I Was the Responsible Adult

Whew! What a weekend. I feel like I was super busy and yet not busy all at the same time. Has that ever happened to you? All I know is the weekends go by way too quickly.

Thursday afternoon I started feeling kind of rotten and was fairly certain that I was about to be plagued with yet another sinus infection. Jackie and I went to dinner that night (a review coming soon) and the longer the night went on, the worse I felt. By the time I woke up on Friday morning I knew I would be spending the afternoon in one doctor’s office or another.

Since I have to clock in and out at work, it’s sometimes difficult to take off for doctor’s appointments. So, after work I went to the Quick Care clinic at Propst Drug Store, a place I have been a couple of times previously. When I got there, there were no patients in the back and no one waiting out front and I felt pretty confident that it would be a quick process. However, I guess one of the employees that has been working there was off to college and so they were having a little going away soiree and I was forced to wait through all of the goodbyes which probably didn’t take all that long but feeling as bad as I was, I was in no mood to wait.

Finally, I was called back and I told the nurse practitioner Claudia that I had a sinus infection. She asked me how often I got them –my reply was every two months. She was surprised my family doctor had not referred me to an allergist and I told her that I wasn’t always able to take off and see him and so he probably didn’t make the connection that it was needed. So, she is referring me to an allergist and I am thrilled because if I can get some help with an allergist and be free of getting a sinus infection every two months then life will be much happier!

Claudia gave me a steroid shot and swabbed my nose to check for viruses, gave me a couple of prescriptions and sent me on my way. I spent the rest of the evening sleeping. The nose swab came back the next day as a virus, but nothing else and the meds she gave me should take care of that. Oh, and I also have an ear infection. Good times people, good times. What I wouldn’t give to feel good for more than one month at a time.

Saturday morning I woke to a 5:00 a.m. alarm, got up showered, drove out to Hampton Cove, made a stop by Mr. Donut and met Jackie at the Wal-Mart parking lot at 6:15 a.m. I left my car there and we drove in to town because she had a 7:00 a.m. endoscopy. My dad, meanwhile, went up to Wal-Mart when they opened at 7:00 to tell them I needed two new tires and an oil change.

Jackie and I made it to the hospital a little after 6:30 and she was called back a few minutes after 7:00. The procedure didn’t take long at all. While she was in the back, I sat in the waiting room and cut coupons, ate some donut holes, read a magazine, and kept myself occupied with my phone. About 8:15 or so the doctor came out and chatted with me, which was kind of weird because I’ve never been chatted to by a doctor; well, I have but have always had other people with me. Then a few minutes later the nurse came out and I signed the release form as the “Responsible Adult”. Can’t say that I’ve ever signed as being responsible for another person before, but I did on Saturday and thankfully nothing bad happened while Jackie was in my care.

We soon left the hospital and I had her back home around 9:00 a.m. Since my car was at Wal-Mart and my parents were visiting my brother, I stayed at Jackie’s house for the day. We napped on and off, snacked on fruit, played SongPop and watched some of the most boring Olympic coverage known to mankind. I also finished reading the ESPN Magazine college football preview. There were some good articles in there and I’m glad I had the time to read it.

Around 5:00 p.m. Jackie was sober enough to operate a vehicle and drove me the one mile to Wal-Mart to pick up my car. When I got there and paid, the cost only seemed to cover the two tires. I asked the guy if an oil change had been done. He said no. It was at this point that my blood pressure no doubt shot through the roof. My car had been there for 10 hours and all the work had not been performed. I told the manager I was expecting a free oil change and that my car needed to be moved to the front of the queue because I was not going to wait there another hour. I went through the store and picked up a few things while my blood pressure returned to normal and about 30 minutes later returned to find out that they had done the oil change, but it was on a separate ticket. They did not charge me for it. I paid for the few items I picked up and went on my way.

I picked up some Mexican food (I told y’all that a hungry Nat is a less than pleasant Nat) and went home to The Tide who no doubt was looking forward to going outside seeing as how she had been holding it for 13 hours. I went over to my neighbor Jeff’s house and gave him some donuts – it was his birthday; he’s 64 – came back home, ate dinner, and proceeded to be a lazy bum for the rest of the night. I did manage some laundry and a wee bit of cleaning, but not too much.

Sunday I went to church and then lunch with some cousin’s at yet another place I had never been (another review to come) and then stopped by Publix to pick up a few things they had one sale for the week. Sunday afternoon I napped, and then it was back to church and then back home. I cooked some chicken for dinner while I was at church Sunday night, but by the time I got home, I wasn’t hungry or in the mood for eating so I just put it in the fridge and will eat it later this week. That, dear friends, was my weekend. I don’t know why, but I’m tired just thinking about it.