You will, of course, recognize the reference if not the specific quote.   It is a line from from Robert Burns‘ poem “To a Mouse on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough.”  The line which inspired the title of Steinbeck’s famous novel “Of Mice and Men.”

Now what does all that have to do with little ole me?  Well, I had every intention of starting 2013 off on the right foot.  I had scheduled a Jenny Craig appointment at Noon on Monday the 7th, my very FIRST day back from Worlds.  I had a physical trainer appointment scheduled for tomorrow Thursday, which I’m going to miss.  I had not one but two teaches scheduled where I was actually *making* money teaching dance scheduled for Wed and for Thursday, again which I had to cancel.

On the to do list was to give the kitchen, the stove and the fridge a good scouring, all as a kick off to the new year and the first steps on the road to the new transformed me.

<insert dramatic drum roll please>

Fate intervened.  I caught the flu.

Yes, friends, neighbors, and all eight of the random readers actually reading this far down the page, I am sick.  As a dog.  Hackin’ and coughin’ and spewing at both ends.  Hmmm TMI?  Perhaps, but accurate, sadly oh, so accurate.

My fever reached 105.3 at one point and hung around in the 101-103 range all day on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and most of Tuesday.  It finally broke yesterday afternoon.  Now that “High Fever” has finished its performance, the runny nose is center stage and the performers “Nagging Cough” and “Phlegm” are in the wings waiting for their turn in the spotlight.

I must say that I have a fairly good idea of how a Thanksgiving turkey feels after being in the oven for several hours.  Every muscle in my body feels tenderized and my brain only has three settings at the moment: slow, slower, and stop.

Throw me into the ring for a title-match with a newborn kitten and if I were you, I’d put your money on the kitten!

So, my grandiose goals for this week have been scaled back to:

1. Get well.
2. Do some planning & budgeting for the coming year.
3. Get well.
4. Maybe do a little cleaning of my room and unpacking from Worlds
5. Get well.
6. Go to my first Adult Ballet Lesson on Saturday morning the 12th!!

So, there you have it.