Cough, Cough

My cold lingers on. It started last week, first with a sore throat, then with sinus pressure the next day, and the following day, a hacking cough which has stayed with me now for nine days. My nose has been congested for about half that time, and two days ago my ears plugged up. I am feeling a little bit better each day, I think. Wendy says I've just learned how to cough without waking myself up. She's a little sick, too, but we've made a pact to try to not be sick while we're in Hawaii. We leave a week from Saturday. We're as sure to go as anybody can be sure of anything right now.
A couple of days ago, the nation went to "orange" security status, which means there is a high probability of attack either here or in our interests overseas. It's hard for me to resist my turtle urges, which would normally convince me to cancel our Hawaii trip or petition Wendy not to go to Russia. I remember my New Year's Resolution (NYR) to "Let go of worry." Still, worry is different from preparedness--I'm going to go to Costco this weekend and buy a home defense kit.