journey – Page 63

A tale of woe, for these two souls…

Published on July 30, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay4 Comments

Once upon a time, after an unnaturally stress filled year, a couple had the opportunity to spend 5 kid (iow-teen) free weeks at home. They made plans which included picnics, bike rides and adventures. There was a sparkle in their eyes at the thought of how fun this adventuring could be.

To kick off the festive five-week empty nest preview, she accompanied him on a business trip to Chicago. Before hand they planned out local, unique restaurants and things to do, complete with a weekend trip into the city and a fancy hotel booked for a steal where they would take in a jazz club, good food, Taste of Chicago and finally visit Millenium Park.

The first day they stumbled upon the most incredible movie theater ever, and for movie lovers such as themselves, this was a true find…

The second full day of the business trip, he (who never gets sick) did in fact do just that. They managed an amazing dinner (perhaps one of their best) but this was to be the last good moment, and for him it was only partly good…

With each passing day he grew more and more miserable. By the time the weekend came, she offered they just go home but he refused to let their non-refundable city hotel go to waste. While it was beautiful, it wasn’t worth the stress driving into Chicago to sit in a hotel and then leave the next morning…

No Taste, no Park, no club. Just one short walk, a local italian dinner and then their stunning view until room service breakfast… And a foggy, rainy Sears tower view from our room… Loved this view.

With the first week behind them, he started to feel better and they realized that they still had four weeks of adventures (though, a significantly smaller budget.) Then, at a routine allergy medication appointment, she mentioned to her doctor that she’d had an increase in headaches. A few tests conclude a raging sinus infection. A prescription of a strong antibiotic is handed out and all should be fine, but it isn’t…

Within two days, she is experiencing a misery she has never experienced before. She’s always gotten fairly sick on this particular antibiotic, but this sensation is new and fiery. She returns to learn she has a raging infection (non-sinus) and is prescribed a little pink pill that should take care of it. (The doctor says sometimes the antibiotic can cause these awful girl-infections… she is mortified.)

The pink pill (which fights the infection, which was caused by the antibiotic which makes her very sick to her stomach, which is fighting the sinus infection she didn’t even know she had) causes debilitating headaches. Three days after beginning the pink pill (and 8 days after beginning the antibiotic) she wakes up with no voice. (this is the middle of week 3 of their 5, of which they have had one good evening) As thursday progresses into Friday, then into Saturday and eventually Sunday, she grows significantly worse. Monday morning she has a meeting she’s been waiting months for, which she refuses to miss, so she attends. Apologies for her voice and now awful sounding cough are plenty. Nearly everyone she encounters tells her she should see a doctor. Thankfully, she has an appointment at 3. (two weeks after the allergy appointment that ruined everything.)

Pneumonia. It is now Pneumonia. And the other infection hasn’t gone away, and apparently they’ve determined she might be, allergic to this antibiotic and it stripped me of all of my good bacteria causing me her to develop, oh, everything…

(One and a half weeks left, and it has been nothing like they, (ok, let’s face it… WE had hoped/planned/thought… BUT it hasn’t been awful either. Sick or not, I adore my husband and love anytime I get to spend with him. I don’t like the guilt for how long I’ve been miserable.)

Perhaps a bacon wrapped pillow would be more appropriate…

Published on July 21, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments

Good morning, sunshine…

It is minutes til 2 a.m. and I’m so body tired and mind revved up that many states may classify me as a train wreck. (if this is true, please don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.) It’s a sad think to know of tragedy touching the lives of people you care about. There are things in this world I just do not understand… And rather than dwell on them, or try to figure them out (thank God it’s smart enough to know it can’t) my brain is just consumed with thinking about every other thing on the planet. Seriously, everything. All at once.

At any rate, it’s Monday, and that means it’s time for my Hi-Five!

Song– You had to see it coming… I’m not that unpredictable. :)

Share– If you like classic literature, this looks really fun! I’m super excited!

Something I’m loving– Last week, in Chicago, we had bacon wrapped dates at a lovely little restaurant in Algonquin. They were incredible, so this week it’s my quest to find a recipe for them that we love equally.

