Ugh.

I have caught my annual cold/flu/germ.  Time was, in my younger days, when I’d just get a cold and then bounce right back.  Not so much any more.

So I have been doing my very best to lay low and let my old body fight the good fight.  I slept all afternoon on Saturday, and went to be early.  Sunday dawned and I still had the chills and aches. My nose was red, my eyes were puffy, my back hurt.  I was a wreck.

And….that’s when the doorbell rang and my sons appeared unexpectedly to visit!  Yesterday was the annual Memorial Mass that my Mom organizes to remember my Dad.  The whole huge clan gathers at church, then goes back to Mom’s house for food, drink, memories and laughs.   The boys hadn’t been sure that they would be able to come (they both work weekends, and live on the opposite side of the state), but they pulled it off and surprised everyone.

What great kids!  What a treat!

But I was sick.  I was really sick.   So I stayed home on the couch while they went off for the day with Paul.

I waved as they left, then wrapped back up in my quilt, grabbed another box of tissues and curled up on the couch. And cried a little, which made my head ache more and my eyes puff more and my nose feel like it was packed with dried cement.

Poor me!!  Poor, poor pitiful me….

All day on the couch trying to stay entertained.  I read the Sunday paper, but I honestly cannot stand one more editorial about Mitt or Barack or Scott or Elizabeth (I’m in Massachusetts, that would be “Brown” and “Warren”, running for Senate).  I can’t stand one more word about the Dem or the Repubs or the campaigns or the strategies or the gaffes.  Don’t even get me started on Congress.   Blech.  No more newspaper.

So I booted up the computer.  Read my emails, caught up on who made a new recipe and whose kids won Pulitzer prizes (yes, I was on Facebook).  Glanced at Slate, Politico and the Huff Po, but Mitt and Barrack were everywhere.  My nausea just couldn’t take it.

What could I do?  My head and eyes were too sore to read, and I had finished my last good book anyway.  I could correct those spelling inventories, but that would involve thinking, and I was way too pitiful and sad to think.  What could I do that would involve absolutely no mental effort?  TV, or course!

Well, holy moly.  Do you have any idea what’s on TV on a Sunday afternoon? Let me give you a little run down of my DirectTV lineup:

-golf, football, football, golf (nope, nope, nope and uh,uh)

-Hoarders; Buried Alive (sometimes I watch this to make me feel better about my    housekeeping skills, but today I was surrounded by used tissues…nope)

– Ice Road Truckers (huh?)

– Survivorman

– Dog the Bounty Hunter

– My Strange Addiction (eeeeeew!)

– Sexy Looks; Brazil Butt Lift; 30 lbs Overweght?Try Sensa!; Tummy Tuck! and “Mom is 57!  Looks 27!” (Um, I’ll pass on all of the above. Have you SEEN my red nose?)

Or I could shop!  Ninja Kitchen Systems; Jewelry: Fall sale!; ProActiv; Healthy Protein Drinks; Jawsaw (seriously? Selling a chain saw on TV?)

The movie channels were equally uninspiring.  They all seemed to involve spiders for some reason. “Arachnoquake”, “Spider Attack”, “Arachnophobia”.  Uh, NO!

Back to the major networks for a bit, even if they are showing sports, sports and more sports.

But then I’m bombarded again with those ADS!  “I’m Mitt Romney/Barack Obama/Elizabeth Warren/Scott Brown and I approve this message.”  Yeah?  Well, I DON’T!!!!

Click.

Silence.

Poor, poor pitiful me.  I’m sick, and I’m sick of it.