Sick weekend

Joe & I both had off work last Fri for 'Good Friday'. But rather than leave Thurs night for DC, we decided to leave Fri morning. That way he could give Jordan a bath and we could drive in the daylight. Plus, I didn't want to sit around with nothing to do all day Fri while Joe's family was in church.

So we left at 9:30 am on Fri and arrived just before noon at Joe's mom's house. We brought our things inside, got the dog settled, and had a little visit with her. Then I left Joe with his mom and I picked up my aunt Mary. We went to lunch at a new place (new for us, anyway) called Cafe Deluxe and had a delicious lunch. She had the tilapia sandwich, I had the grilled chicken with avocado sandwich, and we split the Gruyere mac 'n cheese. Mmm mmm good! But all morning I'd been having post-nasal drip and a bit of a sore throat.

We walked next door to the Crate & Barrel store. My aunt has been oogling several pieces of furniture for what seems like years now, and wanted my opinion on the pieces. (Side story: my aunt has always had very traditional furniture and now at the age of 63 she wants to trade it all in on more contemporary stuff. Lucky for me, I got her English tea cart and set of 3 nesting tables.) I liked almost all of the items she showed me, but I believe I audibly gasped at the high prices. My aunt likes the store because most of the furniture is solid wood and made in America or Europe. Apparently there is quite a premium to be paid for that. I think I'll stick to furniture that is partially made of wood-like products in China. Then we stopped at Trader Joe's (there are none in DE) and the regular grocery store before I took her home.

I met up with Joe at his mom's house to find that he had accompanied her and his sister and niece to the Catholic church for confession. Joe said he "sat in quiet, contemplative prayer" as his relatives confessed their lying, cursing, and cheating ways to the priest in exchange for a few Hail Mary's. His mother was returning to church at 7pm for another ritual so Joe & I met up with Kerry & Hugh for dinner. We had a great time chatting and catching up.

Sat morning I woke up a little more congested and snotty, so I took some over-the-counter pseudophedrine-something-or-other before Joe, Ev, and I went to breakfast at the Silver Diner. Later we went to Joe's sister Mary's house to visit. The kids wanted to dye Easter eggs and Joe and Mary wanted to make pizelles using the pizelle iron their grandmother received as a 50th wedding anniversary gift in 1955. They were delicious! Mary ordered pizzas for dinner.

At 9pm I met some friends at Freddie's in Arlington to sing karaoke. It was pretty crowded and there were a lot of singers, but I had a good time. My friend Kelly and I sang the Sonny & Cher classic 'I Got You, Babe' - only Kelly sang Sonny's part and I did an impersonation of Cher! (I know, how gay, right?) But the crowd loved it and we had fun.

Sun morning I was REALLY congested and felt a lot of pain and pressure in my sinuses. On a scale of 1-10, my energy level was about 2. I took more of the fake sinus decongestant along with some ibuprofen and muddled through the morning. After showering and dressing we sat in the living room and talked with Joe's mom who had just returned from Easter service. A few minutes later Mary, Eric, and the kids came in and they took Easter pictures. Joe left with them and went to the store with his sister Mary. I picked up my aunt Mary and brought her back to Evelyn's house. (Later I noted that it was the 2nd time that weekend that we'd separated in order to "be with our respective Marys".) At 4pm we went to Joe's brother Louis' house for Easter dinner. I really felt like crap, and took another dose of ibuprofen. The food was good and we enjoyed the time together.

We left Louis' at 7pm, dropped of my aunt Mary, went back to Evelyn's to get our bags and Jordan, and left at 8:15. We got stuck in a bad traffic jam on the Beltway between Eisenhower Ave and the Woodrow Wilson bridge. It took us 45 minutes to make that part of the journey. We got home at 11:15. Fortunately Joe drove home since I was feeling so poorly.

Mon I struggled to make it threw the day. Fortunately it was not a busy or hectic day, and since I work at home, it was nice to be able to go and lie down for a while between tasks. Although I showered, I never got dressed; I wore my flannel pajamas all day. Joe stopped at the drug store on the way home from work and got me the generic of Clariton-D, which had been recommended to me by Kerry who was also suffering with sinus trouble. I took it Mon evening and within an hour I could feel the difference. It really helped with the congestion and allowed me to be able to breathe with my mouth closed. I continued to take ibuprofen for the pain and pressure. Tues I did the same 'part-time' work from home, with rest periods. Again I stayed in my pajamas all day.

Today my energy level was much higher and I worked a full day. I showered, dressed, and even took the dog for a walk and took the recycling to the recycling center. That (generic) Clariton-D really works! Then I remembered having a similar serious sinus problem about this time last year, so I checked my blog. Sure enough, this exact week in April 2006 I missed 3 days of work due to acute sinusitis. (Check the April 2006 archive, entry dated April 17.)

Drag Queen name of the day: Callie Flower