Today, I am sick.

It was 55 degrees and bright sunshiney over the weekend. I have spring fever. I AM SO SICK of wearing turtlenecks, thermal underwear, heavy coats, gloves, scarves and hats. All of which I never leave the house without once the temp drops below 50F. Some people are tougher than I. Not me. Less than 50 degrees? Fashion is out the door, I'm dressing Canuck. I feel the cold like an 80-year-old.

It has been FREEZING here for too long. The rest of the country has been freezing too, but this is New York, and everything seems worse here. And I hate the winter anyway. I have mild Seasonal Affective Disorder. I am perfectly happy not leaving the house for days at a time in the winter. I hibernate.

Unfortunately, my friends ain't havin' dat. They manage to drag me out of my house semi-regularly all winter long. They think fresh air is good for me. I can't get them to understand that it's WINTER AND MAMMALS SHOULD BE SLEEPING. Squirrels! Bears! Not to mention that one breeze hits my throat and it's bronchitis city.

Anyway. Last weekend, temperatures rose above 50, and in my glee, I forewent the turtleneck in favor of a funky green Banana Republic T-shirt, a linen hoodie with a crocheted neckline and leather drawstring hem (God I love that shirt), and my comfy jeans. No thermal tights. Just jeans and skivvies and socks and my uber-comfy New Balances. The most scantily-clad I have been in 5 or 6 months.

Walking down a windy street on Saturday, my jean jacket buttoned (ruining the effect), I remember saying "I'm not dressed warmly enough for this." Sure, there were folks running around without jackets on, in sweatpants, in T-shirts withour hoodies, etc. But I am a delicate flower, and my resistance is very, very low. BAM. Sick. That very night the dripping down my throat started. All the next day I was tired and runny-nosed. Sunday night I took Nyquil. Today I had to work. GOD. I nodded off several times out of sheer fatigue. I AM SICK. DAMMIT.

My mother always wants to know the color of my sputum. I won't go into the details of that here. I will leave you with a different delightful image. It feels as though someone has reached down my throat with a short sewing needle and etched a long line from my left inner ear to the back of my throat. Cough Drops and Nyquil help, but this is a full-fledged head cold, Upper respiratory distress and post-nasal drip. Oh, and the achy-shakys.

I'm going to take my Nyquil and go to bed now. It's 9:10PM. Wish me well. This really sucks.