The last time I had the flu was in 11th grade, many many moons ago. I’m not even sure Nighthawk and I were dating yet. I was sick for at least three days and had to get a shot in the rump to kill the nausea. (This convinced me that you know you’re truly sick when getting a shot in the rump sounds like a good plan.)

I haven’t had the flu since. I also haven’t had the flu shot. Ever. Partially because there’s been shortages every year that I thought about it, and I wouldn’t have gotten it anyway, and partially because I figured I didn’t need a shot for something I never get.

Nighthawk gets the shot every year, regardless of shortages, because he’s in that high-risk category that guarantees it. Technically, that means I need to get one every year, because we kiss and stuff, and if I get I he could get it too, regardless of his shot. So this year when they started offering them at work, I volunteered to get one, and then spent three weeks trying to weasel out of it.

Yesterday, I got the flu shot over lunch, and felt fine. A few friends tried to convince me that I’d be sick later, because it’s the flu shot, and I laughed at them. Why would anyone sane take a medicine that would make them sick to prevent getting sick? It was all in their heads, I said.

This morning, I woke up feeling like I’d been repeatedly run over by a locomotive. It’s in my head now too, as well as all my joints, my throat, and my chest. I went right back to bed and slept until after 11, at which point I crawled out of bed to find out why the dog wanted to tear the door off the hinges. (Answer: mailman.)

As I got a shower, I continued to be quite pissed at this whole turn of events. Why did I take a shot for a disease I never get? Obviously, my immune system’s a finely-tuned machine of flu-destruction, or I’d’ve caught it from someone by now.

Then, apparently, the logical part of my brain finally woke up. “Dumbass, if your immune system was such a flu-killing machine, you wouldn’t be reacting to the shot, because your antibodies would’ve wiped it out by now. Imagine if you hadn’t gotten it and then you got the flu.”

I humbly yield to my husband’s better judgement – getting the flu shot is definitely worth it. I don’t want to imagine what I’d be feeling like right now if this was the true full-blown flu. Next year, though, I’m getting it on a Friday, so I don’t have to sacrifice the last of my unscheduled vacation to the immunization gods.

I wrote 3500 words tonight, which closed the gap for me quite a bit, but I’m still supposed to be at 20,000 words by the end of Monday. Something tells me that no matter how well the next 5,000 words go, they’re not all going to show up between now and Monday night.

Still, it feels really good when the characters are talking so much!

I haven’t gotten jack written today, as is evident by the little calendar thingie I added to the sidebar, but I did fix a major issue with my mail, run a load of laundry, sleep in, and tackle a stack of screenshots of the Internet that I’d been gathering… end result, we’ve got enough comics in the queue to take us through December 1st.

Better late than never, eh?

Tonight I’m going to continue writing, until my sister gets here. Then we’re going to find some form of dinner, and watch Fiddler on the Roof, which somehow both my sister and my husband have managed to not see yet. This is a travesty, and it shall be corrected. After the movie (which is 3 hrs long) I might get some more writing done.

Tomorrow is more writing, the occasional load of laundry, some writing, lunch with some friends, and then writing and maybe a quick food shopping. And writing. And hopefully catching up a bit.

On the other side of the bridge was the Iron Pig, the best and most famous tavern south of the Knucker. It was overflowing with patrons tonight, wearing their best outfits.

Wait, the tavern was wearing what?