Excused Absence

(Whine on)
I've been sick. Again. At first I thought it was a cold, one of those early summer things that you get with the weather changing every twenty minutes, and going from 85 degrees outside to 55 degrees inside (ahh, the blessings of civilization and air conditioning). You know, scratchy throat, tickly cough, sinuses the size of golfballs (well, that's how it feels!). Etc.

But no fever, no aches other than sinus and head, no upset stomach, none of that.

Laryngitis. So bad that I had the deacon lead the service on Sunday, except for the sermon and the baptism (which is a story in and of itself, and perhaps I'll get to it someday). I still have it. Sunday is coming up. And then next weekend is my sister's wedding, at which I am to co-officiate! Panic is setting in.

I think it's allergies. To what, I couldn't say. I do have allergies to trees and grass, but they've been blooming (actually finished) for a while. There's obviously something out there that's got my number.

I'm not sleeping well, my voice is gone (friends don't recognize me on the phone), my head hurts all the time, my sinuses are killing me, and my nose hurts from blowing it (yes, I have a stuffy head, too). I missed the big fireworks last night, although I watched them on TV between coughing fits (they celebrate Juneteenth--the emancipation Proclamation in the US--Canada Day and July fourth, all rolled into one extravaganza of gunpowder, lights and noise--a great time). I woke up at 5 am this morning coughing, couldn't get back to sleep, got up, took more Tylenol Sinus (TM), conked out on the couch for an hour, woke up coughing, made coffee, read a bit (a book I had planned to save for the plane trip to Boston, but that's yet another story), and finally decided I had to face the day at 9:30. That's a pretty typical morning for this week.

And I'm just so tired of being sick and tired!

Yesterday was a killer--errands and meetings all day that couldn't be put off (working on a grant application that was due, a phone conference with my regional elder, etc.), and then an emergency wedding.* Today I have no energy--I should be working on the sermon, making phone calls, etc., but I just can't work up the energy, although strangely enough I can blog...

I just don't have time for this--whether it's a cold or allergies, I need to function at a higher level than this! Sermons, meetings, church events, my sister's wedding, Pride coming up in three weeks... I wanna get better NOW, johnbrownit.

So that's why I haven't posted in a while.

(Whine off)


*Normally I don't do those, but being here in River City, sometimes it's an act of mercy. One couple I married in an emergency situation (defined as the couple calling me and saying, "Can you please marry us today?") had missed their train to Toronto, where they had planned to be married (officiant set up and everything) but only had that weekend before one of them was relocating (the other was to follow when the house was sold), and the next train to Toronto would get them there after City Hall closed for the weekend. They were active members of their church, and really wanted a church wedding. I talked to their pastor, and performed the wedding. Another case--being here in River City, on the border, we have lots of same-sex couples from the States who depend on the wedding planners and wedding services that are popping up like weeds. Unfortunately they (the planners and services) are not always all they could be. One couple was completely stood up by the service, which was supposed to meet them at Customs, take them to City Hall to get the licence, then to the location for the service, then to lunch. No one met them. Nothing, nada. No answer at the number for the service. Deposit money gone. Couple in despair. They managed to find their way to City Hall, where they got the licence and the list of officiants willing to perform same sex marriages, which has my name on it. They found their way to me (in the middle of one of those meetings). I married them. One of these days when I get some energy back, I'll write about the weddings. I love performing weddings!