I've been side-lined with a cold for over a week now. This is my third cold this spring. It began with serious chills, body-aches and a mild fever, so maybe it was the flu. ??? All I know is, it is still here. Every three to four hours I am popping pills. I switch back and forth between Tylenol and Ibuprofen to deal with a very sore throat that seems to be impervious to medication. A dry cough persists, and a lot of gross stuff is going on in the back of my throat as well. I am eating saltines like an addict, because it takes away the gross, mucusy-feeling for at least 10 seconds. Lovely.
I've never been opposed to going to a doctor. But when you factor in four kids, the visit takes on a whole new dimension. I feel like crap AND I've got to keep four kids in line.... no thanks. The last visit to a Dr. (about a month ago with cold #2 - again, sore throat the major complaint) was ridiculous. First of all, when you add up the receptionist, nurse (sometimes two), Dr. and billing person, that's four different people who will undoubtedly remind me that I "have my hands full". THANKS. I wasn't aware of that. The Dr. (upon seeing that I have four kids methodically dismantling the examination room, will rush through the exam, just to get me on my way. This last visit the Dr. filled out a prescription for a throat gargle/rinse and was done. The lady at the pharmacy asked me why in the world he would prescribed me THAT? "If you ingest that stuff it could cause cardiac arrest". Nice. Thank you Dr. who knows we have four curious children in our household!
This time around I decided to go a different route. My throat hurt - bad. I've had tonsillitis several times since childhood. I've had mono. Twice. The pain-level was taking me down mono memory lane, and I wanted to be sure about what I was dealing with. Long ago a friend mentioned that she took her daughter to a small clinic within a Walgreens in Loveland. It's called Take Care Clinic and is staffed by a registered nurse. I decided to take this option, just to see what it was like. I like small clinics. I like dealing only with one or two people. I hate waiting rooms and the hoops you have to go through to get an appt. (which always seem to be during some one's nap time). The Take Care Clinic is designed to help you through the small stuff. Strep tests, vaccinations, minor ailments and injuries... it's an ideal place to get in and out fast. So I went to the closest one (Loveland) and left the kids to enjoy a movie in the van (which I only ever do if Jordan is with them), and went in. I was done 30 minutes later. I have to say it was a very pleasant experience. The nurse ushered me into a room right away and did a very thorough exam and performed two tests - strep and mono, right there in the room. ( I hate it when they have to go someplace else, and leave me waiting for 15 minutes for the results...) Both were negative, but the fact of the sore throat remained. She prescribed an antibiotic because some sort of bacterial infection was causing the painful swelling and gave a nice, detailed printout of the diagnosis and services performed and the cost. The total was $97, my copay was $15 and insurance will cover the rest. I can wholeheartedly recommend taking this route for the quickie-stuff. It's been two days and my throat still hurts, but the swelling has gone down a little, so I just have to be patient. I also need to eat two servings of yogurt a day to counteract the antibiotic.
So, in the midst of feeling so yucky... the busy schedule of last week did not let up. We had a lot of stuff to do! Dean stayed home with me on Wednesday and Thursday so that I could get some rest. On Wednesday I read The Help. It was a novel my book club read several months ago, and I just never got to it. Great read... I am amazed how well the (white) author wrote the voice of the African-American characters. I loved the character of Abiliene the best. I am intrigued at her practice of writing down her prayers for others. Setting down intention like that, on paper, is a very powerful, if not cathartic process. Hmm. I have to mention that all of the kids slept in that morning. Rylan slept in the latest. It was about 9:30 when she groggily came into our bedroom on her way to our bathroom. She noticed me in bed reading and came over to give me a hug. She asked me, "Is it Mother's Day again?". Ha! I should get sick more often...
On Thursday, a mom's night out was on the schedule. I hemmed and hawed about going all day. I really wanted to go. The plan was to do a group lesson at Rocky Mountain Archery, and then go out after that for dinner or drinks or whatever... I just wanted to do the lesson part. I was in no shape to go out for dinner (plus share my cold with everyone else), but I figured I could at least do the lesson part. My mom brought over a wonderful dinner for us from Young's Vietnamese, so Dean and the kids were set, so I doped myself up and went, with plenty of cough drops and hot tea to get me through. It was very cool! There were eleven of us in the group and we had a ball. I'm right-handed but left eye dominant, so it was a little tricky. My first set of three arrows (called an "end") went off in all directions, but after that they all hit the target paper. I never did get a bulls eye, but I did come close.
See that arrow directly above the balloon? It is resting on the balloon. It took me four more 'ends' (yeah, 12 more arrows....) to finally pop that stupid balloon.
Friday night it was the dads' turn to all go out. This was the first NCHA dad's night out. I find that hard to believe, since quite a few of them have similar jobs/interests and all, but sadly, that is the case. I am constantly feeling guilty that Dean rarely goes out on a night on his own. He has a poker night that he goes to every once in a blue moon, but that is it. I am thinking that maybe this night out will spur other plans - in addition to boy scouts and the dads going out once a month during the scout meeting.
On Saturday the stress level went into high gear. It was time for karate testing again. I had spent Friday on the couch, sporadically sewing star patches onto the pant legs on Rylan and Jordan's gis. I had fallen behind, and they are a major p.i.t.a. to sew on. First to test was Rylan.
