You how some people are too superstitious to say good things aloud? That whole tempting fate, thing? Well, last week I was bragging to someone who shall remain nameless that I’ve been really healthy most of the winter. Naturally, by Thursday night, I was feeling not so hot. Spent the next three days sneezing, unable to breathe, pressing hot cups of tea against my forehead.

No Twitter. No blogging. Some writing (am going to check it out today to see if it is fevered brilliance or nonsense). Lots of Bejeweled (which means disinfecting my keyboard in the near future). Lots of mindless Olympics watching.

Today I feel like I will live (yes, when I am sick, I indulge the melodrama). I no longer need to keep a tissue in my hand at all times — just in the box right next to me. I can keep the sinus headache at bay with aspirin, and the cough is less wheezy.

I can’t help reflecting, though, that compared to the hardy protagonists in Westerfield’s Uglies and Collins’ Hunger Games series, I am a serious wimp.

Kelly