"To Err is Human ..."

Today I woke up and was sick. And not just a little "oh my nose is runny" kind of sick. This was a "it's 6:45 a.m., I went to bed 6 hours ago, and I'm drenched in sweat despite wearing summer pajamas and having the window open" sick. I lay in bed for another 45 minutes or so, then finally gave up on the belief that I would ever be able to go back to sleep. So instead I do the only thing I could think of, I got up, wandered into the hallway, and called Mom.

Yes, I am a soon-to-be 20 year old college student who lives away from home. But that doesn't mean I know exactly what medications to take when I wake up feeling like crap. Plus, I figured that my #1 choice at that moment (taking a vacuum to my nasal passages) wasn't exactly the best choice. So Mom helped. Tylenol every 4-6 hours. Take temperature before, and every hour after. Lots of liquids. And no classes.

When I was in middle and high school, I would never opt to stay at home if I was sick. I would stress out, and then the whole "stay calm and sleep" thing wouldn't work too well. But today was a day where I really just didn't care. Not at all. I have friends in all my classes, and told them I felt like crap. So they rose up o above and beyond the call of duty: taking notes (one girl even audio recorded the lecture), making sure I was okay, instructing me to drink lots and lots of fluids, and offering to get me food. It's times like these that I really realize how great all of my friends are.

I spent most of the day in my room, with the exception of going to drop off my application to the UM Honors English Program (please knock on every piece of wood in the room in which you are sitting and hope that I get in) and to go out to lunch with a friend. I took a nice, long, 2 1/2 hour nap during the afternoon, which revived what little energy I have. We went to dinner (it was Comfort Food Night - and boy did I need it), and now I'm just sitting in the Honors Commons for an Honors Peer Mentor study night that no one has come to. It's a blast.

But, the fun part is that I'm on my new (yes, new) laptop, named Isabella (no nickname). She's a beautiful Dell, and is wonderful. I have 84% of my battery remaining, and she'll last me another 5 hours and 15 minutes. It's quite wonderful.

In case you hadn't suspected, Winifred died. She was old (for an HP), and she had a nasty Trojan which kept pulling the Trojan Horse trick on her. She wasn't very bright. So, during the weekend, she died. Well, kind of. She now can turn on, which is somewhat strange, but she's still very unreliable. So I prefer to use Isabella.

This week has been my Hell Week: something due every day, and three things due on Friday. It was not a good time for Winifred to die. But things have worked out: my mom drove out her laptop on Sunday for me to use until my dad and I could agree on a laptop. Tuesday, I went to the UM Computer Showcase and got the laptop (in and out in under 15 minutes ... it was wonderful), and I had a friend look through everything and make sure she would run properly. All I have left to do is move all of my iTunes music onto Isabella, and then she'll be complete!!

I guess I should get back to my Shakespeare essay, whose title (a stroke of genius on my part, I must admit) is "To Err is Human; Don Pedro is Divine." I'm writing about Don Pedro (no, really?) in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. It'll be interesting. It's due on Friday and I have less than a page written (it's a 5-7 page paper). But at least I have an outline!

Only 35 minutes until I can go back to my room, take a shower, and sleep. I'm counting the minutes ......