ode to ibuprofen

first: your body is in pain.

second: you swallow an orange pill. sip water, sip again.

third: ten minutes later, the sky clears and there’s cotton candy!

fourth: you’d better not develop a tolerance for this.

the end

Filed under: sick

and i’m no hypochondriac

I woke up early this morning because I had a nightmare, and the whole day I was slightly feverish and dizzy.

Finally, I went to the Bruin student health center but they said I had to pay $12 to talk to a triage nurse, who would only be able to give me “advice,” or else wait til 8AM tomorrow to call in and make a same-day appointment.

So I’ve decided to just take a big dose of Vitamin C, and now I’m just drinkign tons of fluids to hopefully pee out whatever it is that’s making me sick. Hopefully I’ll wake up early enough tomorrow to make an appointment if need be.

I hope I get better, though, because it’s been tough to concentrate on anything all day. It doesn’t help that I’m slightly alarmed about what the causes might be. Illness is no joke these days.

Filed under: sick

yup, still sick

I got bored today (back at my apartment) and decided to have a go at making eggnog. After consulting a few online recipes, I realized I didn’t really have much in the way of ingredients. I, however, was not to be deterred by this. Instead, I:

1. Cracked an egg and separated it.
2. Scooped out maybe 1 and a half tablespoons of sugar.
3. Gathered cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla (the closest thing to anything alcoholic in my apartment right now – plus it tastes good).
4. Pour a few cups of milk (the fattier the better. I only had 2%, boo!)

Then I:

1. Whipped the yolk (with my handy-dandy $5 mixer I got on sale at Target last month!) until it got “lemony yellow.” Added some of the sugar, whipped it some more.

2. Added milk, whipped it some more.

3. Using a separate mixer whisk thingy, whipped the egg white until it got peak-y (by the way, with one egg, it’s probably easier to do this with a cup, rather than a bowl. I could’ve used more eggs, except I didn’t have any more eggs, and also, I wasn’t serving 12 people).

4. So the whites are nice and fluffy, right? If it takes too long, add some sugar. I put in the rest of the sugar and whipped it some more.

5. Then pour the white foamy peaky goodness into the yolky-milk. Blend. Add a dash of vanilla. Pepper with nutmeg and cinnamon to taste. Stir like mad.

6. Chill. The eggnog, I mean.
…

Profit! I mean, enjoy!(?) It was very sweet and foamy, and had a hint of soda-like texture. Also the merest whiff of alcoholiness (that would be the vanilla).

After I tried it, I realized I’d never actually tasted real eggnog before, so I have no idea how it compares, but it was definitely…sweet! I might use a bit less sugar next time.

Anyway, this “recipe” makes about 1.5 small servings, so don’t invite friends. Unless you have actual bourbon or rum or something, and then it would probably be better to have at least one person around to share it with. But then you’ll have to buy more eggs too.

Filed under: sick

*fever*

Merry Christmas!

I’m at home, sick. Last week, when I took the bus back to Westwood after getting a new crown (yay!) from the dentist, I stood next to a cute little girl who kept coughing with her mouth wide open (she was decidedly less cute to all of us by the time she got off, somewhere past Crenshaw). I was careful about washing my hands, gargling, burning the clothes I wore that day, etc, but I guess my immune system finally succumbed. That it took about 7 days to do so is somewhat reassuring. Or maybe not, if it only speaks to the tenacity of whatever virus I’ve got.

***

December has not been a good month for my mom. First she totalled our white Camry (it’s not even halfway paid for, and we have to buy a new car), then a week later she fell while walking out of a restaurant and sprained her left ankle and right wrist. She’s been going to an acupuncturist and doing the moxa-leaf treatment (which smells suspiciously like a certain other herb, I have to say; but the treatment involves just burning the sticks and not, ahem, *smoking* anything).

***

A few months back my grandmother tried a cup of coffee made from a Keurig single-serve machine, and loved it. My parents were thus inspired to buy her a Tassimo machine for Christmas (why Tassimo, I have no idea. I’d suggested gettinga simple machine, but they liked the fanciness and higher cost of the Tassimo). I tried to set it up yesterday, and from the moment I tried to figure out how to put in the T-Disc I knew my grandmother would never learn to use it. Sure enough, she regifted the machine…to us. Except we don’t want a Tassimo machine; my sister and I had orignially planned to get our own parents a Simplehuman coffeemaker. I’m not sure what we’re going to do (technically, we can still return the Tassimo because it actually had certain cosmetic defects, which may or may not have added to my grandmother’s refusal to take it).

Well, that’s enough blabbering. I just felt like writing all this out because I’m not in any condition to use my voice. Or my brain, really, but you probably surmised as much if you got this far.

Filed under: sick