Fever dreams

Thanks, everyone, for all the get well wishes! Y'all are the best!

I still felt pretty crummy today, but we had an easy day at work, and my coworkers (they're pretty cool, too) had no problem with me cutting out an hour or so early. I foresee a nap in my very near future....

After my Alka Seltzer Plus wore off last night, I got kind of restless. I was sleeping, and apparently very soundly, because I had very odd and vivid dreams. Does that happen to anyone else when they're sick? I don't know if there's a bit of fever going on that makes your mind do crazy things, or if the cold medicine makes you loopy, or what, but it can sure result in some strange dreams for me. I don't remember most of them from last night...just weird little bits and pieces, such as looking at a scrapbook that had a tiny pair of silver cat-eye glasses on one page...I broke them...a screened porch on a house...trying to put on a pair of nylons and having a hard time of it...all very disjointed and bizarre, but very vivid.

At least I didn't have the dream--more of a nightmare, actually--I used to have when I was a kid. Whenever I was sick, I would have this horrible dream that someone was throwing something huge and heavy to me, and I had to catch it. I never knew what the consequences were if I didn't catch it, but I knew I just HAD to. After I caught it, I would struggle and toss it back...then they would throw it back to me, and I would have to catch it again. It seemed to get heavier each time it came my way, and I after several exchanges like that, I would wake up in a sweat, horribly anxious and scared. I'm sure it sounds terrifying (a little sarcasm there), but for some reason, it really was an awful dream. As soon as it started, I would have this horrible feeling of dread come over me, because I knew what would happen--it would just keep getting heavier.

As I got older, I sort of figured out that it was probably because I was feeling so congested and having a hard time breathing...like something heavy was sitting on my chest. Once I figured out where it was coming from, it seemed like I didn't have that dream anymore. It's been years since I had it. Now watch...writing about it has conjured it in my mind, and I'll have it tonight! Noooooo! Not the Heavy Thing Nightmare! I suppose that laughing about it helped a bit to get it out of my head, too!

Thinking of this made me remember one of my Mom's remedies when I had a sore throat or was coming down with a cold. She would rub BenGay on my neck, then fasten either an old sock or a cloth diaper--I can't recall which it was--around my neck with a safety pin. Okay, let's clear up a couple things right off the bat. It was a CLEAN sock and/or diaper. And she fastened the cloth together with a safety pin, she did not pin the cloth to my flesh. Just wanted to clarify! The menthol smell of the BenGay seemed to help me breathe, and it was warm on my neck, and it always seemed to make me feel better. Or maybe it was just that I knew Mom was taking care of me.

Maybe next time I feel sick I should try that...if nothing else, it would be quite a stylish fashion statement, don't you think?