Weekend Happenings

Good Friday morning!

Since it's "that time of year," I'm going to post some old back-to-school pictures today!

"Before we go back to school, can we make one more midnight Krispy Kreme run?"

"Yes. Yes, we can!"

"Okay. I feel a little better now."

"But what about P. F. Chang's? We still get to go to P. F. Chang's for our Back-to-School Dinner, right?"

"Yes. Yes, we do!"

Krispy Kreme is still on the list for the beginning of the 2012 school year, but we are undecided about our restaurant of choice.

I'll let you know!

A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE! A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE! A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE!

No more blog "teasers." The decision has been made, and there will be no turning back... unless I change my mind later in the day.

In all actuality, I'm just going to go with my decision until I see how it works. I'll probably re-evaluate in January.

January, 2013.

Four or so months from now.

Okay. I've decided on the fate of A Simple Life. After four years of blogging and soon-to-be 1,000 posts, I'm going to...

A. Completely stop writing the blog as of August 31, 2012.

B. Write a twice-a-week post which will contain a little bit of everything I love (pictures, randomness, dates, recipes, traditions, parties, etc.).

C. Write a once a week post which will contain all of the above (see B).

And the correct answer is...

B! The answer is B!

As of last night at 11:00 p.m., the answer was C, but I didn't have a peace about it, so I changed my answer this morning.

A Simple Life will become a twice-weekly blog which will contain a little bit of everything I love (pictures, randomness, dates, ways to embarrass your 16 year-old daughter, recipes, traditions, parties, etc.).

I will begin this new format Monday, September 3, 2012!

I think I'm going to have to ease out of blogging a little more slowly. It's been a big part of my life for the past four years, and I don't think I'm going to be able to stop "cold turkey" as I originally had hoped.

So when August is over and done, I hope you'll still come visit on Mondays and Fridays for awhile.

I'll still be here! (I'm just going to semi-retire!)

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! - This is my 990th post for A Simple Life. The countdown continues!

The Contest will be simple. The rules are as follows:

Beginning today, leave your NAME followed by the word "CONTEST" in the Comment Section of A Simple Life, e-mail me (mfaulkner1306@charter.net) or go to my Facebook page.

You can enter the Contest ONCE A DAY (each and every day including Saturdays AND Sundays) until Thursday, August 30 at midnight. (Your name could be put into the drawing bowl a total of 14 times between now and Thursday, August 30!)

I will write my 1,000th post Friday morning, August 31.

I will draw from a HUGE BOWL of names, and a winner will be announced the morning of Friday, August 31.

The winner will receive a $15 Gift Certificate to one of the following restaurants:

1. Another Broken Egg
2. Original Pancake House
3. Olexa's
4. Lucia's Italian Restaurant in Helena

It will be Winner's Choice!

If you win and you live somewhere other than Alabama, you will win a $15 VISA Gift Card!

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

(I'm going to be saying that for the next 9 POSTS!)

NEW THING! NEW THING! NEW THING! - I'm going to post one of my favorite posts each day from the past four years until August 31.

B-12, Baby - Originally Posted August 25, 2010

When the boys were little and Roxie was a baby, Mikie went out of town for a weekend men's conference. I had encouraged him to go and enjoy himself. He rarely took time off.

Everything was going fine. The boys were... well, they were boys. Roxie was a dream baby. We ate, played, napped, ran errands and ate some more. We were a well-oiled machine. That is not to say we didn't miss Mikie. Of course we did. But I was glad he was away having a good time.

And then it happened. Fun fact for you... I have a tendency to have strep throat every one to two years. When I have strep throat, I get a golf ball size lump on the right side of my throat. You can actually see it when you are standing directly in front of me.

As soon as the golf ball appears, I also have trouble swallowing because of pain and, well... the golf ball, you see.

Within a few hours after "receiving" the golf ball, I begin running a terribly high fever. (Once it got up to 101.6 degrees! If you haven't been able to tell prior to today's little story, I have ZERO pain tolerance!)

I woke up the morning after Mikie had left with a golf ball in my throat. What to do? What to do?

My parents had left town a week earlier for their fall vacation. My sister had three little ones of her own to take care of, and she certainly didn't need to be exposed to Golf Ball Strep. Naturally, the golf ball appeared on a Saturday, so my doctor's office was closed! It was going to be a long weekend.

As my illness progressed (and I felt worse and worse), I parented from the couch, and prayed for Mikie's bus to return home sooner than later.

The next day was much, much worse. I didn't even make it to the couch. I was in the floor all day. But it was going to be okay. Mikie was coming home early that very afternoon. We would survive.

And then I received "The Call." "Hi, Babe. We're going to be a few hours later than I had thought. The bus just broke down."

"What?" I croaked.

"The bus broke down. But they are sending another one to pick us up, and I'll be home around 8:00 or 9:00 tonight." Mike was a little in the dark about how sick I was. I hadn't told him I was "floor parenting," because I wanted him to have a good time and there really wasn't anything he could do about it since he didn't have his own transportation.

"I don't think I'm going to make it that long," I whispered.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I didn't want to tell you until you got home, but I have 'Golf Ball Strep.' And it's bad. It's REAL bad!"

"Hang in there. I'll be home in a few more hours."

"Yeah. Well, I'm going to need to go to the Emergency Room when you get home."

"Belinda. It's a sore throat. I'll pick up some throat lozenges and Tylenol before I come home." Mike had grown accustomed to my over-dramatic illnesses... and it was obvious he had never suffered from Golf Ball Strep. A throat lozenge wasn't going to cut it!

"IF I am still alive when you get home, and IF I haven't already called an ambulance to take me to the hospital... I WILL NEED to go to the Emergency Room!" Then he said something about loving me, missing me and seeing me and the kids soon (blah, blah, blah)... and he was gone.

