It was my birthday on Friday, and what a lovely day I had. On previous years we have had a day out somewhere – this year I decided on a more relaxed day. I was expecting a few garden vouchers for my birthday, and so I thought that we could go together to a garden centre, buy a few shrubs to fill a few gaps in the garden, have a nice steak pub lunch, and then a pleasant afternoon of gardening. Perfect.
Well it should have been perfect. But it wasn’t.
My week has not been a good one – the man flu that started last weekend has not abated, and as everyone knows, man flu is a serious medical condition. By Tuesday the condition had deteriorated to such an extent that I took a day off work – almost unheard of. I had company though, since, as married men often do, I share everything with my wife, and as a result Chantal had developed a chest infection, and was also off work. Unlike me, Chantal had the good sense to stay off work, whereas I returned to the office, which is why I spent the day that was booked off for my birthday watching TV. I spent more hours in front of The Box on my birthday than I have spent watching TV over the last month – well at least we have caught up with a lot of recorded drama and documentaries. It was my first alcohol free birthday for over 40 years.
Naturally I’ve been making the most of modern science in my battle against disease. I have been taking Pholcodeine for the cough and Sudafed for the catarrh and ibuprofen for the aching legs and head and Lemsip for anything else that I may have missed. I take these things very seriously. Actually a raid on the bathroom cabinet revealed a large quantity of out of date stuff, but most of this has now been consumed and replaced, although I’m still taking Sudafed that went out of date in December. 2011.
And now? Well yesterday I optimistically spent a few hours helping at a Scout event, but the coughing and blocked nose still prevents sleeping, and so today I am knackered. Maybe the pre-bedtime medications contradict each other. I’ll decide if I’m fit for work on Monday in the morning – possibly 3.00 in the morning.
At least I don’t make a fuss. But don’t ask Chantal to confirm this, or the Scraggies that I spent a few hours with yesterday. All I did was to describe my symptoms a few times, and once or twice I explained that I was a bit under the weather, and I promptly had earache added to my list of woes….
And Chantal? Well, she is certainly being more stoical than me, but like me, will decide on a return to work date in the morning.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
