Doc says I am germ-free, just recovering like a Victorian maiden.

I have put in a load of dishes and laundry, taken out the office trash and recycling, drank some Harney's Tower of London tea, and I think I must have a lie-down before I shower or try anything else.

Baby steps -- this left me utterly buggered.

Zen, it felt like it. It was ridiculous, and I was doing EVERYTHING right to feel better. Just kept snowballing, and making me feel like Job.

And M, poor noodle, had the pinkeye(one eye), and the flu, too, when he got back to the coast, albeit less severely, thanks be.

Germ free - well in that case, tacklehug!

Yikes, Strix! Thanks for checking in here- I was worried about you. Gentle hugs to aid your recovery.

{{Maria}} hugs for it all; and pointing to the wise things said before me. And the best buds thing- people (like this Katie) sometimes look for drama to enrich their lives. And having an acquaintance who tragically passed away is an easy in for their own self-mythologizing. I bet you a nickel that's all her and her issues.

Ah, Strix... allgergic reaction to eye drops... may not be the worst thing, but it definitely makes a Top Twenty list. Do be gentle with yourself.

but when I didn't even know about her but they were "best buds,"

And the best buds thing- people (like this Katie) sometimes look for drama to enrich their lives. And having an acquaintance who tragically passed away is an easy in for their own self-mythologizing. I bet you a nickel that's all her and her issues.

My opinion? They weren't. I know there are probably lots of things you didn't know about Rob, but this isn't one of them. She sounds like the kind of person who enthusiastically decides that some person is her BFF 4EVah!!1!, when the other person is like, "Eh? Uh, yeah, I know her."

It's all from her POV, and, despite not knowing her or Rob, I would bet good money it's all a one-sided "best buds" dealie. Someone like that is best ignored, but it's got to be hard when you see it on Facebook. I wouldn't be able to ignore it, because things like that drive me insane.

But since I'm at a remove from it, my opinion is that it was all one-sided, and it's really easy for people to mythologize their "best bud" -- and the nature of their friendship, such as it is -- when they've died.

If I go too fast, I know I will relapse;

Smart woman. Feel better, Strix.

It won't have fully kicked in yet but I got my flu shot on Monday. I wish I'd done it months ago.

I have been stirring a spoon of almond butter into my oatmeal. Makes it all flavory and feels dense. Like I'm eating an actual breakfast and not just shoving oatmeal in that open spot of of my face.

Expecting plumber. Who called about twenty-five minutes ago to say he was running a little late due to all of the local hard freezes and associated 20-hour days of plumbing jobs. Whatever. I am not awake yet.

Egads, Strix, you don't do anything by halves, do you? As a note, I got my flu shot this year and I've still come down with an ick. Probably not as bad as it could be, but they can't formulate the flu vaccine to cover every single variety out there. It seems like half our division is out with a mild form right now that seems to be a sniffly, sneezy, muscle-achey version. I know I feel like a limp noddle and even going in for four hours last night ran me out of spoons and my voice. I'm home on the couch, again, monitoring my e-mail in case a fire only I can put out comes along.

I have been stirring a spoon of almond butter into my oatmeal. Makes it all flavory and feels dense.

Ooh, that sounds awesome!

It won't have fully kicked in yet but I got my flu shot on Monday. I wish I'd done it months ago.

I know -- I got mine Friday, and I keep muttering "2 weeks! 2 weeks!" And I nagged Tim enough that he got one yesterday.

Now I have to see if my diabetic heart disease-having father got one (as of last week, he had not, despite the fact that he works as a bagger at Kroger, a job that assails him with germs [I'm actually surprised he hasn't gotten sick yet]). And he told me that they were giving employees flu shots for free, and yet he didn't get one. (He claims they ran out.)

My mom, queen of paranoia, got one back in November. She has not gotten the flu.

As for her weird liver thing, she wanted to get the CT scan yesterday, but the doctor's office* didn't fax the order to the hospital, and the doctor wasn't in yesterday, so apparently no one had the authority to fax it. (That doesn't sound right, but I am only relaying what she told me.) She's hoping she can get the scan today.

*(She and I have the same primary care doctor -- Awesome Doctor, of the Worst Staff EVER. Like the moron who tried to call in a refill for a blood pressure drug I've NEVER TAKEN [atenolol] when I needed a refill of albuterol, for asthma. Like she heard the first and last letters of the drug and guessed, or something. So the fact that Mom's CT scan order didn't get faxed does not surprise me one bit. And she ripped them a new one about it, too. That is one woman you do NOT want mad at you.)