Home Sick

This is not a post about me missing my family in California.  I wish it were.  It’s about the last 3 days of my life, which I have spent in the basement coughing up green stuff.  I’ve been home sick.

I’ve progressively been losing my voice over the last few weeks but Thursday afternoon I woke up with NO voice.  No, not a raspy morning voice, NONE.  N-O-N-E.  I went to say good morning to my cat, James, who so lovingly wakes me up most days around 2 or 3 by sniffing my eye with his cold, wet nose, or chewing on my hair. For those of you who don’t know, this is cat for “Mommy, wake up and pet me!”  Though I push him away everytime I actually sorta like it. (Some of you are writhing in digust right now and some are like “aaaaw, how cute”.)

 Anyhow, as I open my mouth to say “Morning, Booga” (“Booga” is one of the many affectionate nicknames that somehow, over the last 2 years, evolved from the word “James”….don’t ask.) , the noise that proceeds from me sounds alarmingly like the Albino from the Pit of Despair .  So I go into the bathroom and start coughing and this….this thing comes out.  You know the expression “hacking up a lung”? Yeah, well,  I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say that I had to stop looking at it cause I felt like I was going to pass out.  Aw man, this is much more than just a tired voice…this is bad news.  I began to count the cost.  I’m supposed to call 2 supporters today, and have coffee with Katie P. Both of which require talking.  Good thing is it’s my Sabbath so I have no major responsibilities except to rest, which is exactly what I need to do.  But Friday I’m supposed to have dinner with the Scoggans, again more talking.  Hopefully I’ll be better by tomorrow. Kyle says I’m an idealist.  Today, I call it hopeful.  So ,  I email the supporter, KP comes over and brings me soup and tea….I talk too much.  Bad girl.  Ahhhhhh..hours left to go and nothing that requires talking.  Oh NO! I realize that I was going to clean the basement tonight since I didn’t do it earlier this week like I had scheduled because I procrastinated….the entire basement, like serious cleaning.   I needed to do it before my roommate’s parents got in town (Friday, which was tomorrow) plus if I’m going to spend the next couple of days down here, I HAVE to make it more liveable.  So, I do it.  It takes me 4 hours.  I am a GENIUS.  Dust, cat dander, cleaning products……I can’t remember, aren’t these supposed to be awesome for your lungs? Afterward I felt considerably more miserable.

The really funny thing is that my roomate’s entire family (all 10 of them, little Korean kids and all) were coming over Friday to stay the night and I realized something.  It is extremely uncomfortable to be sick, unshowered, in your pajamas, with no way to go to the shower or the kitchen with out encountering 10 complete strangers.  Now I’m actually personable enough to pull that off, but the voice thing ruins all chances. If I were my roommates neices and nephews, I would be scared of me.  I can hear it now, “Mommy, who’s that girl that lives in the basement…she sounds like a monster.” Not to mention how awful it would be if those little kids got sick from me.

So I’ve been literally staying down here for almost 3 days.  I snuck up yesterday for some sunlight and a shower, then Lacey came over and sat with me for a while (thank you God for friends), but I retreated to my hole when the fam showed up.  I woke up today to kids laughing and playing above me, which was actually really nice and refreshing.  I am feeling a lot better today, though the coughing continues. I sound less guttoral and more squeaky.  Kinda Mickey Mouse-ish.  Hey, maybe the kids will like that. 

But, quite contrary to my normal response to inconvenience, I feel really thankful.  I’ve just been thinking about The Lord’s kindness in my life over the last 10 years, and right now I feel it so much I can hardly stand it.  Wierd.  And the way my friends have blessed me is unbearable.  Some things I’m especially grateful for:

The webcast- for bringing the House of Prayer into my basement

Sarah Kim- for going grocery shopping for me (she has no idea how much that blessed me)

Lacey- for coming over and talking to me

Katie P- for bringing me chicken soup and tea

Christina Styles- for letting me use her hot pot and make almost my own kitchen down here.  Oh and the oscillococcinum……that stuff kicks.

Elizabeth Hahn- for bringing me filters for my humidifier, Gatorade, tea… and more soup

Kyle- for mourning with me

Victoria- for calling me everyday to check up

Jordan- for almost dying of cat allergies just to spend time with me 

Wow.  I have a REALLY good life, despite what I deserve.