Finding humor in misery

I am miserable. Now I know, in the whole scheme of things, there are people much worse off that I and that I could be in a much worse place as well. In my here and now, however, I am miserable. 

I have been fighting allergy issues ever since ragweed started to bloom a week or two ago. Late Friday night, I added a cold or a touch of the flu to the mix. Woke up Saturday still sneezy and itchy, but with a sore throat. "Drainage," I told myself as I let loose with a volley of sneezes, much like the rapid fire of an automatic weapon.

By mid-morning, however, I was back in bed, trying to get some much-craved sleep. That lasted a couple of hours and was much appreciated. When I got up, however, I felt as though a rhino snout was growing out of my face, my trigger for knowing that I have a rhinovirus (common cold). A quick look in the mirror, however, confirmed that my snout was my own and not that of a wild beast.

Throughout the day, the snout issue intensified as my nasal passages swelled to gigantic (so it seemed) proportions. My sore throat also worsened. I sucked on single-stick popsicles (the traditional cherry, grape, and orange ones). Those seemed to help a bit. I also was famished. Perhaps it was a side effect. If one has a rhino snout, perhaps one also has a rhino appetite!

In an attempt to flush all the nastiness out of my system, I drank lots of water, which had its own humorous side effects, especially when sneezing fits ensued. At one point, my 77-year-old mother asked me whether I wanted to use some of her incontinence pads. I thought I heard a chuckle in her voice when she asked, but surely that was not true. Mom wouldn’t mock me in my time of misery.

Late Saturday evening, I added Airborne to my misery-fighting arsenal. I’ve had good luck with it in the past. But the Airborne, anti-histamines, and all the water I drank caught up with me and every hour to hour and a half, I was up and in the bathroom. I also couldn’t seem to control my internal temp. I waffled between hot and cold all night. I think I slept maybe forty-five minutes to an hour between each journey down the hall, so I’m a little punchy this morning.

All in all, though, I think the misery is starting to subside. My snout does not feel as swollen and drainage is down to a trickle. My ETA for feeling human again is about the time I go to work on Monday. Thank goodness I had the weekend to fight this!

My friend, Cora, also is fighting a summer cold and wrote an ode to her situation. It is with your inspiration, Cora, that penned this little ditty:

Hot. Cold. Up. Down.
Rhino on my face.
Achy. Sneezy. Oops, I peed.
Bathroom is my place.

Music! Music! Music!

Those who know me well, know that I have eclectic music preferences. From classical to country, swing to disco, I like it.

Now that’s not to say that I like everything in each of those genres. For instance, I can’t stand Elvira or Swingin’. Ring My Bell makes me cringe. I detest the 1980s’, Don’t Worry Be Happy, yet I enjoy its 1960s counterpart, The 59^th Street Bridge Song.

Funny how music affects us.  Via our memories, music can transport us to a specific time in our lives or trigger a feeling from the distant past. Ninety percent of the time, I can make such a connection between a piece of music and something in my life.

I recently heard the opening music of Captain Kangaroo – my favorite show as a child – and immediately, albeit briefly, felt that excited anticipation I always felt as the show was beginning. A couple of months ago, as a part of its 60^th anniversary celebration, KWCH in Wichita aired the first couple Beverly Hillbillies episodes. There was a joy in hearing “Come and listen to a story ‘bout a man named Jed…” that I haven’t felt in years.

Marching band music is designed to generate excitement, yet there is a level of excitement created as the Salina Central drum corps marches in below Salina Stadium that I get nowhere else. Certain disco songs take me back to summer evenings during high school, when I was out with my friends and there was a bit of a cooling breeze buffeting our faces as we enjoyed life.

Another disco song, Kool and the Gang’s Celebration, takes me back to my Fort Hays days, specifically to DJs, a now defunct bar in Hays where one could “party with 900 of your closest friends.” (It was in an old Dillon’s store.) Then we thought it was fun. Now I would be concerned that I would have to wait at least a half hour to get into a restroom!

Sometimes I don’t understand why a song takes me back to a specific event. For instance, every time I hear Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street, I flash back to Salina Stadium in May of 1978 when the class ahead of mine was graduating. I know Baker Street was released that year, but why it takes me back to that particular graduation is a mystery.

I always thought it odd that I so enjoyed Moolight Serenade until years later I learned that it was my parents’ “song.” Enough said.

