DAY SIX

You know, I feel a sort of victory even writing those words. There was a day not long ago when I did not believe that I would make it to day 6 -- but here I am! Let's see, how to describe day six? First, I woke up this morning after a somewhat more restful night to discover that my throat was swollen to roughly the size of my waist. and it felt like I was trying to swallow barbed wire and not making any progress and my ears feel like they are going to burst. I ate 2 popsicles right away and iced my throat down and by 10a I felt like I could attempt a chocolate shake because I am STARVING but unable to poke any groceries down my throat (as my Dad would say). I got about 1/2 way through the very puny shake and felt naseous and had to go lay down. I got out of bed again at noon for round 2 on the day - still swallowing the barbed wire but now making some progress. I have a new complication today - sinus drainage. Awesome. SO, in addition to trying to avoid the swallowing, I now have a"condition" that makes it necessary to swallow every minute and if I refuse, it chokes me and makes me cough which I'm sure you can imagine is NOT a good thing. I also cannot go to sleep because of the constant choking which is so cool. Blowing my nose is out of the question - you dont realize how your throat and your nose are connected until an even such as this takes place -- then it is painfully obvious! And don't even get me started on yawning! OW! I have no idea what I have done to upset the sinus gods in this way but I am definitely paying for it now. I'm still not taking any pain meds which is allowing me to fully appreciate the discomfort that I am currently in. Thank God for that. Also I was able to help Griffin make a "Family Snowman Project" for school tomorrow which really means the Mom does it and then the teachers pretend they don't know that. This is my 3rd year of "family projects" and I can tell you that I dont know ONE kid who actually does his own let alone even helps (I at least made Griffin stay in the same room with me)...apparently in NWISD the definition of "family" is "mom". If they really want to test the Moms to see what we can do, why dont they have us all make our favorite Martini? Or our favorite dinner on the day before grocery day when there is nothing that goes together in the pantry or fridge and the kids really want McDonalds? Now THERE'S a project.

On a similar note, our house is still decorated for Christmas. We just haven't had it in us to take it down. Tim with only one wing is pretty useless for the big stuff he usually handles and I can't stay upright long enough to accomplish anything. This may be the year that we leave the tree up all year and just decorate for the various holidays. I knew a lady who did that -- she was in her 50's, wore sacklike dresses and sensible shoes, had a peter pan haircut, was single, bitter and had a lot of cats......................holy crap, that tree is coming down tomorrow!!

Last thing: this is the longest I have ever gone without talking to anyone for any reason. It is also the longest I have ever stayed in my house without leaving even for groceries. Some of you may have enjoyed the silence but I dont like it and I'm eager to get back out there and stimulate the economy --even if it's just for some soft food!

Here's hoping Day SEVEN is my turning point!