2 weeks, 2 days, cough cough

It's been 2 weeks and 2 days now since my cold from hell began. As of today, I am significantly better, but still have some remaining annoying symptoms. Every morning I seem to be in a contest to see how much green stuff I can expel. I head to work, though I am feeling more energetic than last week, I still find myself tired. I have no recollection of pressing snooze twice this morning. I was so deep in REM sleep that I could barely keep my eyes open to get in the shower. Every evening, around 10pm, I begin to cough a lot more to the point of extreme annoyance. Perhaps my house is too dry. But I am feeling better.

This really is just a bad cold. Why has it hit me so hard? From talking to others, I am not the only person being hit hard by whatever bug is going around. It makes me feel like a loser though. I can't get over a simple cold? I guess the answer is that this is not a simple cold.

I've spent a lot of time this week researching flight options for John's visit next month. I've been a little pushy about getting something booked, in part because a seat sale was just announced yesterday and I want to make sure we have the best options available. I'm also lonely and want to be able to mark on the calendar when he will be back. Sometimes I handle our separations ok, and sometimes I don't. I don't seem to be handling this one very well. I'm not sure if that's because I've been sick and generally miserable from that, or if I am just growing tired of continually having to be apart. I just want to hop on a plane and go see him. Oh, to be rich.

I have two upcoming trips for work. First up is a meeting in Washington, DC, in mid-June. I booked my flights for it today, after a week of staring at the flight options, not knowing what to pick. Do I stay extra time to do touristy stuff? Do I try and get home as soon as possible? What will it cost me above what my company will pay? Do I try and have a stopover in Toronto? I seem to be even worse than usual this week at making decisions. After an email yesterday requesting our arrival & departure dates, I had to book something today so the hotel reservations could be finalized. I ended up trying to balance low cost to me with some time for seeing the sights. I'll leave here at 6:30am (I don't relish that) and arrive in DC by 10:30am. That will give me the afternoon and early evening to sightsee. I have a dinner to attend that night, and then my meeting the next day. I'll have my evening free, then head home the next morning. I won't arrive home until supper time. The hotel we're staying at is within walking distance of the White House, Smithsonian, and many other things. The key will be choosing what I want to see most and fitting it into my limited time frame.

The second trip is my annual conference. I just found out this week that it is being held in Palm Springs. Quite a relief for me, as the other choice was Florida during hurricane season. This location is perfect for me to be able to see John: it is only 1.5h away, and his mom lives nearby. I still have to put some thought into this trip and decide when I'll go, what vacation time I want to take, etc. The conference always occurs around my birthday, so I will likely be away again this year.