>truly, i have never been this inactive or unproductive in my entire life. i began feeling a big under the weather last weekend, and i called in sick to work on monday (which i very close to never do). i returned to work on tuesday to a roomful of smiling faces. then, after feeling progressively worse over the course of the day, decided to pop by the clinic on my way home. if for no other reason than for confirmation that “it was nothing” and because i was less than three weeks away from an arduous trip halfway ’round the world to China.

i sat through the H&P with the physician, who, based on a few of my responses to her questions, decided to do a flu test. she swabbed the inside of my left nostril and left the room. she returned three minutes later, saying “um, yeah, it usually takes ten minutes minimum to get a result. you have the flu. you are on bedrest and quarantined for at least the next five days. i’ll prescribe you Tamiflu in case it’s not too late for it to be effective in staving off some of the symptoms. have some cough syrup too. whatever that is that is beginning to rumble in your chest will become a problem”.

great.

so, i dropped off the prescriptions, drove next door to Kroger to pick up some groceries and went to rent some movies. five movies. i have not rented five movies total in the past year. i watched four of them the next day. while lying on the mattress that i mustered the strength to drag from my guest room onto the floor of the only room in my house with a television set. i wanted to preserve the sanctity of my actual bedroom. i did not want to be sick in there. and i certainly did not want to invade it with the media.

so far, this week, i have watched:

HITCH
LACKAWANNA BLUES
ABOUT A BOY (for the 2nd time)
WEDDING CRASHERS
ROOTS (the original miniseries from 1977, in its entirety)
ALFIE (the not-so-original from 2004, although with all the changes, i guess it is original in its own way)
BRIAN WILSON ON TOUR
TO HAVE AND TO BE (a French documentary about a one-room schoolhouse)

I also bought HUSTLE & FLOW, which is amazing. watch CRASH first, though. so that you will TRULY appreciate Terence Howard’s H&F performance.

i am building a new web site this week (once I get my new software) so that i can properly chronicle and share the China experience. date of departure is March 6. am very excited and a little nervous — mainly about the part where i am in charge of my two nieces (ages 13 and almost-13), neither of whom have ever left the continent or flown since they were infants.

wow.

okay, well i should be sleeping. the lights are out. they told me so.

have had many fabulous words and thoughts drift through my mind this week but was too exhausted to write them down. holding out hope that they will find their way to my fingers before too long again.