February 2007

On rare occasions I’ve been known to wax brilliant - to actually pull a good idea out of my hat and amaze even myself.  But, unfortunately, I’m also known to wax all kinds of stupid sometimes - and when I head off in that direction, I do so in a very big way.  No halfies for me…all or nothing.

I hate to brag, but I have asthma.  It’s usually under control, but will let me know it still owns me during the cold weather and when I have something particularly sexy like a cold or the flu.  To brag even further, I’m on thyroid medicine because I had to have my thyroid destroyed by radiation.  Again, I never even know I have the condition unless I have something like the flu.

So, you’d think I’d be first in line for a flu shot every year, wouldn’t you?  Every other year….for over 10 I have been.  And never got the flu.  Go figure.  Well, I was too smart for that this year, apparently, because I watched the flu shots come and go and never threw my arm in the way of any of them.

So, wanna guess where I’ve been for the past few weeks?  In bed. Covered up. With the flu. Sick as a…no, sicker than any self-respecting dog would allow himself to be.

The thing is, there’s a reason the doctors urge those of us with certain illnesses to get the flu shot….because the flu bug bites us harder than anyone else.  It throws off our entire system, making medicines that once made sense to our bodies seem more like sugar pills than anything else.

Next year, I’ll be first in line with both sleeves rolled up, chanting, “Pick one…”

If you’ve been spared the flu, so far, take special precautions against it. You want no part of him, trust me, he’s in a nasty mood this year.  Wash your hands often, especially after you’ve been in public.  Keep a little bottle of anti-bacterial hand gel in your purse and use after you’ve touched grocery carts, atm machines, etc.

Also, get plenty of rest and eat and drink right.  There’s a cool article on Prevention.com about just this thing>>>> Eat to Beat the Flu - arm yourself with all the information you can.  Also, something else I didn’t do right that you should keep in mind:  when you first get the flu, if you contact your doctor, she/he might have something to shorten your misery.  FluFacts.com has more information about that.  Mine hit me so fast and so hard, I literally didn’t feel like I could make it to the doctor.  That’d have meant getting out of my gown  and out from under my four covers (Those hard chills were a freakin’ trip!).

Stay healthy and look after loved ones who’d be at special risk - children, the elderly, expectant mothers, diabetics, or anyone else with health problems.

Take care!

This morning was a typical day in Kentucky for this time of year.  You get bundled up, scrape off the windshield, warm up your vehicle, leave your kids bundled up sleeping, admire the beauty of the snow…then head off to round up an arsenal that’ll kick the flu’s butt to the curb. I love winter - probably more than a sane person should - but I hate the bugs that always crawl out of it.  My sweet, beloved family is hell bent on catching every single one available this year.  It’s like someone sees a news story on this and the next day they have it.  Then, another will hear about someone at school or work with that and they insist on getting them a piece of the action.

There’s only so much you can do - especially when you live in a large family that’s always coming and going and going and coming.  This morning, on that early drive to the store, I thought how Heavenly it is when the first rays of spring come and chase the nasties away.  Several of us in the store exchanged knowing nods as we filled our carts with soup, orange juice, decongestants, Tylenol, cookies (okay, so that was just my cart), and such.

There’s a website I came across this morning that I’d never seen before (thank you, Google) - it’s a really slick, informative site.  And timely, oh so timely.  Below’s the link, because if you don’t need it NOW - chances are you will SOON.

Flu Facts.com: Get the Facts about Flu Symptoms and Treatment Options.

Joi

P.S.  Cookies do wonders for the morale of the troops.

I’ve been reading a book for a review on one of my other blogs (Out of Bounds).  The book’s titled “Talk to Me” and it’s geared toward exactly what you’d expect - talking.  The authors (Carole Honeychurch and Angela Watrous) give tons of illustrations and tips on situations where your tongue is suddenly the center of attention.  It’s a great little book and I’d recommend it to anyone who…well, anyone who speaks.

It made me start thinking about the lost art of conversation.  You often hear people lamenting about upcoming dates, events, or gatherings.  They’ll often worry that they won’t have anything to say or talk about.  Everyone essentially lives in fear of awkward silence - that empty little lull where you feel an overwhelming need to fill it up with something….even if it’s mindless banter.

One of the best ways to keep these uninteresting moments from happening is to keep yourself as interesting as possible.  The more you read, the more you experience, the more you see…..in fact, the more you live, the more interesting you’ll be. 

We’re all pretty familiar with these self-check questions:

1. Do you stay on top of the news - locally and nationally? 
2. Do you have a variety of interests rather than just one or two?
3. Are you well-read - meaning do you read more than just the newspaper and your favorite magazines?

We all try to make our lives answer YES! to each of the above - but the following are where the real pay dirt lies:

1. Do you, every now and then, subject yourself to a subject you know nothing about and/or have never even cared about?  For example, tuning into a History Channel documentary on WW1 or a Discovery Health episode on plastic surgery.  Or reading an article on golfing, baking bread, or iguanas.  Granted, the opportunity to work them into a conversation (without looking like a complete idiot) might never come up - but the more layers a person has to them, the more interesting they are, and the longer others will want to spend with them.  Going through a person’s layers is all kinds of fun….but if there are only one or two there, the game ends all too soon.
2. Do you expose yourself to other opinions or shun them?  I’m not sure if I used this example on this blog before or not, but I used to involve myself greatly in politics.  I would read everything I could get my hands on and I never missed a minute of election coverage, debates, or convention coverage.   I was totally on one side of the political party - like most people, I thought my guy could do no wrong and the others could do no right.  Then I started watching some of “their” speeches and interviews, reading some of “their” ideas, and educating myself in the school of other opinions.  I remember, in particular watching a politician from “The dark side” give a speech at their convention.  More than once I found myself nodding in agreement with him. At one riveting moment, I even wished I was in a Southern Fundamentalist Baptist church so I could yell, “Amen!”

I stayed within my own political party (whatever that even means) because, on the hole, my values and beliefs were better represented there.  But, I did learn a few things by keeping an open mind.  Nothing ever gets into a closed mind except what was already there……making it kind of stagnant, stale, inert, and - well, you get the idea.

Just something to think about, and maybe even talk about.