Music and my mood are directly linked. Either music affects my mood or because of my mood, I listen to a particular type of music. Sometimes, I find that I need to recapture a particular feeling, so I listen to music my mind has linked to that feeling. I have put together playlists on Spotify to correspond to particular moods/feelings. What I listen to one day may not appeal to me the next. As I write this, I am listening to a ‘70s mix and it is fitting my mood quite nicely.

I don’t understand why some people insist on slamming others because of the music to which they listen. I’m not overly fond of hair bands, for instance, yet I have friends who are. And you can be quite sure that I will make no apologies for enjoying disco. To each his own, I say.

Music has an important role in our lives, at least it does in mine. Make time to enjoy some music and see where it takes you!

It's official. We're old!

A few days ago, I got together with some wonderful ladies...classmates from high school. One of the group had decided that we needed to get together (it had been a long time) and invited us to her home for a barbecue.

As usual, we had a grand time. We laughed, teased, ate, and laughed some more. We caught up on each other's lives, found out what children and grandchildren were doing, etc. At one point, the conversation moved to corns on feet, their removal, and how they sometimes come back. It was then that one of my friends pointed out that we sounded like a group of old ladies, to which we responded with cackling laughter.

We're all in our early 50s, except one who continues to be 29. In our minds' eyes, we're still in our 20s. Unfortunately, our bodies are not willing to go along with the charade. We have corns. We have aches. We don't heal as quickly as we used to and we can't do everything that we used to do.

But rather than dwell on the have-nots, each of us in our own way focuses on the haves in our lives. We have a wealth of experience, albeit not always pleasant, on which to draw when faced with decisions and dilemmas. We have shelter, clothing, and food. We have loving families. We have work and activities to occupy our time. We also have a loving group of friends who can brighten a day the moment they walk into the room.

Ladies, you know who you are. I thank you for being such a delightful part of my life, regardless of how old we are. I am truly blessed. For the rest of you, I hope you, too, have such a group in your lives to make the journey much more enjoyable.

Lucky 2013

It hardly seems like it was 13 years ago that people were freaking out about the world moving into the year 2000, but here we are in 2013. We survived 2000, just as we did the doom of the alleged Mayan calendar-predicted end of the world last month. And as of last check, I have yet to see zombies in my yard. I’m sure the doomsday preppers gave a healthy boost to the economy, though.

Now here we are in 2013. We have a whole new year, a whole new adventure. What will it bring? Who knows? What I do know is there are decisions we can make now that can help shape how the year goes. Of course, there will always be those unknowns that will affect our lives, but if we never made any decisions, never tried, our lives would be pathetic. I, for one, am deciding to not be pathetic.

I’ve never been one for making and adhering to New Year’s resolutions. Such have always seemed to be so black and white, so specific, and a fast-track to failure. For instance, a person resolves to lose 50 pounds by summer, but only loses 30. Despite the fact that the person is probably healthier, he/she has still failed at achieving the resolution.

So with that in mind, I have decided to develop resolutions that recognize achievement without being so absolute. Dealing with absolutes is like going through life with blinders on. There’s a whole big world of possibilities and if one goes through life without at least recognizing that there are other possibilities/options beyond one’s scope of knowledge, one stifles creativity and misses a great deal of life’s beauty and delight.

Here are my resolutions for 2013:

1. I will do my best to get in better shape. I sit in front of a computer much too much. I need to move more and make some better food choices.

2. I will read more and play online games less. Playing online games is a great way for me to relax. But I can relax and expand my mind by reading more.

3. I will do a better job of letting those who are important to me know just how important they are.

4. I will do my best to rid my life of unnecessary drama. There are those persons in my life who insist on creating drama, despite knowing that I detest unnecessary drama. Much of it is to get attention, as said persons constantly have to have attention, but some also is to create a situation in which those persons can then swoop in and save the day. Either way, I’ve had enough and am going to do my best to get that crap out of my life.

5. I will do my best to cut loose unhealthy, dysfunctional relationships. Enough said.

6. I will do my best to develop healthy, meaningful relationships.

7. I will do my best to remain open to the possibility of options becoming available in the future and not restricting myself to only the changes mentioned above.

I hope each of you who reads this has a wonderful 2013! I plan to do so. Happy New Year!