I Should Be Sleeping...

But I'm so hopped up on cold and sinus meds that I can't yet. Finally, my sinuses have opened and my head no longer feels completely clogged with sawdust. I'm sure the people at Safeway think I'm insane. I stopped there this morning after taking my son to a couple of appointments and I purchased seven boxes of tissues with lotion, Benedryl, NyQuil Sinus, and Afrin. Oh, and bananas, apples, grapes, 8 boxes of my favorite chili which was on sale, and three liters of mouthwash. See? Insanity. I know my club card tracks all my purchases and someone at corporate has some handy report of all my preferred products and brands. I don't want to know what they think; at least the card is still in my maiden name and I can deny all knowledge if need be.

Anyway, I tried the Afrin, despite the fact that I have never used a nasal spray in my life. I was desperate enough to try about anything to open up my head. I've always been a wimp about things up the nose though. Pool water makes me sputter, and I remember once when I was about 14, my sister and I were eating cold pizza and playing Monopoly and she made me laugh after I took a bite and I accidentally snorted a piece of pepperoni up into my nose. I couldn't say what had happened, since the pepperoni was lodged onto my soft palate; I could only hop and dance and grunt into the living room, pointing at my nose while Dad shook his head, Mom stared, and my sister peed her pants with laughter.

Anyway.

So I bucked myself up, made sure CJ was sound asleep, and went to the bathroom to try the nasal spray. Took a few wasted attempts to get the hang of the delivery method, then BANG! WHOOSH! Solid hit of menthol straight to the sinus tissue. Man, talk about a kick in the pants. It burned, but almost pleasantly so, and I snorted a few times to make sure I could actually feel the mucus parting away. Whaddya know, it actually worked! I've been keeping up with the Benedryl to make sure those sinuses stay open, and now I'm waiting for the NyQuil Sinus to kick in.

I can't remember the last time I craved sleep so badly--probably during my pregnancy, when drinking a glass of water was enough to tap my energy for the day. The problem is I haven't been able to sleep more than two hours, and more likely, one hour, before waking up drowning in snot and needing to blow my nose. I've had very little REM sleep during that time, so I'm feeling better, but freaking beat. I'm intending to sleep in bed tonight--the last two nights I slept on the couch so I could prop myself up and avoid waking Tom all through the night. Last night, I managed to hit REM and was having a lovely dream:

I was bantering with Gregory House, but I don't think it was the TV show. I don't recall any other characters there, but it was definitely not Hugh Laurie, since he was speaking with the American accent. Anyway, he was being all flirty with me because in my dreams I am irresistible even to misanthropes, and just when the dream was getting good--and I mean, whispered, whiskered kisses to the nape of my neck good--time to wake up and BLOW! Gah!

I am so sick of being sick.

Spent the evening watching the premiere of the new Hell's Kitchen after getting CJ to bed (pause to say I love my TiVo) and I have to admit I love this show, even though Gordon Ramsay is one messed up individual. I watch this year like I did last year, wondering how I would fare if I tried, especially since I've gotten pretty good at cooking over the years. I know the first thing I would do if I were accepting to be on the show--I'd get my hands on every Good Eats episode I could and watch nothing but Alton Brown for 16 hours a day--honing my knife skills, understanding the science, and getting ready to cook my pants off. I've already got his tomato sauce (the one with canned tomatoes, not the one with Romas), chicken pot pie, and thin and crispy chocolate chip cookie recipes in the ol' repetoire. What's a few more to learn?