I had a salad last night for dinner, full of dark green leafy things and broccoli, and a carrot juice Sobe beverage . . . and ice cream, because of course ice cream is good for whatever ails you. Ben & Jerry's, of course. Waffle Cone Crunch, or something like that.

Despite all that, the carrot juice and salad and ice cream, I kept waking up in the night because it hurt to swallow. A lot. I must have woken up five or six times, and when the alarm went off at 6:30, I decided to stay home. My throat wasn't quite as bad as it had been in the night, but the cold seemed to be moving up into my head some, and I figured I might as well stay home and try to feel better.

So I called in and left a message on my boss's voice mail, and sent email to everyone else I could think of who might need me, and went back to bed.

I got up again at around 8:30, and when I checked email I saw that someone had emailed me with something that needed to be done, and although I tried to figure out a way, there wasn't any way I could do it from home, because it required moving something from one server to another one, and I couldn't do it directly (i.e., without downloading it to my computer first and then uploading it again).

I was feeling a little better anyway, so I called and said I'd come in after lunch. I showered, dressed, and took myself out to breakfast, then went on in to the office.

I drank several cups of tea and several glasses of water, trying to keep my throat hydrated, and it wasn't too bad, although not as nice as being at home on the couch. I was probably busier today than I've been for several weeks, and at least I avoided having to use a vacation day.

By the time I was ready to head for home, though, I was pretty worn out, and was very much wishing that I was already at home on the couch. And it only got worse.

Dave had come in a little after 5:00 to say that we might want to consider heading for home, that there was some "freaky kind of snow" out there, coming down fast.

I finished up a few things and headed out around 5:30, and it was indeed kind of freaky--a fairly heavy snow that made noise--you could hear it hitting the ground and the trees. Sleet, I guess.

I started out the way I usually go home, got about half way there, and came to a complete stop--I needed to turn the corner and go up a hill, and the hill was completely covered with cars, some heading the right direction, some at right angles, some just stuck and spinning their wheels, and a few on the shoulder with their blinkers flashing. I sat there for about fifteen minutes trying to figure out if I could think of a better way to go home, and finally, when I saw an opening, pulled out and turned back the way I'd come.

I went a few blocks, thinking I'd head over perpendicular to where I wanted to be as soon as I saw a major street, but I was soon stuck again, behind a line of traffic that stretched as far as I could see. I turned around again, headed back the original way, but cut over about a block before I hit the snag, and came home on surface streets rather than the highway. It usually takes me about 40 minutes to get home; tonight it took a little over two hours.

So, finally, home.