still under the weather

I seem to still be muddling my way through this flu and now have pretty much lost my voice. that's divine punishment! still, on the upside, I've gotten a lot of rest and reading done (though I'm having a very difficult time sleeping during the night). one of the novels I've recently completed is Anna Quindlen's One True Thing, a book about a woman in her early 20s who returns home to care for her mother during her mother's death from cancer. that much of the plot mirrors my own life experience perfectly and I spent several hours this week reading and crying. I think that was good. there is something about birth that brings thoughts of death, too. we are looking forward to this baby, but we are also feeling especially connected to my mother and to Olive right now.