英语博客：I'm back, with details of a yucky cold.

　　I'm sorry that I missed a couple of podcasts last week; I was really sick. When I spoke¹ to you last, I was beginning to lose my voice and feel achy with a sore throat. I assumed, however, that with some good food, and a good night's rest, that I would be fine the next day. Wrong! I went downhill from there. I had originally caught the cold from my son, and then my daughter and I both got really ill. So, it's been a miserable² week, with no energy, coughs, fevers, chills, and not a lot of fun in the house. Thankfully, my brother has been visiting from New Zealand, so he has been able to entertain the children more than me. What does a person have to do to get over this kind of sickness? One thing I have found to be very helpful, is to drink lots of fluid. That is something that doctors always say, and, at times, I haven't really paid much attention. But, you will find that if you have a cough or a blocked nose, drinking lots of water and juices makes you feel much better. Your mucus isn't so thick, so you can cough or blow your nose more effectively. I know, these details are a bit gross, but it's all common English that's useful. We normally use the word 'snot' for mucus, or we say that we are 'snotty'.  However, in the U.S.A the word 'snotty' is very commonly used to describe a person as proud or unfriendly. So, when you use this word, make sure that your listeners know exactly what you mean. Anyway, another thing that helps when you are experiencing a bad cold, is to use an extra pillow at night, so your head and chest are elevated. This helps you breathe more easily, and it helps your nose and sinuses drain more easily. You might wish to take spoonfulls of medicine to help relieve some of they symptoms you are living with. Nasal decongestant unclogs your nose; an expectorant loosens the mucus in your chest so you can cough well; cough suppressant reduces coughing; and anti-histamine reduces the kind of allergy⁴ symptoms we get such as itchy eyes and throat. Most people have these medicines in their bathroom cabinet somewhere. It is useful to keep them handy, just in case. I'm so glad that I'm over the worst of my cold; I'm about one day away from being fully³ recovered. Our routines will get back to normal: the kids in school, some at home for homeschooling, and me back to podcasting. So, don't make the mistake I made of over-extending yourself and getting ill; it's not worth it. Sometimes we need to baby ourselves to avoid these yucky colds.
Grammar notes.
Cold related vocabulary: expectorant, to baby oneself, sinuses, decongestant.
1. Expectorant is great for loosening mucus in the chest so you can cough well. However, you must drink lots of water so your mucus doesn't get thick and choke you!
2. Relax, keep warm, take vitamins and chicken soup, and basically baby yourself. That way you can avoid getting ill.
3. When you have a sinus infection, you get pain and tightness across your forehead.
4. Decongestant unblocks or unclogs your nose.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。