I’m sure you all have been sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear how I am feeling.

That’s so sweet of you.

Well, I am better, but I’m not great.  In fact, I felt so much better today that I did fold three loads of laundry and I cleared out Ariel’s summer clothes and almost everything that bears the size 4T on it because apparently she has become a giant since last year.  Her long jeans last year are now capris this year.  But I talked to two of my good friends tonight and they both told me I sounded like crap. Which was nice and everything, but if they had only heard me yesterday.  THAT was sounding like crap.  It’s not because I have laryngitis or anything, it’s because I sound like Rudolph when he covers his red nose with mud.  It’s funny because I, too, have a red nose.

I haven’t been sleeping well, although I have been trying my darndest to medicate myself into a night of pure oblivion, it just doesn’t work for me.  On Saturday night I took a Tylenol with codeine to try to alleviate the pain in my head and my throat and my sinuses.  It wasn’t working so I added ONE NyQuil.  I’ve heard so many glamorous stories about people who say things like "oh!  I took 2 Nyquils last night and slept like a baby all night long!  It was wonderful!   I woke up feeling like a million dollars."

Liars.

I woke up feeling worse because that ONE NYQUIL made me crazy.  I was awake for hours with the shakes,  I felt like someone had injected bad coffee into my veins and it was NOT fun.  (which is unfortunate because I have always dreamed of getting caffeine injections and if this is what it’s like. I’ll pass.)  Nyquil made me wonder if I should take it in the morning to give me a good morning buzz, perhaps I would clean my carpets and actually fold laundry before 8 am.   

Then Sunday night I couldn’t sleep because my mind races and thinks about all things that do not matter at one in the morning. 

So, tonight,  I went to Wal-Mart Supercenter, by myself.  I hadn’t grocery shopped in quite awhile and since the new challenge is starting tomorrow, I figured it would be a good idea to have something in my pantry beside queso and taco seasoning.

And look at what I discovered:

   
It’s Puffs.
With Lotion.
and it’s scented with Vicks.

A place to blow your nose.

A place to hydrate your nose.

A place to clear your sinuses.

All in one box.  No medicine.  Just heaven.

It sat in the cart, right in the front while I shopped, you know, the place where you typically put your child.  I could smell the Vick’s and the vapors cleared my sinuses, I hadn’t even opened the box and I could SMELL THE VAPORS.  I was breathing again.  I was so excited I would occasionally talk to the box, "whose the best box of tissue?  whose Mama’s best friend?  Who saved Mama’s life?"  People thought I was NUTS, but I didn’t care, I COULD BREATHE!   

And as I type this, this Puffs Plus Lotion Scented with Vicks is stuffed securely into my nostrils and it feels so good.

I’m going to sleep like a baby.

Assuming babies sleep with tissues in their noses.