Sick on a Sunday

I really want to go to the dollar store and get cheap ribbon for headdresses (RenFest is coming up y'all) but I'm feeling pretty awful today. 

The worst part is that my beloved kitty Narcissus is probably dead.  We knew he was really ill and dying, but he stopped coming home when my parents let him outside (he hates litterboxes) and we figured he was snoozing under a bush (this, plus sleeping under our cars in the driveway was about all he did for the past year) and his body finally gave out.  I can't even go look for him because they're in Florida and I'm here in Texas.  So I'm pretty down over that, even though 16 1/2 years is a pretty damn good run for a cat.

On top of that I'm definitely sick.  I'm sure my body is just trying to make me slow down, but grad school doesn't allow for such niceties.  Fortunately, I realized I was sick while I was shopping (if the coughing and headache and clogged chest shouldn't have tipped me off when I woke up...) so I managed to buy some orange juice. 

On top of *that* I'm seriously worried about money.  I've been approved for a freelancing gig doing transcription, but I know I'll be pretty slow at that, especially since I don't have a lot of time with lots of quiet which I'll need for that.  I've also started freelancing on fiverr, but of course, I have to wait for people to come to me.  Hopefully between the two of those, I'll make the extra $260/mo I need to survive.  I'm filling out surveys on a website to earn $10 prepaid Visa gift cards for spending money (I told you I'm desperate), and I've formed a new resolution to send out my novel to one agency per day.  If it were just that, that'd be ok, but I also have a lot built up on my credit card (from conferences, being underemployed for months, and sudden, unavoidable expenses) that I desperately want to pay off ASAP.  I have a tiny amount saved up but I'm thoroughly disinclined to spend that because it's my only safety net. 

In one way it's fortunate I'm no longer interested in a social life.  I go out once a month or so to my favorite bar for wings and a few beers (it's a dive bar and those wings are so worth the calories and the expense), but other than that I scurry home as soon as I can every day, knock as much work as I can out of my way, and settle down to Netflix/Amazon Prime and a vodka (diet) tonic with lime in my ugly, comfy clothes, and some soft pillows and my Kindle.  Of course, if it's a week day I usually skip the drink and have a 40 calorie frozen popsicle and don't bother with the Kindle because I already have a headache, but still. 


Oh well.  I have a loving, supportive family even if they're far away.  And I'm going to keep on writing and maybe one day I'll get some love (and money) from that.  In the meantime, it's time for me to curl up on the couch and relax.  I've spent today getting shit done despite feeling like crap and now I'm tired out.  I don't think I'll even prep the week's lunches today.  I can do that tomorrow since I don't have class or work (thanks to that I usually reserve Mondays for doing as much thesis/hw as I can to make the rest of my week easier) and can cook and eat whenever I'm hungry.  Yay for good planning!