The first time I remember losing my voice was in high school. My twin sis sat in front of me in my 11th-grade Trig class and as the teacher asked if anyone had any questions, I raised my hand, furiously scribbled my question on a note, and handed it to my sis to read for me. I got my answer, the math world was saved, my voice came back, and all was well. I tend to lose my voice now once every few years; the last time it happened, though, was just under a year ago, when I was dealing with a regular old cold but then spent a winter day outside, and then had to deliver an acceptance speech later that night. By the time the evening ended I was raw and hoarse; the next morning, my voice was gone.

Where am I going with this? Just to say that last night I knew it was coming -- I could feel the scratches as I dined with friends at Hudson Hall (which I don't recommend, though the company was excellent), and my tone had sunk into when-Pheobe-from-Friends-gets-sick-and-sings-Smelly-Cat levels. Then I woke up this morning, croaking. I called out of work, thinking a day of rest would cure me.

Alas! Here it is, one nap and 12 hours later, and my voice is now officially gone - even worse than this morning. Finis. Which of course leads to humorous scenarios -- for example, the grocery store clerk probably thought I was rude because I couldn't say hello or thank you. I don't like unproductivity so I thought I'd handle some simple home errands today, but when I called to activate a replacement card (thinking it'd just be an automated thing), I was shocked to suddenly be ear-to-ear with a real person. (She got a kick of out my cackling, though.) And just now, my mom tried to Skype me. It was not pretty, friends.

So here I sit, with (more) hot tea with honey and (more) reading materials, trying to embrace the silence. I never actually realized how much I talk to myself - out loud - until today, when all that greeted me were my pathetic squeaks.

And for a brief moment today, I wondered if this was the universe's way of telling me that I've said too much this week (in my real life, not on this blog, obvs). Which is definitely very possible.