Sleeping it off

This week, I got my first virus of the season. Following last winter's flu fiasco where I was sick alternate weeks from January through March, I'm having serious thoughts about what I can do to prevent a replay. The first thing I have to do is get well by Monday so I can take the flu shot my employer provides. Mostly, this week has been devoted to sleeping and cold medicine. That may sound boring, but it is about all I could manage.

In between naps, I read The Kite Runner. The images and haunting stories keep running through my mind. Despite reviewing the horrifying circumstances in Afghanistan and human weakness and corruption, it offered a tiny glimpse of hope. It wasn't the hope for perfect redemption or a fairy tale ending, but it had hope for small change and betterment for some individuals. I needed that hope to keep it all from seeming too overwhelming. Frankly, compared to the fate of an entire war-torn country, the possibility of a good future for one person is still dismal. I think I'm probably the last literate person who hadn't read this book, but if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

So why not cheer myself up on the iternet? I love every one's blogs. Once I finished reading those, I went looking for new things. The loveliest thing about the internet is the way to find new and delightful things through the old familiar paths of friends' blogs. Through a few links from voluntary simplicity sites, the smallnotebook.org hooked me. I particularly enjoyed reading about No Spend Month and trading down to a smaller home. 

On the home front, Oscar a.k.a. the Furminator has A Bad Habit. I mistakenly thought that his eagerness to sit on the toilet seat and watch me fix my hair and put on make up was sweet. I'd rub his head and he'd purr. Then, I'd dash out the door to work. Being home, I had to go back in the bathroom for Kleenexes and other essentials. Oscar was licking my just-used toothbrush. Eep! He was just using me for my tooth-paste dregs. I'm not even going to think about other places he might have used his raspy little tongue. Operation toothbrush-relocation commenced immediately.

And last but not least, after sleeping all day yesterday, I had enough energy to go to Andie's fiftieth birthday party at Oeno. Andie is smart, vibrant, and interested in life. I admire her taste in people and hope that I make fifty look as young and effortless as she does. Everyone there was funny and intelligent. We even behaved reasonably well.