Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Sick at Home

I felt absolutely terrible when I awoke. Fever of 100, chills, sore throat, sniffly. I could smell and breathe and my stomach was fine, but I was otherwise lousy. I called out at 6:30, then tried to go back to sleep. I dozed fitfully until I finally gave up around 9:30. 

Moved to the living room/kitchen area for the rest of the morning. By this point, while I wasn't nauseous, I didn't have a huge appetite, either. Tried to eat shredded wheat while watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Miss Elaina Gets Hurt" when she and Dan run around her room, playing astronaut. Later, Dan's more reluctant to admit when he bruises his knee. Lady Elaine tends to both their injuries. "Daniel Feels Better" when his mother takes him to Doctor Anna after he sprains his ankle. Doctor Anna shows him how x-rays work and how to wrap his ankle right.

Of course, I had to watch Doc McStuffins. Ben and Anna are Doc's friend Alma's "huggy monkeys" who hug each other via Velcro patches. "Ben/Anna Split" when Doc's brother accidentally rips the Velcro off Ben. Doc pastes it back on his hand and has to keep him overnight. Anna's upset and nervous, but Doc assures her that they will be fine in the morning. Doc says "That's Just Claw-ful" when Alma's puppy runs off with her toy crab Hermie. She's able to fix his claw, but has to teach him about the importance of physical therapy when it's weaker than before.

The Muppet Babies also dealt with the occasional illness and injuries. "Animal Gets the Sneezies," but he's too scared to see a doctor. The other kids chase him all over the back yard, but it's Nanny who finally convinces him that the doctor isn't so scary and he'll feel better if he sees them. Robin and the kids play "Library Leapfrog" to get his video game back when the girls accidentally make off with it during a Wild West story.

Switched to Family Feud after that...but I was so tired, I kept nodding off. Kept nodding off all through Supermarket Sweep and both Match Game episodes. Finally gave up after Match Game '79 and laid down for a nice long nap.

It was so long, I didn't wake up again until 5 PM. Even then, I read Lois Lenski's Christmas Stories in bed and wrote in my journal, which I wasn't up to earlier. Jodie was yammering to some friend of hers in the den, initially about news stories and gossip. Eventually, she starting ranting and raving about how oh, her daughters were so terrible, and oh, isn't it horrible how badly they treated her, and she's wiping her hands of them, and she'll sue if I'm not out of the house in two months, because oh, she had nothing to do with any of this and none of it is her fault and she's totally not to blame for anything, it's her terrible daughters who did everything to her.

First of all, we're ALL to blame. Rose should have told Jodie her feelings about this back in the summer when she was cleaning the pool, instead of letting them fester. Jodie should have been more professional and drawn up a real lease last year, and maybe even let me help more with household expenses. And yes, I should have started looking for an apartment in June, instead of September. I didn't think I would have this much of a problem finding something. And it would have been nice if Jodie and Rose had been more of a help with finding homes for Jodie and me, instead of automatically assuming the other would take the responsibility. We should have worked together from the start.

Made a fried egg and pineapple for dinner at 6 PM. Watched Match Game '74 while I ate. The first episode featured a bit of banter between Charles and Brett on where babies come from and a Super Match strikeout when everyone missed "__ Stick," including the celebrties. They had more luck with "Tiger __" in the next episode.

Tried making Lemon Jello during Match Game PM, but it wouldn't thicken. Richard got to chat with a gentleman from his native England with an interesting accent. Meanwhile, Gary Burghoff and Jo Ann Pflug found themselves between Fannie and Brett teasing each other, including about what kind of bra a practical joker would give his wife.

Returned to PBS for Arthur. "Arthur's Sleepover" gets a lot more interesting when UFOs are reported in the area. DW is determined to stay outside and photograph them for herself, while the boys are more interested in playing cards and telling ghost stories. Arthur intitially says he won't stay up for "Arthur's New Year's Eve." He changes his mind when his friends tell him about all the cool things that happen on New Year's. Grandma Thora reminds him that the real importance of the holiday is to reflect on memories of the year before and hope for even better ones in the year ahead.

Finished online with more New Year's episodes. Cathy Lane looks for ward to her correspondent father coming home in "The Christmas Present" on the first season of The Patty Duke Show. Not only is he caught up in a revolution and in jail, but his boss just fired him and told Patty's dad he has to tell him. Even when he does make it home, the girls try to find him a job or get him writing his memoirs. "Auld Lang Syne," however, brings more than one surprise for both Lane girls. 

On the first season of The Donna Reed Show, Donna Reed tells her daughter to "Have Fun" on her first date with a handsome and smart classmate. Her daughter runs home in tears, insisting it went badly and her life is over. Donna and her husband Alex recall their first date on New Year's Eve and how awkward they felt...but they remember things very different...

Donna and Alex aren't the only ones with clashing memories of a New Year's party. Blanche and Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple also remember their New Year's party very differently in "A Night to Dismember." They accused each other of jumping into the arms of the guests. Felix, as usual, wasn't as big of a help as he wanted to believe. 

It's "A War For All Seasons" as the members of the 4077th on MASH celebrate a year in the life together, tied together by the theme of a much-mauled Sears-Roebuck catalogue. It lets Father Mulcahy set up a garden and Hawkeye and Hunicutt buy a washtub to make a liver transfer vessel for a sick soldier. Meanwhile, Winchester and Klinger bet on the Dodgers in the World Series, with disastrous results, and there's also Hot Lips's constantly evolving knitting project. 

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