TIS THE SEASON...

No. Not the season of Santa Claus and holiday cheer. Rather... it's the season of one of my alltime most dreaded diseases... THE FLU. I so hate the flu namely because a.) it's lasts at least a good 10 days b.) I feel REALLY crappy, just wishing I were dead for the duration and c.) I need to put all my addictive vices on hold given I can hardly breathe. All in all, I hate being that sick.

Which I totally could be any day now. And trust me... I'm so freaked, just waiting for the illness to take hold of me within the next two days. Why? Oh man.... you wouldn't believe it. Today is Monday. Yippee. Bonnie showed up. Was totally happy to see her and ready to get down to work. So I opened the door saw her, and then whammo. I heard a MAjor huskiness in her voice. EEEKS. ARE YOU SICK???. Uh... no Bonnie tells me. It's only allergies. REALLY?? ALLERGIES?? I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOR A SECOND. Trust me...  I know well the difference between allergies and the flu. And believe me... Bonnie so didn't sound like she had allergies. Naturally, I was NOT thrilled I'd be sitting right smack next to her for the next hour and a half.

So much so that I swear to God... the MINUTE we got finished sitting at the computer doing all my bill paying crapola I INSTANTLY felt my tonsils feel a bit funky. I mean in no time FLAT. Talk about the power of suggestion, right? Which only means I ran immediately to my inhalers... nostril and bronchial... given I can live with almost any pain other than that from bronchitis or lung tightening which ALways happens during the flu. About an hour after that I also decided to take a nap since that too is pretty much my go to medicinal solution to everything. Besides... I have to go to a dinner party tonight so I absolutely don't want to feel like shit.

BTW, speaking of "the season"... this time the real one... I am happy to say that standing in my family room at this very moment is a beautiful 6 1/2  foot Christmas tree at which I adore staring. Per usual, I had some company come over on the pretense that we'd have dinner but while I was finishing the food prep, I naturally had everyone ELSE on labor detail, decorating the tree for me. Other than the icicles, that is, since they ARE my favorite part of the tree; thus the part I am very particular about how much goes where. THAT part I wanted to do myself. Take a look down below and you can see what the finished product is like. Well, minus all the other gifts yet to be placed, anyway. In any case...

The real trick for me is tying to be sure I don't catch the flu given that on Wednesday, I have an app't to... get this... GET MY FLU SHOT. Geez. Talk about irony. I normally get it in November but for some reason this year, I kept forgetting to do so, so boom. Here I am in the middle of December before getting the shot. BTW.... I am sooo one of those people who quickly grab the antibacterial hand wipes the minute I get my grocery cart. I hate having germs from out and out strangers. Which reminds me... I am now officially doing all my own grocery shopping on a regular basis for the first time in 25 years. I hate it, but I'm doing it. Now that my kid is here, it would take Bonnie forEVER to load up on all the needs of both myself AND my kid. Don't even ask. Man. Talk about no better place to catch the flu than in a grocery store but whatever.

While I was loading up on preventative meds btw, I do have say that my son came up with a really great one to add to the mix. He told me to drink orange juice every day for a bit and I do have to admit... it's totally working! After three days of downing the juice, my imaginary symptoms are way better, indeed. Forget about apples keeping the doctor away... orange juice is apparently keeping the flu away! Thank God.

In closing, I do have to say that in keeping with the flu season... it has been REALLY REALLY COLD that past couple of weeks. Last week for instance, we had one night where the temp was 18 degrees. YIKES. Now THAT is cold. I went out lunch one day and totally thought I was in Chicago given the wind was nuts thus making the wind chill factor even colder than it was. On the other hand, I am THRILLED I am not in South Florida anymore where the Christmas season is completely bogus yet the flu season is still very real. Go figure. And oh yeah...

I almost forgot. Tonight's low is going to be 17 degrees.