A Week of Being Sick

I haven't had a very "healthy" week, I guess you could say. I've been dealing with a very serious cold; the worst I've experienced in quite awhile - probably in at least a couple of years. I am just now starting to get over it. The coughing is beginning to subside, my nose isn't running nearly as often, and I am finally beginning to speak right. It's one of the reasons why I was only able to crank out four blogs in the month of November. I had planned to write one or two more towards the end of the month, especially around Thanksgiving. But that is when this cold struck and I haven't been the same since. Only today have I finally had the motivation to jump on the computer and write a blog. Yeah, I suppose I could've braved the sickness to write even a short blog. But when you just ain't feeling right, I figured what's the point? Anyways, here's a bit of a recap as to what I've dealt with during the past week.

It all began on Thankgiving day, in fact. I had spent the night at my mom and dad's the previous night and had just woke up. I started to get out of bed but then I was feeling very dizzy. As I walked about the house, I was even having a difficult time walking in a straight line. Gradually throughout the day, the dizziness improved, but it still continued to be a problem when I bent down. There were a few instances where I had to gather myself before I fell down. I was actually pretty bummed to feel this way because my niece and nephew were over for Thanksgiving and they are always a ton of fun to be around whenever they are over. At least I was able to get over my dizziness somewhat later in the day and spend time with them. Still, I was very disappointed to have this happen to me on Thanksgiving.

Later that day and into the evening, I started to develop a cough. I was experiencing this tickle in my throat that kept me coughing every now and again. It wasn't a steady cough, but just enough of one to know that something might not be right. It probably didn't help that I was just starting my latest stretch of midnights, either. Before the end of my first midnight shift was over, my throat was also beginning to feel rather raw and sore. This was only the beginning. The next few days got much worse. And it didn't help that Sunday and Monday mornings I had to work 12-hour shifts. My throat got very sore - this was probably the worst part about the cold. It affected my voice enough so that I nearly lost it a few different times. My nose started to run, my cough was getting worse, and I just wasn't feeling all that great. It ended up turning into a typical head cold. I ended up buying a bunch of medicines for my cold, which all seemed to help. And now today, I can confidently say that I am finally starting to turn the corner with this cold.

I can honestly say I've never had a cold start the way that this one did. To be so dizzy to start off and then to develop a cough before even getting a sore throat is pretty unusual, at least I think so. That just goes to show you that not all cold or flu strains are the same. Usually the first symptom of the common cold is the sore throat - but not in this instance. Another thing that was so unusual about this cold is how it affected my throat to the point that my voice was very hoarse for a good three or four days. I know I've had many colds where I've sounded stuffed up, but never to the point where I was losing my voice. Needless to say, it's been kind of a long road but I am very pleased to say that my condition is improving with each passing day. The lingering effects of this cold may continue for another week or so, but I am confident to say that the worst of this cold is behind me. Hopefully I don't experience another cold like this again for a very long time.

March Snow Storms

We've had some dandy snow storms in the past during the month of March. We just experienced another March snow storm here in the Upper Peninsula the past few days to add to the record books, but it's not going to be a very memorable one. We picked up around a foot of snow to add to the snow pack. And it's not the fluffy kind of snow, either, as there is a decent-amount of moisture to it. It really is not easy to move it around. It's currently snowing as we speak, with the storm enhancing squalls from Lake Superior. It would not surprise me if we picked up another six inches of snow before tomorrow morning. But we're already into the month of March and spring isn't that far away now.

I remember some pretty spectacular snow storms when I was a kid. This storm was a little too close by which didn't allow us to receive more system snow than what we could've. The winds also weren't as strong as what they could've been. If all of the right ingredients came together, we could be talking about six to eight foot snow drifts, strong winds, blizzard conditions, and storm totals nearing 30 inches. Those are the kinds of storms I remember when I was little. Usually we'd get this huge snow drift to form right in front of the house that would be so high in the air, almost up to the eves of the roof. The snowbanks would be quite high, as tall as the street sign near the end of the driveway. There would be snow as far as the eye can see. I could tell the winds would be howling when the little tag that hangs down from the electric meter on the exterior wall of my bedroom would rattle away, waking me up. But in the past few years, we really have not seen the blizzards from the days gone by. And by blizzards, I mean blizzards - strong winds, heavy snows, and snow days. I remember one winter, we missed close to ten days of school because of snow. One such school year, we had to make up a school day on Saturday! That's how many snow days we racked up. And although schools still close down because of this kind of weather, they usually open right back up the next day. We had bad storms in the past that would close down school for two straight days. Doesn't seem to happen that much anymore.

I remember one snow storm that was particularly severe. Our high school boy's varsity basketball team was competing in the regional tournament up in Marquette one day in March of 1997. We had an old fashioned blizzard going on, but despite the bad weather, we still had school, all because of the basketball game that evening. For some reason they couldn't postpone the game so they decided to hold school. When it was time for us to leave for the game, the weather was really nasty. My parents were deciding whether it was a good idea to even go, but I was rather insistent on going. So my dad and I traveled out on the roads. It wasn't a very good idea for us to go and we quickly found that out along the way. We experienced a heavy, blinding snow and frequent white-out conditions. Even part of the highway just south of the city had to be closed off because of the dangerous driving conditions. My dad found an alternative route to where the game was being played and we got to the gymnasium on time. But, because of the road closure, the basketball team was a good 45 minutes to an hour late. The wind was really involved in that storm and I knew afterwards it wasn't such a good idea to risk our lives just for some basketball game (especially one where we got hammered!). That stormy situation is one I will never forget.

The winter of 2006-07 is quickly coming to a close, yet that doesn't mean we won't see our fair share of snow and cold until spring finally starts to set in. April can be a rather snowy month around here, too. Judging from the way our winter started with a snow cover finally establishing itself around January 13th, I have a feeling we may end up paying for our unusual late start to winter early on. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.