Cold & Cold

My head clogged, my throat unbelievably dry, I woke Friday feeling warm, foggy, & worse than I had all week. My cold wasn't getting better. It was getting worse. I really wanted to stay in bed, but that was next to impossible. I needed to get going. There wasn't any way I could miss work. Completing morning exercises felt much like a chore. Determination got me through it. Soon Ykraps and I headed out into the cold. It was 16 degrees but felt even colder with the stiff breeze blowing in from the SW. I shot another blast of nasal spray, Afrin, up my nose when we got back home. I needed instant relief. After briefly enjoying some coffee, I woke Mindy with hers. I knew then that I was gonna lie back down and try to sleep for a while longer. I headed to the family room sofa where I snuggled up under the purple throw. I don't know that I fell fully sleep but the additional rest felt terrific. I didn't get up until Mindy came down to start the kids breakfast. Mindy didn't bother making our eggs. She knows I never eat before a run. And given the late hour, now 7:15am, there wouldn't be any running until the kids were safely on the school bus. I sent my boss an email indicating my tardiness - about an hour I estimated. I lounged around in my PJs until it was time to get the kids on the bus. I dressed in my running clothes to do bus stop duty. After the kids loaded onto the bus I returned home to do some last minute prep before leaving on my run. The only stretching I did was from the front stoop - not my usual in-depth stretch routine. I was pretty sure that I'd edit my run to three miles, and that's exactly what I did. Time being my primary concern. The three miles went well. It was cold but it was also sunny. I was mindful that Rachel was coming to clean the house. I half expected to find her there when I got back from my run. We purposefully requested she come today in lieu of Wednesday so we could have the house cleaned the day before our Xmas open house. No sign of Rachel when I got back or even while I showered and prepared for work. I left the house at 9:10am. My sinuses were already clogged again, but I refused to do another dose of Afrin so soon. I took it to work for use later, however. I arrived at the office just before 930am my head in that familiar fog one associates with a head cold. I took another dose of Afrin, finding it too uncomfortable to deal with a stuffy nose. We were busy too, so there wasn’t any time for me to fret over being sick. More than once, my boss offered to cancel his Sunday visit for the Vikings/Bengals game if I remained under the weather. I was certain that I’d be feeling better by then and shared as much. I was as determined as ever to run out to Wal-Mart at lunch to look for a particular gift for G.D. Olivia. However, we were so busy that I couldn’t get away until almost 2pm. I looked at wrapping paper first, but remembered how much we already had in stock. To buy more would be silly. I put what I had I in hand down. I eventually found my way to the toy department where I started looking for the Dora sofa. I found one similar but with alternative badging. This item is on the Xmas hot list and supposedly crazy difficult to find. Some internet sites are selling it for 5 times its retail price. Not me! About to give up, I decided to look under the alternative piece and there it was. One Dora sofa. I scarfed it up and headed to the checkout line. The young lady running the register confirmed how difficult it is to get those and shared that it must’ve just recently come in. I imagined them having another ten stashed away in the back. That’s what I would do. While out running my errand, I received a number of calls and emails requesting my involvement in work related matters. Geesh. Can’t a guy take a break? I didn’t get back to the office until nearly 3pm. The afternoon went by in a hurry. Because I’d be on-call over the weekend, I had to remain vigilant and on guard for any potential situations that could hit us over the weekend. I couldn’t simply let go until Monday. It’s an entirely different mindset leaving the office on an on-call Friday. I talked with Mindy late afternoon to discuss our evening plans. She shared how bad I sounded on the phone. My sinuses were definitely getting worse. We agreed that I would stop and pick-up beer while she headed off to the grocery to get everything else for Saturday’s big holiday party. I left the office around 530pm and promptly made a stop at the Hilliard Kroger. I picked up a dozen roses for Mindy and a case of quality beers. I was excited to find some Goose Island Xmas Ale. The house looked great. Rachel did a fantastic job. After carrying in the day’s haul, I took Ykraps on his evening walk. Mindy phoned to let me know that she would be a while yet. I used the time to take an in-depth look at Adobe’s PhotoShop Elements 8 software. I took the time to read several unbiased reviews too. I'm not real happy with the inexpensive Corel Paintshop Photo Album 2010 software I purchased. It's not much more than a glorified photo organization tool. It seems with each passing year they cut out more and more editing functionality that once endeared me to their products. I liked the Adobe Elements 8 so much that I almost bought it right then via Amazon, which was selling it for far less than Adobe themselves. But last second I decided to wait. Perhaps I'd ask some friends. Knowing that we’d be out partying kind of late, I really wanted to take some cold meds. I settled on taking two Alka-Seltzer Plus tablets to help clear my sinuses, having already taken two doses of Afrin earlier in the day. No more of that stuff. Mindy got home around 7:20pm, much later than I expected. She had a Honda full of food needing carried in. It was 745pm before she had all the groceries put away, and then after 8pm by the time she dubbed herself ready for a night out at Barley’s. We left around 8:10pm. As expected, Barley’s was packed to the hilt– always is around Xmas. As usual, there were oodles of friendly familiar faces to hang and chat with. Among then was Mark of Mark & Trudie fame. Haven't seen him in many moons. Tom Clark showed up with a Time Warner peep, who's also his new roommate. I stayed with Bitter Dan all evening having a total of four, I believe. Somewhat late, I finally ordered some food, a Cuban no less. It was delicious. We chatted with server Deanna who was now sitting at the bar with Mindy and I. Mindy asked that I pick-up the check. Agreed! We headed home I'm guessing close to 11pm.