Something I’m into– oh my gosh. We are very casually house hunting. I say casually because who knows what will happen and we are pretty open to whatever. We’re enjoying the process though (maybe a little too much.) We’re really getting a kick out of house listing photos. What are some of these people thinking? We’ve seen sinks of dirty dishes, mounds of laundry, close-ups of candles (and nothing else.) it’s flat-out nutty! (but so fun!)

Something new (to me)– This one is really tough for me, both to admit and to adapt to. I’m a paper girl. I still use a paper planner and REFUSE to store agenda dates in my iPhone. So, when the reality came up that I would have to loosely organize a bridal shower for my older daughter Amanda (which my youngest daughter Gen is technically throwing, In Idaho, without me) from 2000 miles away and with VERY SHORT notice, I had no choice but to do it electronically. I decided to use Paperless Post and honestly, it’s made things easy to keep track of and the invitations were elegant and cute. Would I make this my preferred method? No. But, it’s not horrible, either.

Are you into anything you’d like to share?

Are you looking forward to anything this week? I feel like I am, but it’s now 2:07 and my fuzzy brain can’t recall anything other than the fact that tomorrow is full of meetings and appointments. I have one bright and early, (so basically, in a few hours) up until evening… I should try to force my brain to bed perhaps…

Cruel intentions…

Published on July 16, 2014July 15, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay2 Comments

Daily it seems I grow more and more aware of how honorable my intentions are, and how significantly far I fall from that mark. I think on this, as I sit in a quiet house after being in noise and busy for nine long days. Some ten days before this moment I saw myself further, progressed beyond the same place I’ve stood, unfinished. There are always grand excuses. Traffic, noise, construction, illness… But what did I manage to do? Distraction.

Well, that’s not entirely true either. A little.

Chw had a business trip in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and since Gen is gone for the summer, I decided to tag along and accomplish some writing. I felt I could (professionally speaking) use the inspiration of a change of scenery, and I love the hotel environment. As an added bonus, despite both of our infinities for Chicago itself, we had the opportunity to go into the city on Friday night. On one side of the journey I imagined it all so different than it was, and it wasn’t bad. That’s not what I mean. I was simply, well… Life.

During the week we put some of the best food we have ever eaten, in our mouths. We had great conversation, we explored. It started out really great. At the hotel, during the daytime though, my time was less than productive as there was major construction going on. It did not matter what I tried, or where I went, I just could not seem to accomplish anything, so by Wednesday mid-morning I simply gave up and buried my nose in my kindle. Then, Wednesday evening Chw got sick, and since he seldom gets ill, things plummeted quickly. Our too-late-to-change-plans adventure into Chicago itself was a gigantic waste of stress, energy and money as everything we wanted to do while there (Taste of Chicago and Millenium Park) were made much less appealing by A.) how my poor husband felt, and B.) the torrential downpour we were in. It was hard not to be a little disappointed, but if we haven’t learned life is anything but what we expect, by now- then I need to start paying better attention.

Once again home, and back in my office, I’m reflecting at my planner, my to do lists and just realizing that there has to be another way. Something isn’t quite “connecting” between the inspiration to do something and then opportunity to actually do it. But what? What am I missing? Getting away didn’t help… And sure, I could say “yeah, but it wasn’t as great as I hoped it would be!” But it’s not like we can all afford to redo every vacation or trip that doesn’t go as we planned. It is what it is, it was not a bad trip. I love my husband and we had fun, before he became miserable. I got to spend quality time with my daughter and her soon-to-be step-sons. I got to see my dad and sister. I fell in love with the wonder that is bacon wrapped dates. I went to the most incredible movie theater ever. My husband bought me the best umbrella I’ve ever owned! (If you didn’t know, I love umbrellas) and I got to sleep in a luxurious room with the best view of the Sears tower. I’m “stuck” because something is stuck… And I’m starting to think it’s just because I allow it to be. Maybe this disconnect is less of a seasonal thing (like it may have started out) and is now more of a pattern.

yuck…