On Wednesday, I was feeling off.

On Thursday, I was not feeling well at all.

I emailed in sick to work. Despite sleeping all morning, I continued to feel worse and worse so I went to a walk-in clinic. I am 110% thankful for ¹walk-in clinics. Yes, they are largely staffed by PAs and NPs — but, seriously, you don’t need four years of college followed by four years of medical school followed by four or more years of residency to be able to do a throat swab or a nasal swab (I had both) to diagnose common illnesses. Anyway, as it turns out, I have Influenza A. Joy, joy. (And, no, I did not get my flu shot.)

I hate being sick. I don’t have time for this nonsense.

Here are my sick thankfuls:

²Nadene and Marissa — who finished up my work at the church for me. They stapled and folded all the bulletins, which I had no energy to do.

³Shetland Season 9 — I binge-watched, sort of. I could listen to Scottish accents all day. I may need to go back and watch the show again, though. I kept falling asleep. There were a LOT of twists and turns — and my flu-infected brain struggled to follow the story line. Still — Scottish accents, beautiful scenery. I’m thankful.

⁴Songberd’s Grove — I’ll have to look back to see who recommended this book, but it has been delightful! Published in 1957, written by Anne Barrett, set in London, it’s a wonderful children’s book that is just what the doctor ordered.

⁵Friends and family who check on me. People have been so kind. My brother checks in twice a day — “Do you need anything?” A friend offered homemade soup. Another dropped off some food. I am grateful for them all.

⁶Sleep — I have slept SO MUCH over the past few days. It’s kind of an amazing thing that our body uses to heal. I rarely give myself enough time for it.

⁷Tea with honey. I am a coffee drinker through and through, but coffee hasn’t really tasted good. Tea, on the other hand, is soothing and I’m glad that I have some here.

I learned what a ⁸pilchard is. If I had guessed, I wouldn’t have even been close. It turns out they are FISH, like sardines. I can still picture my mother opening a can of sardines with that little key. She would lay those little fish neatly on a piece of bread and squeeze a little lemon on them. They were way too fishy for me. I love learning new words, but I’m not sure how often I will use the word “pilchard.”

I also love learning new phrases and came across ⁹“Not by a long chalk.” I had only ever heard “not by a long shot” — probably a military term. I looked up the chalk version and it turns that it’s a pub term. I found this on the web:

…the expression almost certainly comes from the habit of using chalk in such establishments to mark the score in a game, a habit which now survives in British pubs mainly in the game of darts. A chalk was the name given a single mark or score, so that a person might explain that somebody or other had lost a game of skittles by four chalks or you needed 31 chalks to finish. If your opponent had a long chalk, a big score, he was doing well.

The expression indicates a determined intention to continue, though the game is going against you. Your opponent may have a long chalk, but you’re not done for yet.

worldwidewords.org

I’m also grateful for this poem: ¹⁰“Small Kindnesses” by Danusha Laméris. Please check it out. It’s full of the small kindnesses we experience every day, and half the time we don’t even notice. I read it for the first time this week and I keep going back to it. I want to remember them. I want to see them.