A Jonah Day

What's a Jonah Day? One like the day Jonah had when he got swallowed by the whale! Today was just awful. First of all, I woke up feeling sick. I wasn't feeling 100% yesterday but I was much, much worse this morning. My throat is really sore right up into my ears. I have chills and really bad body aches. Add to that the fact that it was a Pro D Day at school so I had Dear Child with me at work this morning. She's well behaved and spent most of her time doing artwork and writing notes to her friends but I still had to keep interrupting what I was doing to do this and that for her.

Then I picked my granddaughter up from preschool and we went to pick up her little sister from Eldest Daughter's work. But she had a form that had to go back to the preschool and I was feeling just horrible. It was rainy and windy and I couldn't bear the thought of parking, taking all 3 girls out of the van, going in, coming out and putting them all back into the van. So Eldest Daughter came along and all I had to do was a) drive and b) sit in the van with the girls. That was great for me but my daughter was pretty ticked that I dragged her away from work. Sorry about that, but I was just about to collapse. I drove her back to work and went home with the girls.

I made them lunch and they put on a movie in my room. I huddled under the covers and slept fitfully while they watched "Joseph Prince of Egypt" and a Dora DVD. The baby lay down with me but I don't think she really went back to sleep. (She was asleep in the van but woke up when we got home.) She eventually started playing and found my camera in a purse I haven't used in quite a while (probably the best thing that happened all day). I took it away from her when I realized she had turned it on and was about to start taking pictures.

She was looking for something else to do so she grabbed my glasses off the night table and twisted them while trying to put them on. The right arm snapped about an inch from the temple. Lovely. I have a very strong prescription, astigmatism and progressive lenses. To replace them at a one hour place would be about $700. Last time I got glasses I shopped around and got them done at a place that took 2 weeks but "only" cost about $400 (and made a couple of mistakes). Our extended medical only pays $150 for glasses. I'm already a couple hundred dollars in overdraft with about 10 days to payday and we have no room on the credit cards.

Eldest Daughter came home early after hearing what had happened and I decided I was sick enough to go to the doctor. Since I almost never go to the doctor when I'm sick this should tell you something about just how bad I felt. I drove to the walk-in clinic nearest our place (wearing my mangled glasses and looking like a total loser) and was told the wait was 2 hours! The receptionist phoned another clinic but their wait was just as bad. I decided to stay where I was. Frankly, I didn't think I could drive anywhere else. After waiting almost 2 hours and having them apparently forget about me and take later patients although I was sitting there the whole time, I finally saw the doctor. I couldn't really tell because they allowed people to go out and come back but my clue was when the girl came over and asked me for my name again, then had problems finding me on her list.

The doctor took a swab of my throat and checked my temperature (yes, I had a bit of a fever even though I felt like I was freezing). I left with a prescription for penicillin and the promise that they'll call me if my throat culture grows anything interesting. She told me my tonsils were really swollen and didn't seem to believe me when I told her I'd had them out when I was 5! I knew my left one had regrown but both of them? Anyway, it can happen if the surgeon doesn't take enough of the tissue.

I went to London Drugs to fill the prescription and had to wait another 25 minutes for that. At least the prescription only cost me $2.50. I came home, took my penicillin and some Advil and went to bed. I even slept a bit, even though the TV was on, Dear Child was on my computer and Hubby was unpacking a box of tchachkes onto his new bookshelf. He made dinner but I didn't eat. I finally had 2 pieces of toast and a cup of tea a little while ago. The only other thing I had today was another cup of tea, back when the girls had lunch. I've just felt too queasy and my throat hurts too much.

I didn't go back to work this evening, which means I'm 1.5 hours short for the day. I just couldn't. I think I woke up about 9:30 pm, which was too late anyway, but I knew I wasn't going back to the office about the time I went to the doctor.

I'm going to get changed (still in my denim skirt and sweatshirt because they're warm) and go to bed. Boy, do I hope I feel better in the morning. I hope the Superglue Hubby tried on my glasses will work too.