Brought to you by the letter 'F'

'F' is for Flu.

'F' is also for Food Poisoning.

I had at least one of those things, maybe both. All I know is I was goin' along all fine and well on Saturday and about midnight Saturday night, everything I've ever consumed in my entire life decided it was time to vacate the premises.

(I hope that was not too graphic or anything. Sorry if it was. Feel free to email me and explain to me why describing my sickness is bad. Just like you (and you know who you are) emailed me saying that I deserved all I get because I'm a Red Sox fan. 'Cause that makes a lot of sense. Let me tell you a couple things about my Red Sox fandom: first, I was brainwashed long ago. It's too late for change. Second, I like a challenge. Do you know how difficult it is to be educated yet able to embrace your hillbilly roots all the while being a Red Sox fan? So now you see, it is all in the challenge, my friend.)

Anyway, the flu or flu-like symptoms persisted well into the wee hours on Monday morning. I haven't been sick in over four years. I haven't had the flu since high school. This was a little traumatic for me. My mother, bless her, came over a couple times to take care of me. There was a time when something so little as an icecube was the enemy, so there wasn't much she could do. Still, she was there and I'm so thankful she was. Somewhere in my fever and nausea induced haze, I had nightmares that I wasn't in the same city as my mommy and that I had to be sick without her. That was a terrifying thought. Maybe one day I'll be part of a couple or married and that will be nice to have someone there, but I don't think anyone is going to replace mom. If I'm ever far away, I'm going to make sure I always have enough money to put my mother on the next red-eye flight to bring me 7-Up and Saltines.

Because I'm young and stupid, I went into work for a couple hours Monday morning. I had a meeting scheduled and at the very least, I had to go in and prep someone else to take it for me. Thankfully, they did and I came home and slept through the rest of the day. In between two hour naps, I noticed there is an unbelievably large amount of "Judge" shows on daytime television. Do we really need all these t.v. judges?

Also in my haze, I received a number of phone calls from friends offering to bring me things and help me. I have a list of ten or so people that I need to call back and thank for their concern. I'm fairly certain that the reminder that people care is the only good thing that came out of this. Good enough.

'F' is also for Family and Friends.

Right now, I think I'm going to go catch up on some blog reading and eat something other than chicken broth. And be thankful I can walk ten feet without taking the trash can with me.