TheBanyanTree: Silver Bells

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I felt it coming on Sunday night – the BIG COLD.  My throat was scratchy.  I
felt dizzy.  I wasn’t myself.  And sure enough, it hit full force on
Tuesday.  I lost track of days and time.  I managed to go to work all week
except Friday, but I was only operating at 30%.  I went to workout on
Monday, but the club hasn’t seen me since.  I shoveled five inches of fluffy
snow off of our sidewalks at 4:30 am on Wednesday morning before I went to
work, so I guess that kind of counts as a workout.  Otherwise I have been
sitting on my butt most of the week.  My nose is raw, I have a dry annoying
cough, and I had been running a low grade fever.

I haven’t had a BIG COLD for a couple of years.  I’ve had smaller, wimpy,
one day kind of colds, but this one knocked me for a loop.  I’m sure I
picked it up from the germ factory plane air I was exposed to the week
before.

Susan and I took the boys to see Santa this week, on Wednesday, and oh, I
was so sick, but it is one of those things we do, because we promised and
sick doesn’t count.  Plus, Susan had the night off, it was a weekday night,
a non-Holidazzle night, and early enough in December that the Santa lines
aren’t long.

We went to the big city of Minneapolis, to Macy’s, formerly Dayton’s, and
had dinner at the Oak Grill Room, which is known for its wonderful popovers.
We were all crabby and irritable.  The boys were tired from a long day at
school.  Susan had to work earlier in the day.  And I was fighting off the
BIG COLD.

Then we went to the 8th floor auditorium to view the animated Nutcracker
story.  It was great, because there were very few people moving through the
story’s scenes, so we were able to read the story and enjoy the incredible
set-up at our own pace.

Finally, we stopped at Santa’s house.  This guy was a great Santa.  Even
after the picture was taken, he didn’t shoo the boys away, but kept them
engaged in conversation for a few minutes.

Unfortunately, we were all too crabby to appreciate the fine December night
we had and we b------ at each other all the way home.  Merry Christmas to
us!

I struggled to get through work all week.  I spent Thursday night wrapped in
several blankets shaking from the cold.  I was so sick.  I decided I wasn’t
going to work on Friday.  I was sick of being sick.  Well, what did I do
with my sick day?

When I got up in the morning and after I notified anyone at work that cared
to know I wasn’t coming in, I started planning out all the things I could do
with my sick day.  And I was really sick,  too, but I couldn’t see laying on
the couch watching TV.  I made a grocery list and cleaned the leftovers out
of the refrigerator.  I got my Christmas card list updated.  I brought up
the fake Christmas tree from the basement and set it up.  I went to PetSmart
and bought bird seed and cat food.  I went to the Dollar Store and bought
stocking stuffers.  I went to Target and bought gifts for the needy families
we’re donating to through work.

Then I went home and walked the two blocks to the Post Office and bought
Christmas stamps.  I had lunch.  I put on some Christmas CDs and began
decorating the tree.  I almost had it all done when Ray got home from work.

Then we went grocery shopping.  All the stores were packed.  Did everyone
take a sick day?  I was at Target by 9:30 am in the morning, and the parking
lot was full.  The grocery store was standing room only and that was
mid-afternoon.  The after-work crowd wasn’t even off work yet.    Our bagger
told us that it’s always like that when they predict snow.  We’re supposed
to get a couple of inches tonight.  But what’s a couple of inches?  Maybe it
’s all the snow we have that’s getting everyone in the Christmas frame of
mind and out to the stores.

After dinner, I crashed.  I was so crabby with Ray that I was ashamed.  I
took my crabbiness to bed and slept for 10 hours.

And now this morning our chest thumping winter continues.  It was –6
degrees.  This is the first below zero temp of the season.  The dogs and cat
are huddled by heat vents as the house warms up.  As stated before, we’re
supposed to get a couple more inches of snow tonight.  I’m finally feeling
better as my body is getting control over the BIG COLD.  My nose is still
stuffed up, but it’s not dripping anymore.  And I feel like I know what day
it is again.  It’s like gradually waking up from a nightmare.

Well, the Christmas preparation machine continues.  I’ll work on getting the
cards ready to mail this week.  I might begin baking Christmas cookies.
Maybe I’ll check my work email and see what I missed yesterday.  Oh, and I
have to do bills.  Christmas = $0 in the bank account.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

A Christmas candle is a lovely thing;
It makes no noise at all,
But softly gives itself away.
~Eva Logue