A post in which I become alarmed

Coffee was uneventful this morning. The tree was still there, but I knew what it was today.

My secret plan for putting off doing Christmas cards tonight involved wanting to eat something before I went home. I knew that there was nothing in the fridge to eat for supper, so I decided on a whim to stop at a new Chinese place on the way home from work. It wasn’t a buffet though, and I didn’t want to take the time for a menu meal, so I left. On the way out, and trying to think what was close and fast, I went ducked into a shopping center and remembered that I’ve been meaning to stop on the way home since Thanksgiving to pick up a mattress pad. I also desperately need a new comforter/bedspread/something to go on the bed. The comforter on there now is so disgusting that I won’t fold laundry on it, and it can’t be washed. I was also flush with cash after Dad paid me back for the elfin I’ve been doing for him lately. I delivered the two gifts I had for Eve to him last night.

I found an excellent deluxe Seally mattress pad at Ross’s for $23, but no bedspread. I wandered over to the Marshall’s home store to look at theirs. Walking through the store, I stumbled across those fabulous toffees that Miss Kat had last Christmas. I had thought they were caramels. Anyway, when I went to see her last Christmas she had gotten them as a gift and had just opened them. I tried one and WOW. Then they left the room to chase down the dogs, leaving me alone with the toffees. I was at first just eating one at a time, but ended up diving face down into them like Miss Piggy or the Cookie Monster. I kept wishing they would come back and stop me, because I knew if they left me there I would eat the whole thing. So I picked up a couple of containers (at $9 each!!) because I was embarrassed to buy more than two. But I’m going back for the after-Christmas sale. Because that’s what I need in my diet – more candy.

They had exactly what I wanted in the bedspread section – a quilt that was antique-y looking, machine washable, in the size I needed. Unfortunately, the color would have seared out the retinas of the aesthetically sensitive; kind of a nuclear lime green design. I decided to look online.

As I was resolutely headed home to eat a sandwich and work on Christmas cards, Nicole called. I hardly ever see Nicole, and I adore her, but out schedules just do not usually coincide. She had finished exams, and wanted to get together. Now there was a heaven-sent excuse to put off Christmas cards for another night. We made plans to go out for something scrummy for supper, and have a visit.

I’ve been tired, out of sorts, and generally feeling off since before Thanksgiving. But I’ve been keeping on. As I drove home to meet Nicole tonight, I felt my neck. It is blown up to huge proportions, like an elk in rut or something. When I got home I looked up mumps online. I have all the symptoms. I know I was vaccinated as a child, but don’t you have to have boosters? I’m freaking out. Thank goodness I don’t have to worry about infertility, anyway. Although, I have occasionally thought about donating to a sperm bank…

But I digress. The worst part is that the mumps is a virus, and has a run course of NINE days! I can’t be out of work for nine days right now! Donnie’s party is Saturday night! It’s the height of the Holiday crap!

I tried calling Nicole, but couldn’t reach her. When she got to the house, I met her on the porch and advised her of my condition. She called a doctor she knows personally, and he verified the diagnosis. But Nicole has had her shots – she just got back from England last summer, so I figure she’s had all her boosters and stuff. Like a trooper, she was game for dinner anyway. So we went out for Mexican and she came back to the house to visit for a while.

But I was fading. After she left, I called Dick and Eve to tell them about the possible exposure, but Eve has already had it. Because I was feeling worse, I went ahead and called Donnie and cancelled my RSVP for his party. Dammit. First time in about fifteen years I won’t be there.

I then crawled gratefully into my bed. I was bushed.