I need to be at 42,000 words at the end of the day, and I made it to 40,000 about an hour ago, which is pretty good progress since I was around 36,000 this time yesterday.

The microwaveable heated slippers my cousin gave me have made working at the computer a lot more comfortable, because now that I’m next to the windows I get chilly. (Okay, so i was chilly at the center of the house too. What’s your point?)

There’s a stack of bags at my feet filled with Christmas presents from Black Friday, when my sister and I hit at least one store in two major and three minor shopping centers. Coupled with the furniture we bought yesterday for the livingroom (I need a desk), it made an impressive enough total that Discover called earlier to make sure my card wasn’t stolen.

Now we have to hope for Christmas bonuses ;)

Meanwhile, the new Mac is working beautifully. The old PC on the other hand, has been singing lately, a witty high-pitched tune that screams “I’ve got a component that’s breaking!” We thought it was a hard drive, so we ordered a new one. It’s winging its way here from the wilds of UPS-land even as we speak. But then this evening the machine started singing a different tune, one with lyrics like, “I’m a processor fan and I hate you!”

Negotations with the fan – which proceed at least in part with the assistance of a vacuum – are still in progress.

It’s freakin’ cold and I’ve got lots of gardening, painting, and light-hanging to do before Christmas gets here, so things will undoubtedly be adventurous from here to January 1, but we’re enjoying it nonetheless.

Only 26 days until my vacation starts.

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.