Mindy Returns

More Saturday Night …Within an hour after getting out of the hot tub and just before going to bed, Bella developed a dry, shallow cough. This was a cough that I figured would subside on its own. But a good thirty minutes after she went to bed the coughing continued. I had already given her a child’s Ibuprofen earlier to help with Friday’s dental work, so I wasn’t real keen on giving her more meds. But now I was scrambling to find her something for that incessant cough. Since Mindy’s arrival, the hallway closet has morphed into a medical pantry of sorts. There I found some Children’s Tylenol Cough suppressant. I gave her the recommended dosage.

Tick-tick-tick. An hour or so passed yet her coughing continued. Surprisingly, though, she finally fell asleep. I went to bed before midnight. And just as I shared in Saturday’s blog entry, sometime around 1am I woke to Bella joining me in my bed. There wasn’t much coughing. I figured it beat.

After going downstairs to read around 3:30am, I must’ve fallen back asleep around 5am. I slept in the recliner until 7:15am. I felt surprisingly good, too, for sleeping in a chair. I started some coffee then headed upstairs to brush my teeth and pee. I knocked over the baby gate at the top of the stairs on my way up. That brought Bella to the forefront. Not a minute later, Jacob joined us, too.

They were both at my feet as I began my exercise regime. I promised them breakfast after my exercises and after walking Ykraps. And by the way, Bella’s coughing returned. It wasn’t a nice morning either. It was cloudy and cool – a classic cool, gray, damp, & dreary (CGDD) day. Not long after my return home, I got the kids their requested breakfast items, and later gave Bella another dose of cough suppressant. But still, that nagging little cough would not go away.

Mindy called just before taking off from BWI. She said she’d call again from Atlanta. I left for my run around 9:30am. Once again, Jacob was in his room playing PS2 and Bella was watching the rest of Saturday evening’s movie – Flushed Away. They know the drill. I was back 35 minutes later. Bella was still coughing but otherwise fine. Jacob requested that we do the hike we skipped yesterday since it wasn’t raining. That was our deal.

The morning moved swiftly. Before we knew it the afternoon was upon us. Mindy phoned again just after 12noon, or just before boarding her plane in Atlanta.
In the meantime, Bella’s cough continued. Through the early afternoon we didn’t do a whole lot, although I did scrub the shower and then took a hot, steamy one for myself. It felt terrific. Jacob kept asking about our hike, and I would’ve gone had Bella not been coughing so much. But a smarter decision had to be made. I had to break the news to Jacob. We weren’t going to go on our hike due to Bella’s cough. Jacob was disappointed.

I took a short nap around 1-1:30pm. I told the kids that we needed to tidy up the house when I got up so that their mommy would return to a peaceful, clean, & tranquil home. They were a big help. And honestly, the house never got too messy. Bella’s room was probably the worst. But she did a nice job picking it up. Meanwhile, the coughing continued.

Mindy phoned around 2:20pm to tell us that she was already on the shuttle bus and headed for the parking lot. She’d be home in a jiffy. Suddenly, her time away seemed to go by in a flash. By 3pm, Bella was moping around, but I attributed most of that to her desire to see her momma. She whined a little while gazing out the front door awaiting her mother’s arrival. Jacob seemed uninterested. He was up in his room playing his PS2. Bella and I ran around the house some playing hide & seek. I did it to take her mind off of her momma. She can get really whiney, otherwise. My tactic worked. Next thing you know, Mindy pulled up in the drive. Bella was anxious for her mother to pass through the door.

Mindy was finally home. We had the house all picked up and looking decent. Mindy hugged Bella and I then began telling stories about her trip almost immediately. Jacob finally came down to see his momma and gave her a big hug. Mindy kept the stories coming all the while unpacking her luggage. She wasted little time getting back in the groove and had laundry going almost instantly. She spoke earlier of going out to dinner – Barley’s. The kids seemed OK with that, especially Jacob. But Bella was looking more & more tired, and her coughing continued. Mindy gave her another dose of cough syrup. Bella got drowsy and eventually made her way to the sofa for a rare nap.

Before we knew it, it was 5pm. I suggested that maybe we should skip the dinner out and allow Bella more time to rest. Jacob, once again, expressed feeling a little slided. I understood but we needed to be mindful of Bella’s condition. She felt very warm too. She woke around 5:30 or 6:00pm. She didn’t look good. Her cheeks were very rosey, and on Bella that’s rare. As expected, she didn’t want to venture out. Then it was settled, we’d be staying home. Suddenly we were faced with what to fix for dinner. Eventually, we decided on cream of chicken over rice. It’s always been one of my faves. I agreed to make it.

It didn’t take long before we were eating. But the kids weren’t so sure about having it. Somehow, we convinced them to give it a try. Both, not surprising to me, liked it. Bella didn’t eat a whole lot, however. She was very mopey. She seemed to be getting warmer, too.

Mindy worked on laundry most of the evening all the while carrying on with the kids. Around 7:00pm Jacob and I played Wii Olympics. And it literally wore me out. We ran, swam, and threw the hammer & javelin. Mindy and I got the kids into bed just after 8pm. Despite being ill, Bella was pleasant. Mindy & I chatted for the next hour or two. And in what was a very pleasant surprise, we got out federal income tax refund back. That lifted my spirits considerably. We headed to bed around 10pm.