A lot of coughing. A dry, tickly cough that won't go away no matter how much I humidify the air in my apartment, no matter how many Halls cough drops I munch on. It's the same kind of cough I used to get when I lived in Portland during the winter. I didn't have this cough last winter, but last winter we didn't have temperatures go crazy like they've done this winter with its 16 degrees one day and 70 the next, followed on the third day by 32 degrees and the day after that by 80 degrees. My body does not handle sudden weather changes well at all, and it usually takes me several days to recover from the effects. But we've had at least six sudden changes in the last month so my body hasn't had time to adjust. So as far as I can tell, that's what made my body susceptible to whatever bug is causing me to cough.

My ribs are even starting to hurt from the coughing... just like they used to do every single winter when I lived in Portland. I can handle it, but it's annoying... and with my ribs feeling the strain now, it's also going to be much more painful before it stops.

What happened to the nice Texas weather that I've come to know and love? Who kidnapped it and replaced it with a Rose City winter?