Flu Season is Here

The past few days I have been sick with the flu. It seems to be spreading around Provo faster than spilled milk spreads down the crack between the leaves of our kitchen table. Three of the eight people in our dinner group are sick, two of my sisters just got over it, and countless other people I know keep coming down with it.
When I was in elementary school, I used to love getting sick because it meant that I got to stay home from school and watch movies all day. I especially loved getting to use the old orange dinner bell to summon Mom to my every whim. I felt like a princess-- pampered and spoiled with otherwise unheard of luxuries. Once I even had the good fortune to get sick with my younger sister Becca, and that was sheer heaven-- pampering plus a playmate. Life didn't get much better than that.
Now that I'm older, being sick isn't quite as exciting. The fun of sleeping and watching movies all day is somewhat diminished by the nagging thought that I'm going to have a massive pile of homework (and conversely a pitifully small paycheck) when I finally recover. But, after a few days to contemplate the perks and pitfalls of being sick, I decided the only fair course is to admit that both sides do exist to being sick.

Perks
1. I get pampered right and left (by roomates, siblings, parents, and friends). I got visitors with soup, flowers, treats, and my friend Jen even gave me a hand massage. There's no better way to get noticed than getting sick. You don't believe me? Try it sometime.
2. Finally catching up on all that sleep I've been missing. (My schedule yesterday was something like this: Get up, take ibuprofen, sleep. Get up, say hi to Janel (who brought me get-well presents), sleep. Get up, shower, go to the store for soup and juice, sleep. That many naps is like heaven (Suz, I'm sure, can attest to that).
3. I get to catch up on some of the movies I've been wanting to watch, but haven't had time for.
4. I get to postpone my British History test. Ahhhh, bliss!
5. More time to post on my blog! (Enjoy this while it lasts. 3 posts in the last week is a feat that won't be soon repeated).
6. I have an excuse not to go out with creepy guys. (Okay, I haven't actually used that one, but I think it would be convenient if I did!)

Pitfalls
1. Coughing all day long. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
2. Fevers. When I napped this afternoon, I couldn't get cool, no matter how many layers I shed or how many blankets I threw off the bed. Thank goodness for Ibuprofen.
3. Missing so much school and work. As nice as it is to be home, the work that's piling up is not going to be fun.
4. Not being able to hold my nieces and nephews. I'm going through Cindy-withdrawal after 5 or so days without seeing her. How will I survive?

In conclusion, after reviewing the above lists, it seems that the perks do in fact outweigh the pitfalls of being sick. (I don't know if my self-esteem will ever recover after this!) All the same, though, I'll be glad once I'm up and about again.

I Could Have Danced All Night

Saturday night my ward had a formal dance. I was surprised because I thought my days of formal dress shopping were long since over. (Believe me I do not miss those days. I can remember spending hours at different stores trying on different dresses and crying to my mom in frustration when nothing fit right. Oh the joys of being only 5 feet tall and very petite. Unfortunately most stores don't carry formal dresses in the girls' department.) But, I finally decided on my old prom dress. It took about eight hours to find it when we originally bought it, so I felt justified in getting all the use out of it I could.
I think every girl deserves to get dressed up and feel like a princess every once in a while. Every girl needs to see how beautfiul she is. I was lucky that my sister, Becca, was nice enough to fix my hair and loan me earrings (even though I accidentally wore earrings from 2 different parirs that night). So, complete with earrings and beautiful hairdo, I felt like a princess. It was a great night. In the words of one of my favorite songs,

I could have danced all night
I could have danced all night
And still had begged for more
I could have spread my wings
And done a thousand things
I'd never done before
I'll never know
What made it so exciting
Why all at once
My heart took flight
I only know when he
Began to dance with me
I could have danced danced, danced
all night!

It was definitely a night to be remembered. We'll have to have another dance soon!
(For pictures, see http://wilsonwatch.blogspot.com/2008/02/dancing-queen.html)

Anxiety

Thank you for your comments and support. I will leave the comments here, but after careful consideration, I really don't think this post needs to stay. Please keep up the comments and feedback, though-- I love them and I do read them.