This morning I felt ill. I've been sort of borderline sick all week, and it culminated in a few glorious moments this morning, tapering off until about one in the afternoon.

Needless to say, I did not go in to work. I called my boss and left a message, but no one got it, so around 8:30 I got a phone call from my friend Michelle, who was wondering where I was. I should have remembered the J-Dog does not check his VM until it fills up and starts spilling over into mine. Ah, well.

Then I got a call from Bryan, informing me that my laptop had died. My NaNoWriMo novel is on this puppy, and I had not backed it up because I am a bimbo.

I searched for awhile until I found my sweater pattern, and started knitting on the pink sweater, while laying on the couch feeling all nauseated and nibbling on saltines. I watched Sex and the City for awhile, the part where Samantha discovers she has breast cancer and needs to go through chemo, and her hot young boyfriend Smith walks in on her shaving her head and he takes the buzzers and shaves HIS golden locks before shaving HER head. I thought of our friend Cat, who just went through chemo for a bone marrow transplant, and how we saw her after she shaved her head (she still looked awesome, for the record). So I cried a lot. Then I thought of failing my NaNoWriMo goal, and I cried some more. Then I napped and had some tea.

THEN, I got a call from my mother, with the news that my best friend Vikki is in the hospital because she lost vision in her eye due to a tumor pressing on a nerve. WHAT???? Needless to say, the next twenty minutes or so were pretty bad. I pulled myself together, called the hospital and managed to get in touch with her. Turns out it is NOT a tumor *whew* and the chances of her needing any sort of brain surgery whatsoever are "pretty fucking slim to none." Apparently the most likely scenario is that she has a condition mostly common in young girls, and she will be getting out of the hospital either tonight or over the weekend. (After the relief set in, I could mock her about her little kid condition.)

Then I talked to Skip about how I am a whore and do not back anything up and how I'm bad with computers. He walked me through taking out the laptop battery, blowing on it, and re-inserting it. Huh. It seems to be working OK now. Knock on wood.

So today has been a day of ups and downs. It's ended up much better than it was around two in the afternoon.

New rule: when calling me about a friend who has a neurological condition, never use the word "tumor." This is the SECOND time I've mistakenly thought a friend has had brain cancer. Maybe I'm just a worrier. Or maybe it's because my friends act like there's something wrong with their brains every day. Something to think about! But seriously, no more talking about brain cancer.