The kids were in bed after being semi-fed (peanut butter and Pop-Tarts) and semi-cleaned (sitting in a tub of water playing for a few minutes while I leaned against a toilet)... and I was semi-dead!

Mikie arrived home at 9:00 p.m., and my sister arrived at 9:05 to sit with the kids. I was ready. I had spruced up enough to head to the Emergency Room. I needed a shot. I wanted a shot. I didn't care what kind of shot. Anything to put me out of my misery.

"Belinda. It is just a sore throat. I think you could probably wait until the doctor's office opens in the morning. Here. I brought you some throat lozenges. Oh, and look. Here's some Tylenol."

I was too weak to kill him then, but I promised myself if I survived, he would pay later.

When we arrived at the Emergency Room, my Dad was waiting. He and Mom had just returned from their vacation, and he came to wait with us. I sat down and put my head on his shoulder while Tylenol Mike filled out the paperwork.

"You are burning up," my Dad said feeling my forehead.

"I know. It's up to 101.6," I whined.

"Well, it's okay. We're not leaving until they give you something to fix this," and I leaned against his comforting shoulder again.

Believe it or not, Golf Ball Strep is not a high priority in the Emergency Room. In fact, they'll take broken bones AND/OR bullet wounds before they see someone with Golf Ball Strep. Go figure.

By the time they did call me back, they correctly diagnosed me (Golf Ball Strep), gave me a prescription of antibiotics and some Tylenol for my raging fever. Daddy kissed me on my hot, smelly forehead and sent me home to recuperate.

But recuperate I DID NOT! Two days later, I wasn't any better. I called my doctor, and INSISTED on something stronger than the pills they had prescribed in the Emergency Room. They told me to "come on down," and they would "squeeze me in." Ahh. Four hours in a doctor's waiting room with three small children. Good times... good times.

Mom was available to drive and watch the kids in the waiting room, so off we went. After only TWO hours of waiting, they called me to the back. Hallelujah! Now, if I could only make someone listen.

"I need a shot. Something strong. Something potent. Something you would give an extremely sick horse. I have to be better soon. Do... you... understand?"

The nurse said she would be back in a minute... and when she returned she was carrying a tray. On the tray was a large syringe filled with Golf Ball Strep fixin' medicine.

I wasn't prepared for the size of the needle. I can take long, but this thing was thick, too. "Wow. That really, really hurts."

I wasn't prepared for the length of time the needle would stay inserted in my hip. "Wow. It's taking forever, isn't it?"

I wasn't prepared for how much the medicine would burn as it was slowly pushed into my body. "Wow. This is very unpleasant!"

During the five or ten minutes it took to administer the shot, she told me it was a B-12 shot. It was thick and it had to be pushed in slowly. Also, that was why the needle wasn't skinny... because of the thick medicine.

"You should feel better soon," she said as I left. I wondered when "soon" would come.

I had my answer one hour and 42 minutes later. "I actually feel better," I told Mikie over the phone. By the time he came home that afternoon, I felt like a human being again. By the next morning, my throat was not hurting, my golf ball was getting smaller and my fever was gone. B-12 was a miracle drug, I tell you!

The next year when I woke up with my annual Golf Ball Strep, I immediately called the doctor's office to schedule a B-12 shot.

"We don't just give B-12 shots. We would prefer you have a Z-Pack," the nurse responded.

"That's okay. I'm a B-12 kind of gal. I'll just stop by for my shot, and I'll be feeling great tomorrow!"

A little more back and forth with the nurse and all I received was the Z-Pack... which takes forever and a day to work.

I've asked for B-12 shots many times since that first shot almost 12 years ago. I have never been given another one. It makes me wonder. What is B-12? Does it no longer exist? Did someone kill all the B-12 plants in the rainforest making it impossible for pharmaceutical companies to provide this miracle drug? Do only "special" people get B-12? How do I become a "special" person?

That may be the only B-12 shot I ever receive, but I will always remember it fondly... and I will never stop searching for B-12. And one day maybe, just maybe, I'll find it again.

Weekend Happenings

It's our last weekend BEFORE school starts back for Josh and Roxie.

It should be a weekend FILLED with fun and frivolity, but alas, I will be having fun alone.

I believe a list is in order...

1. Roxie saved the majority of her summer reading and summer math until the last week before school starts. She is doing about four or five hours of homework (or more) a day. She will be reading, writing and doing arithmetic this weekend. All weekend long. (Although I'm proud of her hard work ethic these last nine days, I am about to bust to say, "I TOLD YOU SO!" But I won't do that. Because I'm 50, and I'm old enough to know better.)

2. Since Josh now knows his class schedule, he's going to be looking for a part-time fall job all weekend. (He likes his extra money!)

3. This will be Austin's final weekend to be able to work at the Chick... so he'll be working at the Chick.

4. Mikie is super busy at work this week, so he'll be a-workin', too.

5. And that leaves ME. Poor, little ol' me.

I guess I'll work on laundry.

I do have a bridal shower to attend Sunday afternoon, and Mikie and I are supposed to eat out Sunday night, so I'll be looking forward to those two things.

Due to scheduling problems (working with five people), our Back-to-School Dinner will be held Monday night at an undisclosed restaurant.

It's only undisclosed because we haven't decided where to go yet. Not because we are afraid of being hounded by paparazzi. Just saying.

But enough about me and mine! You and yours have a fantastic weekend! I'll be back bright and early Monday morning with Mindless Monday... and an almost-empty house. (I still have Austin for another week. I am smiling so big right now!)

Take care, and I'll talk to you next week.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting and Soon-To-Be Bi-Weekly Belinda