In Sickness and in Health

I've been talking quite a bit about seasonal issues of late. It's the season for comfort food, and the Christmas season is fast (perhaps too fast) descending. Now I feel that I should also add that it is the season for colds, or, if you prefer (or more likely, if you have no choice whatsoever in the matter), the season for the flu.

I am now in my third day of sharing company with a cold. It's a relatively benign illness, really, that leads me to sniffle, drink copious amounts of rooibos tea, and lounge around the house in pajamas feeling vaguely sleepy and heavy-headed. While on Friday I stayed home from work, on Saturday I had previously invited many girlfriends, about seven of whom ended up coming, over for crafts and a visit. The idea was to work on some of those crafty things that many of us say we want to do at Christmas time, such as making our own cards, but never get around to.

In light of my cold, I opted for procuring Saturday's snacks from Trader Joe's rather than making my own, but I was still happy to have people over. Even when sick, company can provide a welcome rush of adrenaline that pushes you to flit around chatting to everyone and maing sure everyone gets a drink (although yesterday, all anyone wanted was water - boring!). This morning, however, I woke up in a fog, wondering if perhaps I had overdone it a bit.

Now that I've had a brief afternoon nap and more rooibos tea I feel better, but still not fully up to snuff. It looks like it will be another evening of watching TV from a horizontal position on the sofa, and, of course, eating. My body seems to take the saying, "Feed a cold, starve a fever," at face value, because when hit with a cold I also get hit with a serious case of the munchies. Now, nothing tastes as good as it should when I do indulge while under the weather, but still there's always a gnawing hunger in the background.

In fact, I'm feeling it now, so perhaps I should see what else I can find in the refrigerator.... That, and I could really use another mug of tea.