Looking back over the last several posts, I’ve noticed that things have been inordinately introspective around here lately. That’s not really what I set out to do here, but I suppose the beauty of a space like this is that I can make it melt into whatever form I need it to take for as long as that form suits me. And it suits me to write one more post in this mood. Just one. Then I’ll notice and write about stuff that’s outside of my head for a while.

So, I’ve been thinking. I never considered myself to be a very private person. In fact, more often than not I worry that I should keep more things to myself, that I’m far too ready to spill my guts for anyone who asks. But as it turns out, this is only true some of the time, with some people, about some topics. Pardon me for a minute while I laugh at myself for having missed the big, glaring clue that I only gave the URL to this blog out to about 10 people, and that I basically swore those 10 people to secrecy.

Lesson learned, I suppose. Now it’s time to take what I’ve learned and figure out what that means for this space.

It’s been an eventful week. In some ways, it’s been devastating. In some ways, it’s been one of the best weeks ever. And some of the time I couldn’t even decide which was which. So rather than clump them by “good” and “bad,” here’s a list of the week’s significant events in chronological order.

• I learned that I do not have an under-active thyroid, Lyme disease, diabetes, or any of the standard auto-immune diseases. Excellent news, of course, but not very enlightening.
• My brother got his heart broken and broke mine right along with it.
• My best friend had a miscarriage.
• I traveled half-way across the country and saw an uncle, aunt, and cousins for the first time in far too many years (and got a tour of the Adobe building in San Jose).
• I presented at a national conference for the first time.
• I basked in the company of friends I only get to see for a few days every year, then did that some more, and then did that even more. How could anyone get tired of that?

No wonder I’m beat. Even after two mini-naps today, there are no reserves left to get me through a night of being sociable. So now I’m curling up in the silence, soaking it into myself, wrapping myself in it, and preparing for whatever tomorrow might bring. In the best of all possible worlds, tomorrow will include more friends, a more cooperative heart rhythm, more energy, and even more time to hang out with friends. But really, I’d settle for just the “more time with friends” part.

After briefly trying to watch local news, I realized that there’s no news on local news channels. So for the last several years I’ve kept up with national and international events through three sources:

• NPR
• Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me (also from NPR)
• The Daily Show

My comedy news sources outnumber my serious news sources 2 to 1.

And I like it that way.

There have been two bugs floating around at work. One of them mostly involved being tired and generally feeling icky. The other bug included all of the above, plus a fever, a cough, and some sinuses with ambitions for world domination. I came down with the first of these last Sunday, but there was no time for resting. I’m all for taking sick days and all that, but I just couldn’t justify them last week. And by Friday, I was feeling much better. Still very tired, but not nearly as sick.

Friday night I came down with the second bug, and I’ve been pretty much flat on my back ever since. Well, except for leading choir on Sunday morning and going to work for a couple of hours this morning.

I wasn’t at all prepared for this. I haven’t had a fever since I can remember, so I’m a little out of practice, I guess. It’s a boring business being laid up while the rest of the world is at work, and there’s nothing good on TV, and I’m too worn out to read for any length of time, and I’m really really lonely. And while I had every intention of taking the time to work on a couple of presentations I have coming up, I haven’t done anything like that. Or done my laundry. Or washed my dishes. Or really done anything other than make tea for myself watch an old season of the TV show “24.” Nuthin’ like a little murder and mayhem to make the time pass…

The only one happy about all this is the cat. He loves my new body temperature and has curled up on my all day every day, leaving only to eat and use his box. Boy am I glad he leaves to do those things!

Last night, the topic of discussion among my choir members as they gathered and settled in for rehearsal turned to colonoscopies. After hearing about the trials of the day before one of these procedures, they started comparing exactly when during the procedure they had pain or cramping, how many drugs they needed during and after, and the fact that certain medical conditions (afflicting a couple of choir members) make these procedures either worse or impossible. Enlightening.

Every once in a while they like to remind me that I’m the youngest one in the room by a good 30 years, and last night was one of those nights. They turned to me and told me that “this is what you have to look forward to when you get older” and that “when you get there, come to us and we’ll give you tips.”

What I said in response: “What a thing to look forward to. Thanks ever so much for reminding me” (joking and laughing and hoping for a new conversation soon).

What I didn’t say: “By the time I need one they’ll have invented a new procedure.”