I am so tired of being sick.

I read once, somewhere, years ago, that one of the unhappy side effects of depression is that it compromises your immune system, leaving you more susceptible to run-of-the-mill illnesses like colds, the flu, etc.

That certainly tracks with my experiences during these past six months. And quite frankly, I’m not going to do any online research tonight to either confirm or deny this theory. Yes, it’s an atypical choice for me to make, but here’s how I figure it. Whether or not I corroborate this theory for why I’ve been catching every damn bug to come through the office, none of it changes the fact that I’ve been catching every damn bug that comes through the office.

And quite frankly, I’d rather have a context in which to understand this streak of illnesses. I’m not entirely sure I could take it if I ended up disproving this theory tonight. I’ll be scientifically grounded some other day: right now I’m going to coddle my emotions.

So last week was really fun: a stomach bug that has hit at least 3 other co-workers, at current count. All of us are reporting a similar cycle of two days of the toast-and-applesauce diet, followed by a sense of lingering malaise/muscle aches that persists more than a week after the illness first surfaced.

Anyhow, I’ve done my best to keep up with work and laundry and holiday preparations and concert season, but that’s been about the extent of what I could do. With all the holiday travel Mr. Mezzo and I have lined up for the next 2 weeks (getaway weekend just the two of us, then a couple last days in the office, then back-to-back whirlwind trips to each side of the family), I don’t know how much writing I’m going to be doing. In the ongoing balancing act between my desire to connect with family and my introversion/low energy level, I may choose to spend any quiet time not writing but doing something more like this:

Even if I keep laying low through the remainder of the holiday season, I expect to be able to re-engage more robustly come 2015.

Catch you on the flip side, oh great Interwebs!

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Image credit: Giphy.