The dreaded lurgy

I woke up early in time to be ready to greet an OpenReach engineer at eight, just in case the appointment cancellation visit order had not been received a second time. I took screenshots of relevant sections of the Direct Message text and had them ready to present on my Chromebook in case I needed to prove it wasn't my fault if there was a communication failure.  Once bitten twice shy. Thankfully there was no knock at the door in the time window between eight and one.

Despite being in bed by eleven and getting up at eight, I only got seven hours disturbed sleep and felt awful when I got up, with painful muscles and joints, and a hangover type headache, although I drank no alcohol since Saturday. Very similar to how Anto was over Christmas. I may have caught this bug from him. It was a relief that no OpenReach engineer showed up. I slept soundly in my armchair for an hour after saying Morning Prayer, but with aches and pains in my hand, doing my share of the housework was a struggle.

Clare cooked pasta for lunch, and I languished in my armchair, summoning up the effort to go out for some fresh air. On the brighter side, I received a message from Fr Dean asking me if I could take Sunday Masses in Grangetown Parish for the next three weeks, and then a message from Fr Jarel asking if I could cover St German's Sunday Mass for him in four weeks time. That was certainly a morale booster, giving me things to look forward to in January. On the whole, I have been content to worship with parishioners and not lead services. I miss preaching and the process of preparation to preach much more. But not being able to lead worship at Christmastime, with Christmas Day Communion out of reach without missing the family's early festivities left me feeling rather desolate. Thanks to Fr Dean's invitation I get to celebrate Mass on the 12th day of Christmas. A consolation from heaven!

I walked in the park for a couple of hours and got home at sunset, aching and short of my target steps, but I really don't care that much. 

Clare's wireless mouse died. I thought there was a spare among my odds and ends, but found this too was dead, not disposed of. Lucky they don't stink. Fortunately, I have a spare corded USB mouse still working, so crisis averted.

Recovering from this dreaded lurgy take its time and won't be hurried. Bed early. I hope I can make myself more comfortable tonight.