Sick Days With Maisie

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

 

I sit up in bed. Ugh, I have to go back to school today after a glorious long weekend! I am just about to get out of bed when I realize how wet I am. Wet, and sticky. I wipe sweat from my forehead. I then realize that every inch of my body is covered in sweat. I take a whiff of my armpit and almost faint from the horrible stench. Luckily my pillows catch me.

 

Then, my head starts pounding. I start coughing uncontrollably, and I can barely breathe. My skin is still slick with sweat. I decide to suck it up and get ready for school. Then, I see my alarm clock, and it reads:

 

12:03 p.m.

 

“Oh, $%#@!” I think to myself.

 

Then, my head starts pounding some more and my stomach starts to hurt. I go into my parents’ room to tell them of this recent update. Barely able to whisper, I say, “Mommy, my head hurts, I can’t talk, I can barely breathe, and I feel like somebody poured a combination of lukewarm water and maple syrup all over me while I was sleeping.”

 

My parents respond, in unison, “Me too.”

 

“Can you check on Gabe?” My mom asks. We knew Gabe was going to stay home from school today because the day before, his asthma started acting up and he had a fever.

 

“Okay.” I splutter.

 

As expected, Gabe is pretty much in the exact same condition he was in yesterday, coughing so much he could barely talk, complaining of headaches, yet somehow still managing to watch YouTube without moaning in pain.

 

At this point, I decide to take a shower because I hate being sweaty and I hadn’t showered in three days.

 

Over the course of the rest of the day, I:

• actually did my science and English homework
• drank 5 cups of tea with honey
• probably took 3 different medicines
• consumed 2 bowls of chicken noodle soup (a Jew’s gotta do what a Jew’s gotta do)
• watched almost the entire fourth season of The Simpsons
• watched 2 or 3 movies
• read about 75% of my book in one sitting.

 

Then I fell asleep…zzzzzzzz

 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 10:30 p.m.

 

I’ve been tossing and turning and coughing up phlegm for the past hour. I reach a break in coughing, only to realize that my throat is completely clogged with mucus. I can’t swallow or breathe through my mouth, my stomach hurts, and

 

*grabs bucket*

 

*insert violent puking sounds here*

 

Okay, I only puked for, like, five minutes. But anyway, I had to go out in the middle of the night IN MY PAJAMAS (I was wearing my fluffy PJ pants but no coat, hat, gloves, shoes, or socks) to deposit my barf bucket on the porch, and it was probably only about 35 or 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside (which isn’t that cold, but still, I’M SICK SO I CAN COMPLAIN).

 

I went back to bed.

 

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

 

I wake up at around 8:30, and, surprise, surprise, my family and I are only about 20% better than we were yesterday. While I probably could have tried to go to school, I still felt sick, and here is a direct quote from my mother:

 

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been in this much pain.”

 

Wednesday was almost identical to Tuesday.

 

Things I did on Wednesday:

• Watched most of season 5 of The Simpsons
• Watched Dance Moms
• Watched Child Genius (an obscure Lifetime reality series about 8-to-12-year-olds who can memorize decks of 52 cards correctly) (it sounds lame but it’s really not)
• Finished the book I started a few days before
• Ate more chicken soup
• Drank more tea
• Watched about 50 episodes of the Fifth Harmony AwesomenessTV Takeover on YouTube
• Took a 2-hour nap then fell asleep 3 hours later

I wore the same PJs for, like, 3 days in a row. I did not leave my house from Monday afternoon until Thursday morning, and I still can’t really talk. I was really cranky both Thursday and today at school. Oh well, at least my headaches are gone.

My Views on Instagram and Other Social Media

A short summary of my views on Instagram would be as follows:

 

Instagram is like communism. It seemed like it would be a good idea in theory, but in practice, it doesn’t work out so well.

 

From my own personal experience, I was an Instagram addict. I owned a fanpage for The Voice (surprise, surprise), and every spare second I had, I was checking my feed, giving my friends shoutouts, finding new pictures to post, making new edits, blah blah blah. I would spend hours upon hours on that stupid app. I only realized how bad this was when the friends I met on Instagram started to get sadistic. There was this trend called #Confessions, and the vast majority of them were: “I self-harm and I plan to kill myself.” Every picture everyone posted had a caption like: “I cut myself until I can’t bleed anymore,” or, “I don’t understand why I should keep living on this planet.”

 

Because of that, I started feeling really down all the time. I felt awful that while some people were fighting for their lives, I was doing fine. This sadness affected me a lot, and my doctor told me to get off of Instagram because I was starting to get depressed. So, without hesitation or knowing what would happen next, I deleted the Instagram app from my iPod.

 

It has been almost two months since I’ve deleted Instagram from my phone, and I am not only a happier, more carefree person, I feel like I am a better person to my family, friends, and the world around me. My world used to revolve around what happened in a world that didn’t matter in real life. Now, I open my eyes every morning, and I don’t think about how many likes my last post got, or how many shoutouts I received. I think about what I can do to be a better daughter, cousin, friend, student, writer, dancer, actress, singer, and friend. I read books, and I am more focused on my schoolwork. Most importantly, I know that life doesn’t happen on my iPod. It is what happens all around me.

 

I am now working on only using Twitter and Facebook for professional uses and not for personal enjoyment because really, there are very few long-term benefits of social media.

Top 5 Events I’m Looking Forward To In 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR AMAISERS!!!!!

 

It’s a new year, and I’m looking forward to so many things in 2015. So, in no particular order, here are the top five events I can’t wait for in the coming year.

 

New Music

Music-wise, 2015 seems like it’s gonna be one of the best years yet. Fifth Harmony’s new album, Reflection, drops in January, and they’ve already released a few singles from it, and excited doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings. Bryana Salaz, otherwise known as my life, is moving out to LA in June after her high school graduation and record some new stuff. SQUEE!

 

New Movies

As many people know, I’m not allowed to watch most PG-13-or-R-rated movies. Luckily, there are some awesome family movies coming out in 2015, including The Peanuts Movie, Spongebob: Sponge Out Of Water, Cinderella, Paddington, and The Shaun the Sheep Movie. However, the movie I’m most looking forward to is Minions, the film featuring the adorable, hilarious minions from the Despicable Me series. I can’t wait to see what crazy situations they get themselves into.

 

My 15th Birthday

That’s right, folks! On August 28, 2015, I’m turning the Big 15! I don’t really know what I’m going to do for it, but I’m hoping to get the new iPod touch and have a small birthday party with my friends.

 

Exploring My Passions and Interests More

One of my new year’s resolutions for 2015 is to take more courses and workshops on things that interest me, such as theatre, singing, dance, and writing. I took a theatre course this winter break, and it was SO MUCH FUN! Plus, I learned a lot, which is fun in and of itself. Another thing I like about taking courses is that I can meet new friends who share similar interests with me, so I won’t have to be a total nerd all by myself.

 

GRADUATING 8TH GRADE!!!

This picture of an adorable small child completely covers my emotions on moving on to high school.

 

What is everyone looking forward to in 2015? Sound off in the comments below!