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| They begin by focusing on the task at hand. |
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| Cobra combination |
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| Admiring her new orange belt... |
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| Tiger class pic |
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| Focusing... |
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| Stretch-rising kicks |
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| "Mace of Aggression" (otherwise known as "Give me your lunch money!!!!") |
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| Advanced yellow! (Worn with the orange stripe on top, since that is the next belt he will be testing for) |
I've never seen her do this before... I asked her where she got this from, and Rylan told me from a Little Bear episode. Little Bear (Nick jr.) is her favorite cartoon. And sure enough, the episode aired again just this Monday. A frog sitting cross-legged on a rock, hands up in the air... "Ommmmmm" in the middle of the stream. Too funny!
We spent Saturday afternoon getting ready to go to Denver for a U2 concert. I felt like I was in no shape to do this. I had no desire to sit in the stadium, cough my head off (at the risk of gagging and puking) and just feel miserable in general. But the tickets were a lot of money. My SIL called us up almost a year ago and asked if we wanted to go. They had just gone on sale (since the initial concert was cancelled) and she had a great deal if we were interested. I like planning ahead, but a year in advance leaves me nervous. Who knows what can happen in a year's time?? And add several kids into the mix and it just becomes impossible. I like U2, but I wouldn't say I am a huge fan. I have hardly listened to any of their recent stuff. But. I LOVED Joshua Tree, and I knew it would be an amazing show. I am sure if I were not sick, I would have been really excited to go. Mom had agreed long-ago to watch the kids, and we ended up leaving very early as the traffic reports were getting worse by the minute. The commute actually wasn't bad at all. We even had extra time to stop at the store and get a snack and some drinks. I was loaded with tea, coughdops, extra kleenex and so forth. We parked at 23rd and Federal Blvd, along a side street. For free. We walked maybe 6-7 blocks to the stadium, where there was parking for $30. Suckers.
I have never been to Invesco field before. Mile Hi yes, Invesco, no. We had plenty of time to walk around, and even though I was having a little difficulty breathing, the walking actually felt good. We admired the 30+ semis in the parking lot that are said to be needed to transport the stage. The stage (the claw-like thing) is actually one of three. It takes 5 days to set up and 3 to tear down, so they need to rotate between the three to keep up with their concert schedule. What an ordeal! We finally found our way to our seats, which were club-level. Nice! Here was our view...
We watched as they continued to get ready for the show. Lots of people watching. I love that. I don't like being in crowds, but I do like people watching. The age demographic for this show was interesting.. lots of middle-aged couples with their teen aged kids.
Dean was so thrilled with his seat. You can't see it, but he is actually right above a portal walkway , so he didn't have anyone sitting in front of him. :) Notice my glasses? All four kids are getting over pink eye. I just discovered the morning of the concert that I had it too. Nice. Something else to add to my misery.
The Fray was the opening act. That was pretty cool - nice to have a hometown band be the opener. They did an awesome job. I only know a couple of their songs (which they played). The guitarist also sang a song (no idea what it is called), and that was my favorite of their set.
Here is another shot of the stage, at sunset, after the Fray, but before U2 took the stage. See the screen? 500,000 pixels. They might have three stages, but there is only one screen. It is the first thing to be packed up when the show is over. It took 18 months to create for the production. They showcased random factoids on the screen to entertain the audience. The most interesting to me was the estimated amount of money spent on video games for that day. Over $43 million. More than education. Disgusting.
Finally U2 took the stage. It really was a great show, for the most part. My major complaint is that it was too loud. I know I sound like an old fogey when I say that, but I'm sorry... if you involuntarily physically wince every time The Edge hits a certain range of notes.. it is too loud. Attending a concert should not be a painful experience. The ballads were great though. After I stuffed my ears with bits of kleenex, it was much better. I didn't know much of the new stuff, but it still sounded great. I was just taken with how 'big' the show was. It was as much about the stage as it was the band. By far the biggest production I have seen. It was also neat to see the crowds around the stage as the lights swept over them. Just a sea of people. All I could think about was how much I would hate to be swept up in that, and have to go to the bathroom.
It was a great show, with great seats, but I would lying if I didn't say I was glad it was over when the lights came up. I was tired of coughing, tired of having to strain my voice (what's left of it) just to be heard, and tired of being with so many people.
The next day, Sunday, offered a nice change of pace. We had planned on having Jordan's long-time friend Abbi over to play and have a little post-birthday celebration with her, since the kids couldn't get together for Jordan's birthday earlier in the month. Dean stayed home with Owen and Colin, and I took Jordan, Abbi and Rylan to Fort Fun. We played mini-golf...
Then on to go-karts... This was a first for both Jordan and Abbi. They were both pretty nervous - but they did really well! They didn't spin out or cause anyone else to. Abbi was the cautious driver, and Jordan was a lead foot... uh-oh. Then Rylan and I took a turn. She was very anxious, but as soon as we began driving, she yelled the whole time... "This is actually fun!! Woohoo!!!!"
Then the kids took a quick trip down the slide...
Add a round of laser-tag and we were done. I was tired of coughing, and everyone was hungry, so we went home, picked up Dean and the little ones, and headed out to dinner. We went to the Beach House Grill. So yummy... each of the kids got a sand bucket (to keep!!) full of goodies with their kid's meals. They got a coloring book, crayons, AND a package of wikki stixs. That is just plain cool. The food was awesome - I can't wait to go back. When I am not sick. When I am done coughing. Because on the way home, a stupid tickle in the back of my throat grew into a wild coughing fit, which of course triggered my gag reflex, which of course caused me to lose my entire dinner beside the road, on some poor person's front lawn.
I hate being sick. I hate being sick. I hate being sick.
I need a time out this week to get better. Thankfully, our calendar is now empty for the rest of month. Yeah!
