Whew

[mrissa]

I almost lost another contact lens. Since that would be the second in about three months and also the second in fourteen years of wearing contacts, I am mightily relieved that markgritter found it for me, reminding me once again that I keep him around for more than decoration.

I'm not feeling very fabulous today, but I'm hoping it's the kind of non-fabulous that goes away soon if you pamper it. I have a hierarchy of things to wear when sick. It goes like this:

Too sick to stand up for a five-minute shower*. Wearing whatever pajamas I put on before falling over. This is very rare.

Fresh jammies after the shower. This is giving in entirely to The Sick. But sometimes it's just the best thing. In the winter, plaid Portuguese flannel. In the summer, cotton washed into oblivion.

Sick Clothes. I'm wearing sick clothes today. They're composed of geeky T-shirts, leggings (which I haven't worn for five years at least and didn't wear much as outerwear even then), and large fuzzy things over top, flannel shirts or old tatty sweaters or something. Slippers. No bra, because any activity requiring support is too much time vertical.** All garments chosen for individual comfort rather than because they come anywhere near matching each other. While sick clothes would not get me arrested in public, I don't wear them out of the house, and if someone who counts as people*** is coming into the house, I'd change out of sick clothes.

Sick But Stubborn Clothes. Jeans, baggy warm tops, things I can wear to Byerly's if everyone else is sick or out of town or something and I absolutely have to go to Byerly's.

I'm Not Sick Dammit Clothes. My normal clothes worn at an inappropriate time. Usually more form-fitting and/or revealing. Often in colors that look lovely when I'm well and emphasize the three-days-dead nature of Norwegian-girl-skin when sick.

What do you wear when you're sick?

*And I hate baths. HATE. Baths feel like punishment to me. They're like naps in that you're supposed to lie very still in the middle of the day and not do anything. With no one to talk to and nothing to read lest you drop it in the tub. Ick. And they're unlike naps in that naps, despite all their other flaws, do not get progressively colder unless something is very wrong.

**For those of you who don't know, I get dizzy easily when sick. Or when not sick, actually. I can mostly predict when I'm going to fall over these days, so I sit down or lie down and try to avoid it as best I can. Still, if you're with me in person and I say that I'm dizzy, please take it seriously. Do not just let me fall and gape like a fish like certain high school friends not on this friendslist once did.

***Generally it is a good thing not to count as people, but it has its disadvantages. Being greeted with eye-searing combinations of sickwear, for example. I managed to combine olive green, bright-bright orange, cherry red, black, and navy in a particularly comfortable set of sick clothes last winter. If I'm still icky tomorrow, I'll probably wear exactly that, because it was just right. But hideous, my land, hideous.

Comments

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

And I hate baths. HATE. Baths feel like punishment to me. They're like naps in that you're supposed to lie very still in the middle of the day and not do anything. With no one to talk to and nothing to read lest you drop it in the tub. Ick. And they're unlike naps in that naps, despite all their other flaws, do not get progressively colder unless something is very wrong.

Gosh. I am, I think diametrically opposite on this, in that I would never have a shower in a situation where I can have a bath; partly because in a shower one gets clean and that's it, whereas in a bath one gets clean and then gets lots of time to let heat soak in and relax sore muscles. I've never see having no-one to talk to as absolutely inherent in baths, though in practice having that time to think through stories or complex work-related things is no bad thing for me, and though I don't read in the bath it's because I'm an old-style D and D Dexterity 5, I know papersky has been managing it for ages without dropping anything. The going cold problem can be mitigated by liking the things very hot to begin with, or indeed, granted a civilised water supply, by draining and topping up with more hot if need be. About the only problem I have with them in practice is that given the relative body-clocks of the people with whom I live, I most often end up having them at ten or eleven at night, and sometimes fall asleep in them.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Yep--all of what you said. I only ever dropped one book in the bathtub, and I was 12. I did manage to try to read and give the dog a bath at the same time, and that book was submerged, but I learned my lesson on *that*.

I suspect I was Roman in a previous life, given my hedonistic love of baths.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I've never encountered a bathtub that was configured to actually be relaxing to my sore muscles. A few multi-person hot tubs, yes, but not a bathtub.

And it's always good to know your Dex before you perform a Dex-check with objects that matter, which is why I didn't even try reading in the tub. (I'm not as clumsy as I think I am. But I'm also not confident in how much to compensate for that.)

[mkille.livejournal.com]

Our upstairs bathtub fits me, Laura and Reid comfortably. (That's two adults and one toddler). Laura's sister and Tina have been known to stop by for no other reason than to soak in our big tub.

