It’s beginning to look a lot less like Christmas. I won’t be taking the tree and lights down until the weekend at least, but most of the other parts and pieces that went into yesterday’s celebration have disappeared. Well, except for all my cool new stuff, and all that food. Somehow I inherited a wondrous supply of leftovers (and Eric’s pie, which he forgot).

One thing that lingers is the croup, or whatever it is that’s going through the family. Aiden is still sick, but gamely not letting it get him down. Which is more than I can say for myself this morning (and last night, and this afternoon). I had maybe my worst night of the year. I was lying in bed, still awake, at 4:00 am, and at 4:30 am, and so at 5:00 am I decided to get up and turn on the TV.

At 6:30 I went back to bed, and finally I managed to fall asleep. Then at 7:45 I heard a noise that woke me up. That hour and a quarter was the only sustained sleep I got all night. The phone didn’t ring all morning, so I lazed around as much as I could, between trips to the bathroom. But I don’t think I have what the rest of the family has been passing back and forth. I think I can blame nothing but my own overindulgence for the lousy way I felt all night and all day.

Still, I wouldn’t trade yesterday for a whole year of perfect health. I would probably have skipped that last glass of wine, though.

I never made it out of the house today. It was raining miserably all day long, and if I’d gone anywhere I would have had to make a stop at a gas station to fill my tank, which has been nearly empty since Friday night. Anyway, with all that food in the house there was no reason for me to go to the grocery store, and the post office will just have to wait one more day. Maybe two more days, if I still feel like this tomorrow.