King Of Marion

I'm sick.

It's nothing serious. Just a cold. But I had such a good streak going!

Barring an ear infection I had this summer after swimming in my sister's still-icy pool on Memorial Day, I haven't been sick in about two years. In January 2010 - when I was stressed and not sleeping and basically putting out the Bienvenados! mat for any passing bug - I had strep throat.

I'd never had strep throat before. I thought it was just a sore throat with a name. But no! Any other sore throat I'd ever had in my life? Eating was nice - especially chips and salsa, 'cause it was all scratchy on the sore spots - and drinking ice water was a joy. But strep throat? Drinking hurt. Eating was a nightmare. Swallowing was a struggle. Breathing was bad. I was afraid of working those muscles in my throat because of the pain that would go along with it.

(Go ahead and make your bet your boyfriend was disappointed! jokes. Hurr hurr hurr!)

But since then? Over the past two years I've been astonishingly healthy. Not so much as a sniffle.

And what I have now isn't bad. My throats kind of sore, my nose is a little runny, I'm sneezing some.

But I was doing so good!

***

And there's an elf living in my house.

John spent the night with his cousin Friday night, and his cousin had an elf.

"I want an elf to come live at my house!" John told his cousin's elf.

Now there's an elf at my house. He made a mess in John's room. This morning he was sitting over the fireplace, where he had hung a bunch of John's underwear in place of the stockings. He was wearing a pair himself.

Also his name is Pedro. He's swarthy. And bilingual.