Excuses

It's been raining here in Southwest Arkansas. It's been raining a lot. I'm telling you this because this is one of my many excuses for not going on my daily walk/run. All of you, no doubt, are very concerned about this and are on the edge of your seat waiting to see a Nike/Run post from little ol' me.

Other excuses include but are not limited to:

• It has been turkey season and I don't want my dogs and/or I to get shot (since we all look so much like turkeys)
• I've been sick. Not just "my nose is stuffy and I don't feel good" sickness, but "I see Jesus coming for me" sickness.
• Emma had surgery and I can't take her walking and would feel really bad leaving her behind.
• There has been a string of chores that have kept me busy, and I count these as exercise. Nike doesn't have a "cleaning the goat pen" or "gardening" app so you all can cheer me on while I shovel poo and dig in the dirt.
• It's been raining (did I mention that one already)

The big excuse, really, is my sickness. I really don't know what is happening to me. This thing started out as a little sore throat, then low-grade fever, then complete and utter exhaustion with achy joints to boot. I thought I was getting better a couple days ago and that's when the coughing started. I've coughed until I've about thrown my back and neck out. The worst thing has been the inundation of what can only be described as alien-mutant-slime all up in my face. I started taking Mucinex but have come to believe that it may be having some kind of opposite affect and that the mutant slime is feeding off of it and morphing into something I can't quite describe.

The bottom line is that I feel like the most hideous disgusting person ever to walk the earth. My dogs won't even play with me. The constant coughing and nose-blowing are enough to make even the most loyal of companions run from me. And now, I want to cry. When I feel like I'm going to cry, I usually blame it on fatigue. Just like a baby, if I'm tired or hungry, there is a good chance you might catch me sitting in the floor in a pool of my own tears. Since the mutant slime has taken up residence in my head and chest, I've been having to get up a half-dozen times during the night to cough and blow so I can breath well enough to go back to sleep. I could so do one of those NyQuil commercials where they show the people lying in bed in disarray swimming in tissue. I always thought that scene from "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan's character is sick was so charming. But I'm not charming, I'm not cute, nobody is knocking on my door with a bouquet of daisies. Nope, just me in my wrinkled overalls, messy house, disheveled hair and raw nose.

My advice to anybody in this condition would be, "God's trying to tell you to rest. So rest. Get well. Drink some herbal tea, take a nap, take a shower for heavens sake, read a book and just rest." Why can't I do this? It's a plague among mothers I do believe. I am going to attempt to get a little guilt-free rest today.

More storms are predicted for late this evening. They're saying they could be worse than what we had yesterday and those were pretty intense. I'm praying for all those who were affected yesterday and those who will be in the path again today. We are so grateful for the rain and simply have to trust that God knows what He is doing.