Messiah, I know You are there / Within, without, holding me / Messiah, I know You are there / Catching, carrying this beautiful mess - "Within a Room Somewhere", Album: This Beautiful Mess, Sixpence None the Richer

Ever have one of those days where your consciousness seems to be completely separated from your body? Where you don't feel much like a person but rather like a blob of protoplasm making its way through the world?

That's pretty much how I feel right now. I usually have no problems sleeping, but for some reason last night I was tossing and turning with torso pains and the heat for several hours, and now I'm having difficulty focusing on anything. Everything seems disconnected and my physical, mental, and spiritual senses all seem dulled. My body is sore, my synapses fire slowly, and I feel more distant from God than I have in a while due to sin. I seem to be pretty messed up. And even though I might cognitively know that Jesus is there and can carry me in my weeakness, it's really difficult to take grasp of that promise right now.

This is kind of a shot in the dark, but I also did some research on the West Nile Fever at the Center for Disease Control, since I've counted approximately 8 mosquito bites on my legs and feet from the past few days. Some symptoms include:
- fever - can't really tell, since you can't really check to see if you yourself are warm
- headache - somewhat
- tiredness - yes
- body aches - yes
- skin rash - not yet
- swollen lymph glands - not yet
- incubation time of 2-15 days - I got bit on Sunday evening and started feeling it Wednesday morning, so that's about right

'Course, I'm probably just being paranoid... but I'll probably try to rest more today and tomorrow and let my immune system get to work.

Two things to highlight from the long weekend... after church on Sunday, headed up to Andy and Pam's housewarming where they entertained probably around 40 of their friends and family over the course of the afternoon. Got to catch up with old college friends, eat one of every type of animal, enjoy the sunset, and play a little poker, all while accumulating the aforementioned mosquito bites.

Monday morning, got up bright and early (for a holiday, heh) at 9:30 am to play a few hours of basketball. As the temperature eventually climbed up into the mid-90s, I realized quickly that I'm not as fit as I would like to be. Since I hadn't played with most of the people before (friends of Alvin), I probably ended up ballhogging more than I should have... but from what I could tell I was typically the only one on my team capable of getting my own shot off. I was quite wasted the rest of the day though.