I’d really rather not visit my husband’s family in Michigan during winter, I thought to myself. We’ll catch pneumonia!
My wheels started spinning as I tried to figure a way to go and visit family, (who we’d like to see before their toddlers are all grown up), yet without having to take our spoiled, warm-weather-loving North Carolina selves Up North during winter.
And that’s when I saw it… Nickelback! One of our favorite bands! Playing at the Joe Louis Arena! In Detroit! Twenty minutes away from my husband’s family! In mid-September, when it is neither freezing nor blazing hot in Michigan! And immediately following both of our birthdays, thus justifying spending the money to visit family and see a concert!
We just got back from Michigan. Where we saw family (adorable toddlers, nice in-laws, great food), the weather was nice and autumn-like (65 degrees, crisp, and an opportunity to try on jeans I haven’t worn since last March), and the Nickelback concert was excellent (great seats, very loud, and the band sounds just as good live as on their CD’s).
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy these things nearly as much as I should have. Why? Because somehow, the mild head cold I had before leaving managed to turn into (literally!) full-fledged pneumonia along the way… Resulting in two trips to Urgent Care, several trips to the pharmacy, multiple shots (some in places I’ll refrain from describing), and barely managing to get through it all without collapsing into a sniveling heap of a person-who-readily-admits-they’re-barely-alive-instead-of-braving-it-out-until-the-end-like-an-idiot reality.
Thank goodness for my wonderful, loving, just-as-bad-as-I-am husband, who knew the whole time, helped me through it, and is making me tea even as I (completely inappropriately) type this.
Sigh… we may as well have just gone in January; at least the pneumonia wouldn’t have been unexpected. Okay, I’m going back to bed now. Good night.
2 Responses
SARA J. HENRY
Pneumonia, argghh. I managed to get sick a few days into a trip to France and Italy (undoubtedly from overwork getting ready) and climbed the Eiffel Tower with what – you guessed it – turned out to be pneumonia. I can best describe it as feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest – I was stupid enough to drive myself to the doctor back in the States and remember sitting in the parking lot afterward with head against the door wondering if I had the strength to drive the 10 miles home. Bad stuff … get well!
Lori Verni-Fogarsi
Hi Sara: Thanks for your get well wish. That’s grueling!… being on vacation in Europe and getting that sick. Pretty impressive that you made it up the Eiffel Tower with pneumonia though… when I was there, I chose to simply enjoy looking at it rather than climbing up, and I was in perfectly good health at the time!
Anyhow, I’m feeling much better now; for a while there, I wasn’t sure which was making me sicker–the pneumonia itself or the antibiotics they gave me. Now I’m feeling pretty normal, (thank goodness), just tired.
Have a great day!