It’s the second full day of break.
I woke up at 12:20 pm, still sniffly and congested, but with the feeling that my immune system was just cleaning out, not waging war. I also woke up with the ferocious desire to bake. Pancakes, jammy muffins, cookies, brownies, etc., etc., had almost tantalized me out of bed, before I realized no one in my house probably wanted me anywhere close to their food.
The desire to get out of bed suddenly vanished.
The desire to bake has not. I’m considering if showering, doing laundry, and putting on real people clothes will convince my suspicious father that I am indeed well (ignore the hacking) and germ-free (disregard also the tissue box I bring downstairs with me) and able to bake. Hey, if I can go to work tomorrow and wrap a bajillion gifts for kiddies, I can probably bake a thing of muffins. The heat from the oven will burn off most of the germs? Right?
I also know my dad, who is twenty times more logical than me, and who will give me that nasty scientific glare, and ban me from the kitchen. Sigh.
On the other hand, I’m supposed to address twenty Christmas cards (we’re uh…always a little late on that) and otherwise function like a normal person. (My mom’s a nurse: if I’m not bleeding out, throwing up, or seizing, sympathy is hard to get in my house.) I get one day of death (I slept the entire day yesterday) and now enough is enough.
(Last night, when I emerged from my room at 10 pm, both my parents went–more or less in unison–“It lives!!!” You see what I put up with.)
There are a million errands I should be doing today–paying off my spring semester bill, going to replace my debit card (BECAUSE FUN FACT, on the last day of finals, with my head cold, I walked away from the ATM machine without retrieving my card, how stupid can I be), and starting on some of the editing for GREAT Day (heyy, internship!). What will probably end up happening is the functionality of me behaving as a real person will probably extend to me showering and putting on clean clothes, signing Christmas cards, giving proof of life to my dad, eating, and then slogging back upstairs for another nap, to the disgust of both parents later on this evening.
I’m a disgusting creature, I know.
But I think, given the events of the last two weeks, I deserve a nice coupla days in bed. I fully intend on taking them.
The Wanderer 
My first day of school this year, I too walked away from the ATM without taking my card. The lovely folks at Key Bank informed me the next morning that “Oh, we shred all the cards at 7am every day. Sorry.” So while I waited for my new card to be mailed to me, I had to do things like write a check at Wegmans for a gallon of milk and a bottle of shampoo like I was an octogenarian with no concept of debit/credit cards. Felt awesome.
Hahahaha. This made me start laughing so hard I ended up wheezing (speaking of octogenarians, going up and down steps today was rough). I am currently awaiting my new debit card, but stuff like booking my tickets to NYC will be a little rough until then. I also ventured out into the real world, but got dizzy in the supermarket, because my dad was moving too fast. Too many colors and lights. I clearly belong back in bed.