Foreign bodies in your Kleenex

And your eyes are red

Your head is achin'

You'd be better in bed

From the bottom of your fever

To the throbbing in your toes

You've got a cold

- lyric 10cc "You've got a Cold"

Traditionally, we wait until the desperate despair of February in our family to come down with the knock-down, drag out cold. Usually by February we have been fighting the good fight against winter long enough, and worn down to a frazzle, succumb to whatever is the dominant virus of the week.

This has been true for as long as I have been married. When our children were young, they generally got sick first and we eventually followed.

The sickness care early this year and in more than one round. A stomach flu two weeks ago and a good old fashioned knock-down-drag-out cold this week. As I write this on Wednesday from my home, I am missing my third day of work this week, something I haven't done in years.

You've got a cold

You're searching madly

To find a cure

But the mercury's rising

To a hundred and four

You've got a beauty, a bad ass

The mother of them all

You've got a cold

When i was in high school, I listened to obscure rock bands and found 10cc, probably most famous for their 1975 ballad "I'm Not In Love." I found they had many catchy songs on the "Deceptive Bends" album, which was recorded after the the group had split up. "You've Got a Cold" is from "Deceptive Bends," as is "The Things We Do For Love."

I found this song rolling though my head as I would get up to take more Nyquil and got a good laugh out of the entire situation. Of course, you have to be careful laughing, it sets off a coughing spell which usually doesn't end well. Mucinex is also a very fine invention...

During my homebound days this week, I missed the January thaw, which I am eternally grateful for. The past month has been brutal with the combination of snow and colder-than-normal temperatures, and having some of the snow melt away truly salves my soul.

I know that eventually, I will see my entire driveway and parking once again. In fact, I try to visualize the lush and humid greens of June when I am blowing snow. Sometimes, I can see it and even smell the grass. But hey, that could be the Nyquil talking.

I slept through the inauguration of our new president. It was a very good nap, one of those where you look at the clock before dozing off and wake with a start, thinking you slept a half hour or so, only to learn that you were out for two hours.

Foreign bodies in your Kleenex

You've got no taste at all

While your system is dyin'

The bugs are havin' a ball

You've got a beauty, a bad ass

The mother of them all

You've got a cold

In the evenings, I have been able to stay up and watch some television with my wife. On Tuesday night, we watched "Fringe" on FOX, sort of a re-do of the X-Files. On Tuesday's episode, someone was killing people by giving them a severely mutated form of the common cold virus, which manifested as a foot long spiky slug that choked the victim on its way out of the body.

I found the entire thing uniquely surreal, and the episode gave me some really strange dreams.

I'm happy to report that I am on the mend and should be back at work as you read this. I only hope that I am done with being sick for a while. Not much fun, no matter what time of year it is.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same