I have the craziest dreams when I’m sick. The other night, I dreamt the family pets tried to intimidate/kill (?) us by hurling cans of Ensure Plus (chocolate) through the windows of the house I grew up in. We evacuated to some weird-ass farmhouse where people raced old planes they converted into buses, and I blew off my journalistic duties covering one of these aforementioned races  to go play mini-golf in a filly prom dress.

For most of my adult life (aka since I was old enough to drink), August has been the month in which sh*t falls apart, at least in terms of my health—and by fall apart, I really just mean that I get my annual summer ailment, but it’s still always an unpleasant half-surprise.

Part of it is that August is when my schedule is more conducive to things like getting foot deformities diagnosed, cutting out potential skin cancers,  and undergoing super-fun things like LEEP procedures (2007 was just not my year). It’s also that I tend to push my immune system to its limits because there is so much more fun stuff going on in the summer, and by the time I realize I should prioritize rest more, that sore throat has already morphed into a legit common cold.

So yeah, I’m not surprised working 3 jobs and maintaining a busy social calendar has caught up with me. I even went home early from work Friday. My patients and co-workers really did not need my germs. The rest of the afternoon involved the usual remedies and some of the ravioli soup I made the other day. In the spirit of healing, I also did a Facebook friend-cleanse.

Hopefully I’ll be feeling 100% really soon. So far so good : )

Do you have crazy sick-dreams? What are your go-to cold remedies?