Ahhhh. This is my third day of feeling oreful. Really oreful. I mean sick! Some truly persistent, low-grade nastiness that started last Thursday when I came home from work with a fever of 103. I had a silver necklace on, and it was practically melting. Okay. It wasn’t melting. It was pretty hot, though, and that’s the truth. I felt weak and wrung out, and had a heavy feeling in my chest and just the beginnings of soreness in my throat. DH, lovely fellow that he is, fussed over me quite satisfactorily, and medicated me with Ibuprophen and Robitussin and tucked me into the bed in the guest bedroom (which is where I sleep when I really NEED a good night’s sleep, because DH has a multitude of quite wonderful attributes and ONE BIG BAD ONE - he snores horribly!)

The next morning was Friday; I had slept soundly and woke up feeling better (after a cup of coffee; I never know how I feel until I have a cup of coffee) so I figured, “Ahhh. Some fast-moving bug was all.” Plus I had a couple of articles with deadlines at work, and really HAD to get in and finish them up. So, I made the hour-long trek over the ‘Pike (which is always typically pretty clear on summer Fridays because of people taking extended weekends off like I did last weekend) and felt pretty much okay until an hour or so after lunch. (I didn’t eat the flatbread & deli ham & lettuce & veggie cheese roll up that I’d brought for my lunch….just didn’t have much of an appetite. I did eat my bag of cherries, though. They must’ve had a real bumper crop this year, because all the grocery stores have had them, and they’re really, really good.) At around 2:00 I started feeling *green* - you know, that squeegy feeling before you throw up - except I didn’t, but I was clammy and shivery and oh, crap…went home because I had everything done by then, anyway. NO appetite whatsoever! Can I tell you that despite feeling like sh*t, having no appetite was a cause for great joy on some level of my being. So, another night of Ibuprohen/Robitussin -induced sleep and REALLY felt rotten yesterday morning. Had planned a bike ride which I didn’t take, and really needed to go grocery shopping, which I didn’t do. I laid about the house all day, slug-like, even falling alseep at one point in the great big chair & ottoman in the corner of our living room which is like sinking down into a great deep, dark, warm hole. Very womb-like, eh? Threw together a half-a** supper (DH can’t cook ANYTHING edible) ate a little of it, and laid myself back down with a book. Read about three pages and was asleep yet again. Slept, slept and slept some more, and this morning am ambulatory (at least was able to amble over to the computer) and have GOT to go grocery shopping. I’m sure I will end up surviving this….damn, we women are strong!

Okay, some of you may be wondering what happened with the (Eek!) MAN in the midst of our 50+ thread who committed several faux paux and became the center of some controversy (which is, of course, what he enjoys becoming).

The group and I exchanged a flurry of private e-mails in which I simply said that if it was a popularity contest, I was OUT - as in Oh-You-Tee - of it, and would find myself a more compatible thread to post on. I was quickly assured that (a) NOBODY had PM’ed him asking him to continue posting, and that (b) EVERYBODY had their own reservation about a man participating, and the stifling effect it might have on what we would or wouldn’t feel comfortable saying.  The general consensus was that we should ignore any further posts from him, and that he’d end up leaving due to lack of attention.

SO, this morning on the thread there are THREE - count ‘em - THREE posts by this freaking dude, the first an apology for any unintended offense, and since he’s received so much support & encouragement he guesses he’ll continue posting unless we tell him not to. Following THIS, two of our group post, with one saying “Oh, I’m sure it will be alright”, and the second saying “I accept your apology” and “let’s move on”.

It truly appalls me the way women will betray each other over men. They will accept sh*t from men that they’d NEVER accept from another woman. AND they will believe a man’s lies (”My wife and I are getting a divorce after the kids are grown” or “my wife is SUCH a b*tch!!!”) rather than supporting and sticking up for each other. In THIS instance, our group - our sanctuary, if you will - becomes infiltrated because a FEW of us are flattered by some male screen name’s attention.

Puke.

Oh well. This is the way of the world, and as truly messed up as it is, what else have we got?

 Sayonara,

E!