I have a “To Do” list. It’s helpful when I have so many things to do that I can’t keep track of them all.
This same feature is also the worst aspect of my To Do list, generally because the list makes it quite obvious that fulfilling my ambitions would require more time than is available. And I have a difficult time telling anyone no, especially myself. So removing a list item before it’s marked complete isn’t an option.
My grandmother used to tell me I was biting off more than I could chew. I prefer to look at it as finding the pony in the pile of horse manure. The only way to approach it is one shovel at a time.
I caught the flu sometime during the last few days on our cruise to Panama. I suspect it was when my husband and I were waiting for a trivia game to start, sipping cocktails in a booth of the BB King lounge. It was the last game of a regular daily activity on the last day of the cruise. Just before the game was about to start, a middle-aged woman slid into the seat next to me.
“Do you mind if I join you?” she asked politely.
I smiled and nodded, unsuspecting.
She took a bag off her shoulder and put it next to her. “Usually I do this with my husband and friends. But they picked up something and are all sick in the cabin.” She laughed nervously. “I’m the only one who didn’t get it.”
My husband and I looked at each other. He made some rude comment, which, at the time, I found inappropriate. In retrospect I wish he’d pissed her off so much that she would’ve left. Why would she assume she wasn’t carrying a virus if everyone in her party was sick?
We played the game as a threesome. I’m not a trivia fan and the questions focused on cultural topics from the Baby Boomer generation, so my primary contribution consisted of penciling answers onto a paper. My husband is usually pretty good at trivia, but our new friend was a few years older than he and supplied most of the answers. Still, we didn’t score well, and when it was finished she simply took off. I don’t even think we swapped names. It was definitely not the most fun I’ve ever had on a cruise.
The next day we left the ship and began the two day drive home. By the third day, my husband was beginning to feel ill but chalked it up to the usual spring allergies. Our Arbor Day Org box was waiting for us on the porch; all 43 trees arrived the day we got home and needed to be planted immediately. So we spent the weekend digging holes. Ouch.
He popped antihistimines like candy all weekend. There were several times that he was so tired he simply sat on the grass and watched me work. I asked if he wanted to go inside and lie down, but, well, you know how men can get when it comes to admitting they’re sick.
However, by Monday I had no choice. Thankfully, by then we’d planted, mulched, and watered everything that needed it.
Because I was immobile. I had the flu.
I slept through Thursday, getting up occasionally for water. I didn’t even have enough energy to read a book. All I remember is lots of fever, lots of aching, and lots of Nyquil. By Friday morning I was on a permanent Nyquil high.
Today I am doing much better. I actually slept through the entire night and have enough energy to want to tackle the treadmill. But I’m going to be patient and use my time to catch up on errands instead. No sense in pushing things.
This is life, right? Lesson learned: when someone asks to join you and immediately confesses that they might be carrying a virus, tell them to go away. Or leave. Their confession doesn’t provide any magical protection or absolve them of their responsibility to prevent spreading an illness.
I figure I might have 30 years left to live. That’s 10,950 days. I feel like I was robbed of five of them this week. Now I only have 10,945 days left to finish everything on my To Do list.
