Sort of Back

I went back to work today. I feel better than I did yesterday, but that's not really saying very much. I'm still coughing and sniffling and sneezing and blowing my nose way more than any one human ever should in an average lifetime, let alone an hour. However, I went to the liquor store, spent too much money and I just finished a giant hot toddy made with Jamesons, hot water, honey and lime juice. It is giant because I made it in the Folly Beach souvenir pirate mug that until recently held pencils in young M's room - using it for drinks turns out to be the silver lining to this damn cold, since young M decided to rescue and wash it rather than go through 3 normal sized mugs of echinacea tea every two hours or so. Not, forgive me Asheville hippies, that the tea is doing shit. Although there's something to be said for just holding a warm mug, there is that.

The liquor store didn't have any of the holiday boxes of Jamesons. I buy a bottle once a year, in December, and every year I enjoy my free holiday gift of completely useless and inscrutable Jamesons brand bar utensils. Or coasters. One year they gave me coasters, in a nifty somewhat Jetsons-esque rack. This year, the liquor store man (the Asheville liquor store people are the nicest retail employees in North Carolina. Maybe they get paid very well. Or maybe they're toasted, who knows? Anyway, I love them all - they're even nice when you're frazzled, moving and just getting boxes.) said they hadn't come in yet. I thought about therefore not buying my yearly bottle yet, but caved to the cold, which was screaming for hot whiskey. Also, there was a freebie mini bottle of something that looked quite disgusting attached to the neck of the Jamesons, so hey, why not? It turns out to be, of all godawful things, some kind of honey bourbon liqueur - eww. But it was free and mini bottles are fast becoming a novelty, what with South Carolina giving them up and all. I used to always imagine a tiny gnome passed out in the gutter, hand wrapped around a half empty mini bottle, pointed hat askew, but soon that fantasy must be laid to rest. God speed, mini bottles! So I put it in my purse for emergencies, which made me feel badass. I'm not super clear on which emergencies are going to require a mini bottle of honey bourbon liqueur, but I'm confident that I'll know them when they appear.