I've been awake for about an hour and it's really pushing my limits

This has turned out to be the dreaded week that I thought it would. All of my professors decided to assign papers this week, and with the conference talk preparation in the weeks before, it was questionable whether or not I'd be able to write all 21 pages in time. Things were moving along fairly nicely through Monday with 13 pages down and an extension on one paper.

Then, last night, while drafting paper two, I felt a little wave of nausea wash over me. It was sudden and unmistakable, but I thought it would be over quickly. Twelve hours later and 3 to 4 bouts of vomiting per hour (among other things that I'm sure you can imagine, but don't want to), Cassie drove me to the ER. It turns out that I had contracted a strain of the noroviris, which pretty much sucks all life and liquid out of you while leaving you to writhe in severe unrelenting abdominal pain.

I'm a polite person, but when the ER nurse told me it'd be just a minute before they were able to get me to a room (next to the bathroom), I responded, "You have to hurry. And you have to make the pain go away." They got right on it, and 45 minutes later, an IV of fluid, nausea medication, and morphine pumped into my veins, I felt like a new person.

I've pretty much slept the day away, and the thought of food still makes me jilt. The profs have been great about missed classes and paper extensions, but my spring break next week doesn't look so exciting anymore. Cassie follows me around with antibacterial spray and has made quite a project out of disinfecting the house. I can see the streaks of rubbing alcohol across my laptop screen as I write this. We're pretty sure she gave me the virus, so I don't mind watching her clean. I figure it's penance.