When I woke up this morning, I felt like crap. My head hurt, my sinuses were stuffed up, my room was too cold, and I wanted nothing more than to call in sick. I just didn't feel like being told that they really needed me and was there any chance I could just try coming in?

My phone rang.

The manager who called me said that they were over hours, the store was dead, and did I want the day off?

Sometimes things work out that way.

Now if only I could make my sinuses cooperate.

*goes to heat some chicken noodle soup*

Hey everybody! Guess who has bronchitis!

Yep. I left work early yesterday and headed straight for the doctor's office, where I got the wonderful news. I suppose the news itself isn't that bad. It doesn't make me feel any worse and I now have two prescriptions to take. One of them is an antibiotic, which I hate to take but will make this go away more quickly. The other is a codeine-laced cough syrup that is supposed to help me sleep. So far, the latter isn't quite living up to its promise, but I hope it will as the antibiotics start working. I also got about ten repetitions of the advice to "hydrate hydrate hydrate" so I always have a Gatorade next to me when I'm awake.

This doctor was one hell of a lot better than the jerk I had to deal with last time. It was nice to deal with someone who was pleasant and actually listened to what I had to say. I know that it would be a good idea to have a regular doctor instead of rely on Promptcare, but I like being able to walk in when I need a doctor. And the other doctor's name has disappeared from the place, so I don't have to worry about him anymore.

So, I got another day and a half off (unpaid, but I can handle it) and some new meds and I don't have pneumonia. It could be worse.

But I still hurt and have a hard time sleeping. And I have to worry about having an allergic reaction to another antibiotic.

My head hurts. My joints hurt. My chest hurts. Not even Nyquil seems to be helping that much anymore. Bleah.

I seem to have come down with the chest cold from hell. I can't sleep very well, when I wake up I hurt even more, and I just don't have the energy to do much of anything else. I constantly have to cough but it makes me head hurt so much.

And this is me feeling a lot better than I did the day before yesterday.

I really hope I can make it through the day tomorrow. I called out for today, which I know was a real pain in the ass for all of my coworkers. But I was half dead.

There was one bit of excitement on Friday that broke through my fog of pain-and-feeling-like-shit. The fire alarm went off. Oh, joy. All I needed was a loud screech and flashing lights going off in the store while we try to convince everyone that it would be a good idea to leave. One woman truly amazed me. I caught her walking toward the back of the store and I called out to her "Ma'am, that's the fire alarm. We have to get everyone out of the store!"

She turned towards me, holding her fingers against her ears to block out as much of the cacophony as she could. "Not until I pee," she informed me, and walked off to the restrooms, leaving me with my jaw agape.

It turned out that a customer had leaned against the alarm, but still....