So B. and I are moving to Dallas next week, and here’s what the universe has thrown in our direction:

a) I caught a weird sore throat/flu/cold combo on Monday, and now I get out of breath just climbing up the stairs. Weird, because I just ran 4.5 miles on Sunday at a nice, strong clip and felt amazing. Guess I should’ve taken myself more seriously whenever I scrawled “Need more sleep!” on my running journal.

b) I was chewing on some chicken the other day when I felt a dull pain in my mouth. I checked out my teeth that night and realized that a filling I’ve had for 20-odd years has chipped off. Nice. My dentist is out of town all week (spring break!?), so after some frantic calling-around I was able to get an appointment tomorrow with a dentist across the hall from my usual guy.

c) I still haven’t been able to go on remission with my ulcerative colitis — after several months’ of trying out different medications and diets — so I’ve made an appointment to see my GI doc on Tuesday, i.e., the day before we’re scheduled to leave for Dallas. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I was able to nab an appointment at all, as he’s out of town this entire week as well. (Spring break?!)

I’ve rescheduled a bunch of last-minute coffees and lunches with friends, and now I’m worried that I won’t be able to say goodbye to some folks. Yikes. When we said that the decision to leave GJ was “sudden,” I guess it didn’t occur to us just how sudden it really is.

We were really on schedule to have everything packed up by the end of this week, but with my illness that’s all up in the air now. B. has had to do everything pretty much by himself, as it tires me out just going up the stairs. I’m usually asleep by 9:30 pm and able to crawl out of bed by 9:00 am, which is probably good for my body, but I still lack the energy to do more than work on the laptop and watch hours of daytime TV.

I’m also very, very lucky in that I don’t have any assignments at all for the next two weeks. I do have my [final!!!] column due on Tuesday, but other than that, I don’t have any commitments. I should be panicking, but I have all the work I need to keep me busy until we get settled in our temporary quarters at my brother’s house in Irving. My body’s taught me that there’s really only so much it can take before it gives out on me, so for once I’m heeding its call to get lots of rest before I subject it to more stress next week. Five days of being on the road! Woo-hoo!