I don't try to read in the tub, when I do take baths, which is rarely. I like to be as submerged as possible, which means I would be trying to turn the pages with the wet fingers of the hand not holding the book.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Good sick-clothes for mmerriam consists of loose and floppy. Worn-out sweatpants (especially the one with the elastic removed from around the ankle), an old t-shirt that's seen better days, and warm socks or slipper-socks. Definately warm socks. And a soft blanket to snuggle under in the most dire of sick cases.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I have been using the giant lovey porphyrin made for markgritter for Christmas. It is both soft and warm.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

I usually like sweatpants and tshirts when I'm sick. I don't wear a bra, either. :)

When I'm too busy or stubborn to be able to lie down and die while sick, I still wear the same thing. When I'm sick, my Who Are You And Why Do I Care? factor goes through the roof, so I don't give a damn what people think I look like.

I agree with you about baths, but mostly because a) I don't fit well in standard tubs and ii) I can't escape thinking about the fact that I'm not sitting in whatever I was supposed to wash off. I much prefer long, hot showers.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

I can't escape thinking about the fact that I'm not sitting in whatever I was supposed to wash off.

I presume that "not" was meant to be a "now" ?

Umm, the procedure is, clean off first, then soak. At least that was what I was brought up with.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

Then that's a shower *and* a bath, not just a bath.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

Yeah.. oops. Stupid not/now typo has been plaguing me.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if I'm sick enough not to be going out, I don't get dressed. But then, getting dressed at all is something I do under protest, and only for the sake of protection from environment, not getting arrested, and pockets.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean about "sick clothes" even though I've never heard the term before.

Mine tend towards whatever is comfy, familiar, and near to hand, accreted in layers. Several sets of pajamas generally contribute something, as do at least one pair of socks, and a couple of sweaters and possibly a scarf. And a robe. And so on. The socks match; nothing else has any hope of it.

I'm terribly sorry you do not have appreciation for the delights of the bath. My spouse was once firmly in that camp, but now he revels in the steamy soaky goodness. So, bath-affinity is a trait one can learn. It's not like you're forever doomed to the current condition.

K. [sorry you feel unwell, not to mention]

[seagrit.livejournal.com]

When I'm sick, I usually end up wearing my gray sweatshirt with "Calvin College" embroidered on it (and pants of some sort, they vary). At some point, I think I decided that I didn't like that sweatshirt anymore, and so it got relegated to "sick-use-only" status, because I don't *want* to wear something I like when I'm sick.

When I'm crampy or exhausted, that's when I don either my sweatpants, my (loose) silver pants, or in extreme situations, my long sleeved/legged, satin-y penguin pajamas. Mmmm, penguin pajamas....

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I don't *want* to wear something I like when I'm sick.

I'm a bit like this with books: I don't want to prejudice myself on a book when I'm sick and cranky, but on the other hand discovering new good things is always delightful and improves my mood. So I've been waffling on reading matociquala's Hammered and have been reading Komarr first instead.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

See, I adore baths. When I am cold, sore, and/or sickish, I take a bath. Crank the hot water to 'lobster red,' add some form of citris-y bath gel/body wash, and just kick back and read for about 45 minutes. Evening naps, while common while I'm sick, leave me groggy and staggering for hours afterwards, whereas a bath is relaxing and all that, but doesn't make me groggy (though if I take a really hot bath while I'm really under the weather, it can make me dizzy and staggery.) I soak my hair down (I only feel clean if I get my hair wet, which is probably a sign of my supreme oddness.), and my shoulders relax and my knees stop aching. I prefer baths to naps because my shoulders don't relax in a nap, and in fact I tend to bunch them up to push the pillow into the right shape and all that. But it may also be that I am simply conditioned to like them.

Plus, I am all about the reading in the bathtub. I even read library books in it, though only cheap paperbacks, as a) I don't intend to drop the book in the water, and b) if I do, at least it's only something that'll cost $10 or so to replace. :)

reading

[karenmkk-610.livejournal.com]

I read in the tub whenever I take baths, I usually take showers cause they are faster, and I can stay signed on to work, but when I do bathe, I haven't dropped books in a long time, (knocking on wood), but do get water marks on them from my fingers....I know that may sound mean lol but they do dry.

[blzblack.livejournal.com]

Get well soon!

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I try not to do sick clothes, because mostly I feel a whole lot better if I get dressed, up, and moving.

But "get dressed" when sickish often seems to involve pajama pants.

Feel better!

[mkille.livejournal.com]

My sick clothes are usually "whatever I was wearing before I started to feel like crap." I don't like getting wet when I'm sick, and I don't like putting on clean clothes when I'm unbathed, and I don't like putting on dirty clothes under any circumstances. So.

If I am sick for longer than a day or two--i.e., if things are dire--I will suffer through a shower and then put on one of the T-shirts I've appropriated from Laura, along with some comfy boxer shorts. If things are really really dire, I will wear the flannel shirt that belonged to my grandfather.

[writingortyping.livejournal.com]

colors that... emphasize the three-days-dead nature of Norwegian-girl-skin when sick.

Heh. I'm with you there. And don't forget the lovely grey-blue circles under the eyes! SO attractive. Who needs makeup when nature can make you look so divine, eh?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I don't generally wear makeup, so when I have tired circles under my eyes, I look extremely pathetic.