Monday, December 29, 2008

The way it goes

Monday a week ago, December 21, I had my work for the newspaper completed.

I decided to clean my home office. I am not a very good secretary when it comes to my own work (although I used to be a very good legal secretary in another life). I pile stuff and don't file it. After a while it turns into a mess.

At 9:30 a.m. I began filing, cleaning and putting away. I had to stop at noon to go to Roanoke. When I returned, I went back to cleaning.

I apparently am not a very good maid, either. I won't say how large the dust bunnies were beneath the book case but let's just say "bunnies" is a good description for those nasty piles of cobwebs and grayish dirt. Actually "hare" might be a better word; I think that is a larger animal. Or maybe dust groundhogs.

Whatever they were, I had them all vacuumed up by the time I ended the cleaning festival, which was around 9:45 p.m.

The next day I woke with the sniffles. Now this could have been allergies from dusting or it could have been the cold virus my husband had picked up the Friday before. In any event, I wanted no part of it.

That meant I had to do the cooking and host a party while not feeling 100 percent. I washed my hands so much while I was baking that I chapped them. I did not want to spread germs.

I was not at my best when I had family over Christmas Eve, but aside from being quieter than normal I don't think anyone noticed.

Christmas Day found me very unhappy indeed as the sniffles turned into a full-blown state of congestion. I even had to leave the Christmas Day celebrations at the in-laws early so I could go to bed.

I feared I would pass it along as a gift to the relatives, too, but so far no one else is sick. I guess if they haven't caught it by now they probably won't.

Friday the miserable congestion moved down into my chest, and I have been coughing ever since.

My brother-in-law brought me whisky yesterday, something called Rock & Rye. He advised me to mix a little with honey and heat it in a cup.

I added lemon to that combination. I don't drink alcohol so I used only two "capfuls" of whisky to a mug of hot water, lemon and honey.

While I am still not well I can honestly say it worked better than the Robitussin I was taking.

I don't know if that works with just any whisky or just with Rock & Rye, but I won't hesitate to try it again.

I see my acupuncturist on Wednesday; I know she'll be able to push the rest of this cold/allergy right on out of me.

8 comments:

  1. Get well soon! I'm going to accupuncture this Saturday for the first time in over a year and i can't wait!

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  2. I hope you are out and about soon. Sounds like our ancestors knew what they were doing with the whiskey remedies!

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  3. What a bummer-to be sick any time is bad, but on a holiday and/or when company is around, all the more! Feel better soon!

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  4. Sorry about the cold...

    My dad always gave us his dad's remedy: any kind of cheap whisky, 1-2 Tablespoons, mixed with same amount of honey and lemon juice. We would gag it down. Blech! It burned so badly! We never complained of a cough unless it was serious because we hated the medicine. It worked better than anything else they ever gave us. And made me NEVER want to ever drink whisky on purpose!

    Hope you get back to 100% for the new year!

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  5. Ugh - so much of that is going around. I took Ben to the doctor today for an antibiotic. He's had it since Thanksgiving! I give him Delsym at night. There is an adult version available too. I sure hope you feel better. That mess is just horrible. By the way, those Shower Soothers are good too. You can get them at CVS. Drop one at the bottom of your shower and it will help open up your sinuses.

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  6. We have the same thing and had it all through Christmas. It was a horror story since my parents came down from N.J. and this was the first time they saw my farm and I was too sick to be a good hostess. Not that they cared. Mom cooked. But you know, I wanted to show them this beautiful area and bake my father's favorite cookies but I couldn't do it. My hands are also chapped from washing them so much. My fingers are literally splitting. I can hardly type this.

    My Nana gave us that whisky concoction. Same thing. Kept it in a Mason jar. I remember it worked well but I'd probably get bombed if I drank some now since I don't drink booze either.

    Hope you're feeling better!

    www.GreenerPastures--ACityGirlGoesCountry.blogspot.com

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  7. Definitely no fun to be sick over the holidays--I do hope you feel better soon!

    I'm going to try your medicine next time I get a cold. Sounds a lot more effective than the over-the-counter stuff.

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