This autumn my allergy to leaf mold has gotten completely out of control. At some points my congestion has been so bad it feels like I’m drowning. My stuffy nose makes it almost impossible to sleep because I use a CPAP and it has trouble driving air into my nose. When it does push air in it also pushes mucus down my throat so the first 30-90 minutes of the day is spent hawking it up. The pressure also makes it hard to hear.

This year my allergy has shown me a new twist – laryngitis. This of course starting at a sci-fi convention where I had to perform a reading and serve on two panels. There was an autograph session too but only one woman was interested in a book so – yay? Can you imagine how bad an author’s laryngitis has to be that they don’t want to talk about their books?

So this #FangirlFriday is about appreciating the simple things we take for granted: breathing, hearing, speaking, and sleeping. You don’t know how good you’ve got it until you lose the basics. Sleep easy friends, and I’ll try to as well.