeless or out of control, I just tell myself, I’m still here, I’m still fighting.

(And that makes me want to read Harry Potter all over again. My students are often surprised to see the entire series on my bookshelf, but I can tell you I’ve read them all several times. It’s been awhile though and it might be fun to reread them. Then again, my stack of books to read, both actual and on my kindle, is getting pretty big, so maybe I should read a few of those first before starting on any repeat reading projects. )