Celebrate Monday!

The head cold has become a chest cold and it's making it hard to breathe, much less talk. I was a little hoarse last week and very nasal and hard to understand. Today my voice is raspy but I feel much better. Still got head congestion but that part is better.

I. must. get. out. of. this. house. I'm going to work, no matter what. I need the hours and I need to interact with 3-dimensional people. Not that I don't love those of you who live in my computer. You're the wind beneath my wings, I promise.

I am hoping that I can consume enough warm liquids to loosen the goop out of my chest and be able to speak clearly and loud enough by the time I go into work.

My back is more of a sharp, hot pain in the bullseye of the bulging discs, not the muscle spasms I usually wake up to. This is good. Crazy as it sounds, I'll take one hot spot over a whole cramping mass. My legs and feet have feeling in them today, which is awesome. So. Monday, I think I can handle you this week, by the Grace of God.

Monday has come like a Wedding Crasher, an uninvited visitor to our week. We can't get rid of her so we  might as well embrace her, make her feel welcome just long enough to be polite and then send her on her way. I know it's hard but we have to find... Reasons to Love Monday.

1. The creeping green crud has made me feel icky all through my respiratory system but at least my head doesn't hurt any more and I don't have the constant nasal drip. I don't know if I'm better but I'm at least better able to tolerate things.

2. I'm not the least bit interested in March Madness this year. Usually I'm working on my bracket and so forth. This year, notsomuch. Kentucky isn't playing and they're my favorite college basketball team so... I just don't care.

3. I can't wait to get to the office. I know I probably have fifty new emails and a couple dozen things I have to do, even if I can't find the voice to answer the phone. I love my job. I love the folks I work with and I'm happy to go and see them and do what little I can to help our agency be successful.

4. My socks match my pajama pants. Small victory, I know. But I'm wearing One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Dr. Seuss pajamas and the socks came from the clearance bin at the Rite Aid. For them to randomly end up matching and for me to just randomly grab that pair out of the sock drawer makes me super happy. I'm easy that way.

5. Coffee=good. Even though Pop bought Chock Full of Butts, I mean Nuts, I managed to doctor it into something warm and good. Although, granted, I can't really taste things still.

6. A good friend who has had a deep desire to be a husband and father got married last weekend. I have prayed this prayer for him for almost ten years, knowing that this was the desire of his heart. He and I have had several late night phone calls, emails and texts where his heart was just so broken, wondering if this would ever happen and I can't even begin to tell you how full my heart is, knowing that his prayers have been answered. Now I'm praying for babies... here's a video I'm sharing (without permission) with him singing the most perfect song...



If you want to see photos of the wedding, you can check out what the photographer posted on her website (and who doesn't like looking at wedding photos?)

7. My parents just celebrated their 47th anniversary over the weekend. They went out for dinner with my Aunt Ginger and Uncle Carl and Cody and Marquee. I was invited but passed... sitting for a long time at a restaurant is one of those things that really, really causes pain. They brought me back an awesome pizza (they went to Carrabas) that was enough for my dinner Saturday night, my lunch Sunday and lunch for Pop on Sunday.

8. Leftovers! Me and my mom put together corned beef & cabbage yesterday and it was soooo, sooo good! And there are leftovers! Can't wait.

9. Speaking of answered prayers... my friend Whitney in Jacksonville, the one friend I had there, the person who cared enough about me to visit me during visiting hours at the nut house because my only other visitor was going to be my mother-in-law and Whitney was afraid that she would try to talk me into going back to Michael (she didn't)... Whitney had a baby girl last Sunday. She ended up with an emergency c-section due to the baby's heart rate deceleration but baby Scarlett was born healthy and perfect at 6lbs, 15 oz! Mama and baby are doing well.

10. I love my perch, my nest, my window on the world. I can't travel and be in the places I want to be... whether it's celebrating the wedding of a friend... the birth of a new baby... my parents' anniversary... but I am blessed to be able to see what's going on in the life of my friends and loved ones. If my back problems existed in a Heather who lived fifty years ago, she would be a very lonely lady. I'm so blessed to live during the "information age" where I can continue to participate in the world in a way that doesn't cause pain.

My Uncle continues to be in ICU but I think the plan is for him to be able to go to a regular room today. My Aunt ended up in ICU herself by passing out... she's having issues with her blood sugar and blood pressure. When she is released from the hospital she's going to need to go home instead of staying with her husband and I know that's going to be hard on them. It's so often that caretakers end up being sick because their focus is on someone else. Would you continue to pray for them?

Here's to a great start to a wonderful week! Happy Monday, y'all!