After weeks of coughing, I’m really worn out. Although I’m supposedly past the worst period of the whooping cough – including the apnea (which was terrifying) and the being contagious part – and my son Theo is doing much better, I am now in a period that feels like a cold except that when I cough, I go into paroxysms or coughing fits, of rapid, violent coughs, on average of about 20 in a row. I looked this up on the CDC’s website and it’s apparently normal and could go on for a few more weeks. Last night, I literally woke up every hour and had one of those coughing fits. So, though I think my abdominal muscles may well be stronger than they have ever been before, I am just wiped out.

So, not surprisingly, we did very little today. The highlight of our day was a trip to the movie theater to see Disney’s wonderful new movie Monkey Kingdom, which is set in the jungles surrounding the Buddhist temples of Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka. It showed monkeys at their very worst – abusing members of the lower classes and going to war over territory – and their best – taking care of each other by grooming and sharing food. I only had one fit – as quietly as I could – in the movie theater, so that was a relief. After we got home, I was ready to lie down but I needed some medicine refills so I drove over to the pharmacy. There’s a cheap and decent Chinese restaurant next door called Wong’s Wok. Though David had offered to organize dinner, I told him I’d pick up some food there. I asked the woman who was serving me for some rice, vegetables and some of their roast chicken and watched in admiration as she somehow managed to fit enough food for 3 people into the small Styrofoam container she was holding. At one point, she looked up at me and said, “You look tired.” I am not sure we’d ever met each other before, and normally I bristle when people tell me that, but this time I replied, “Yes, I am. I’m really tired. I’ve been coughing for weeks.” To which she replied, “We women always tired!” I smiled and agreed. Then I realized I had some little goodies in my purse. I pulled out a cute little hand painted elephant key chain and handed it to her, saying, “This is for you. Thank you for being so nice.” Her face broke into a big smile. I explained it was from Thailand, and we chatted for a minute or so as she calculated the price of my food. I paid, she handed me the food, and we said goodbye, wishing each other plenty of rest.