Thursday, August 27, 2020

Day 165 and the one with all the ear wax

Tomorrow is the last day of summer vacation and I have a lot of thoughts about it.  But first, let's talk about the second to last day of summer vacation.  Tuesday night, Will and I were up watching the Rockies game and I started to have a bad headache.  It turned into one of the worst headaches I've ever had and I even woke up Glenn to get some help.  My forehead was aching and I felt so queasy and of course my brain went immediately to "I have a brain tumor and there's brain fluid leaking out of my nose."  I'm pretty rational at 11:00 p.m.  The next day I realized that I probably had a sinus infection. I tried a bunch of over the counter stuff yesterday but was still feeling droopy so I went to the doctor today.  It turns out, you have to have two weeks of a sinus infection before they will prescribe antibiotics so I have 10 more days to go. I did pick up some more OTC meds that are helping.  While I was at the doctor's office, the PA discovered that one of my ears was completely blocked with wax.  Does this blog get anymore glamorous?  So after two rounds of ear wax treatment and an unspeakable amount of wax pulled out of my ear, I'm happy to report that I can hear everyone grumbling and complaining about the lack of snacks in our house so much more clearly.  I still have a headache so the ear wax isn't completely to blame for my condition but at least my ear canal is clear.  And who knows, when I get on the scale tomorrow, maybe I'll have a lost a pound or two.  Of ear wax.  How's that for a visual?  

All grumbling about snacks aside, we have had a pretty sweet week together.  It's still hotter than necessary for the last week of August in Cheyenne but we had some rain today and the forecast shows things cooling off.  Will is tired from football practice and Reina has had some time with aunt and cousins this week and she and I tried to make a doll's outfit on the sewing machine yesterday.  Let's just say that we hope outfit #2 turns out better.  

Glenn and I walked Charlie tonight and talked about this summer wrapping up.  As hard as it's been with everything going on in the world and the worries about getting sick or someone we love getting sick and all of the TOGETHERNESS, this has really been one of my most significant summers of being a parent.  I feel like I've really gotten to know the kids on a different level.  Maybe that would have happened if it had been a normal summer.  13-yr olds and 11-yr olds are pretty cool - there's a lot of good stuff going on there.  We've developed little patterns - Will and I watch baseball, Reina and I take Charlie out for what she calls his midnight walks.  It's more like 8:15 p.m. but who's counting.  Will keeps me updated on his fantasy football team and Reina and I read the same books.  Glenn's here too - practicing tackling drills with Will in the backyard and letting Reina stay up until 10:00 p.m. watching a documentary on Nefertiti.  We've cooked more meals than I care to count and the dishwasher is always running.  

It's not all peaches and cream - there have been fights about electronics, differing opinions about the role of the police (really) and most nights end with me saying to one or both of the darling monsters, "I love you but I really really need to not talk to anyone right now." But we have made our way through it.  

The kids go back to their school buildings on Monday.  Most 'experts' (other parents, teachers and the nurses at the doctor's office today) agree that they probably won't be in school long.  I've read the school district's plan for keeping everyone COVID-free and I'd say there's a pretty good chance that they'll be online-schooling from home sometime this fall, but on Monday we will embrace a little bit of normalcy, even if it's just for a day.  

No comments: