I've been hiding a secret from you, my blogger friends. I am suffering from GWI (Generic Winter Illness). I have used Dr. Google and Dr. Google says I have the flu. Or a cold. or RSV. Or Covid. Dr Google is barely worth the $0.00 I pay him.
I have ben relatively healthy recently, so this is a real blow to my streak of good health. I was mostly ill (coughs and colds and tiredness bugs) from August 2021 to April 2022. I was so chronically generically ill that I went to a doctor who said "yup that's a lot of illness" and then I went to a reflexologist who also said it was a lot of illness but also did a reflexology session so I felt paying her was nicer than the actual Doctor who took my blood and told me to take more iron.
Anyways, I got some monster bug in April of 2022 and when I recovered from that I seemed to retain my good heath, until now. Now, as I compose this timeline, I realize this sounds suspiciously like a totally normal string of seasonal diseases, especially in a foreign country and with your children in childcare.
But i digress. The reason I didn't disclose my generic winter illness sooner is that I had made some very rational assumptions which indicated I was not ill. I thought that the body aches were from the 20 minutes of squats I did on Wednesday. I also thought that the fact I was so so cold is because my house is so so cold. [It's currently costing £8 a day to keep the house at 62F /17C] I thought my super weird dreams on Saturday and Sunday were due to my excess cheese consumption. And as for my tiredness... have I mentioned I have two small kids?
After our family photo adventure on Sunday (spoiler: fail) I came home and took a nap. Then I woke up and took a longer nap. Isaac took a nap with me for the second nap. He was very tired too. I woke up around 3, ate a bunch of chocolate, and then plodded through to dinner. Then I went back to bed at 9:30 and slept till 6am (always 6am. Another sign I am old).
I'm still not right so took the day off work. Taking the day off for sickness is somehow weirder when working from home, because I have the urge to not tell anyone and just monitor my inbox. That's a bad idea for a number of reasons, but also it would not be an option if I was in an office. Sometimes I realize that I selfishly miss the separation of work-life in an office, but only when I let work interfere with life. I don't miss the office at all when I left life interfere with work.
I'm trying not to use this sick day as a "getting stuff done" day, because that's not what a sick day is. So my goals are much reduced:
- Do not do work
- Go for a walk outside
- put away laundry (maybe)?
- Read
This made me giggle: "Dr Google is barely worth the $0.00 I pay him." Also, I LOVE your family photo, and think it should go in the card. Maybe on the back, as an outtake, but it really is such a vivid depiction of The Way Things Are, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI empathize with your GWI. I've had one myself recently. So hard to determine if it's really illness version Generic Parenting Fatigue, but the excess mucus does help differentiate. I hope you feel better soon.
I think that's an adorable photo and exactly what I expect from photo cards from my friends and family with young children!
ReplyDeleteWe had a family photo taken with all my husband's siblings and their children and his parents a few years before his mom died. My SIL is wearing a lovely pink sweater and her son is wearing a bright orange Polo. It's the last "nice" phone we have of my MIL and it KILLS me that there's this splash of clashing colors in the corner. It also makes me giggle because my SIL was horrified when she realized her mistake much, much later.
Oh goodness, I'm sorry you are sick! As someone who works from home, I feel this entirely:
ReplyDelete"Sometimes I realize that I selfishly miss the separation of work-life in an office, but only when I let work interfere with life. I don't miss the office at all when I left life interfere with work."
I also LOVE this photo. And completely agree that this should show up in some form on your holiday card - even if it's an "outtake"
ReplyDeleteI've been battling this sort of GWI since I had COVID back in October, including a persistent and annoying (but not persistent enough that it seems to warrant any intervention) dry cough. I mostly just soldier on and crash occasionally when it catches up to me...but I DID take a "sick" day on Thursday which I agree feels so odd when working from home!
Pictures don't have to be "perfect" - I love this picture of your family. :) And I truly hope you feel better soon. Being ill sucks. Being chronically ill sucks even more.
ReplyDelete