I’ve got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.
It has been one full week without a single cigarette. Go me. I’ve barely had a craving, but I haven’t really been around anyone smoking. Unless you count Tana on the phone! Being sick has helped, I’m sure.
I woke up Thursday morning with a sore throat and simply dismissed it as post nasal drip. I had strep a couple times a year as a child, so when someone says they have a sore throat and a stuffy nose I want to tell them to shove it.
The most common cause of a sore throat is post nasal drip. A key symptom to strep is an obvious lack of congestion.
I generally have a stuffy nose. It’s just how it’s always been, I have mild allergies, it’s just a part of my everyday life. So when I noticed that 1) My nose wasn’t stuffy and there was no post nasal drip and 2) My sore throat never improved I became slightly concerned.
I had my tonsils taken our just before my 16th birthday, almost exactly 8 years ago. One of my glands had become permanently enlarged and after a ton of blood work and a Hodgkin’s disease freak out, the ENT doctor ultimately decided that my tonsils we’re the problem. That they were home to the strep bacteria, were the cause of my frequent bouts of strep, and were irritating my lymph node. My tonsils are gone, but my gland is still enlarged. After a second opinion years later I learned that it’s most likely scar tissue because I’ve had strep so often. But the bright side has been that I haven’t had strep since my tonsillectomy.
Until now. I’m convinced, but since I haven’t been to my initial VA appointment, I don’t really have health coverage. So I haven’t been able to see a doctor to confirm this. I have an appointment tomorrow, just to get some blood drawn and to sit through some briefings, but I hope to find someone to order a rapid strep test and prescribe antibiotics. I can’t work if I am contagious. Which is for up to 7 days without antibiotics.
If I even have strep at all.
Which I’m sure I do.
My throat hurts.
I had drill this weekend but I left early yesterday and I felt so crappy this morning I called my squad leader and told him I wasn’t coming. I slept until noon and then I watched Mamma Mia! I ate some Jello, tomato soup and grapes and then I watched Margot at the Wedding.
Mamma Mia! was wonderful, if you can handle cheesy musicals and Meryl Streep’s less than stellar voice. I love Amanda Seyfried from Big Love and Mean Girls, but I had no idea she could sing! I guess she’s trained in classical opera. I love Meryl Streep, but some of those songs were almost painful to listen to! It was a sweet movie, I think I got choked up once or twice, but no tears. Which says a lot because I’ll cry over a Publix commercial.
Margot at the Wedding was… interesting. The acting was amazing, but the story line left a lot to be desired. When all is said and done, watching dysfunction families is not necessarily riveting. And this may sound less than intellectual but I HATE it when they don’t explain things in movies. I understand Margot and Pauline weren’t talking for an unspecified amount of time, but WHY? Was it because of something Margot wrote? Did Pauline feel like Margot was the cause of the end of her marriage? Another aspect of the movie that really… irked me, was there were several characters I was anxious to meet, and it seemed as though I would meet, but never did. Becky, Margot and Pauline’s sister, was one of them. They talked about her a lot and she was supposed to come up for the wedding, but you never meet her. Josh, Margot’s other son, was discussed a bit, but again, never met, though his brother, Claude, is one of the main characters in the movie. But I must say, the performances were wonderful. Sometimes so realistic, it was uncomfortable. It reminded me of Monster’s Ball, specifically the sex scene, how real and raw it was. I couldn’t look at the screen. It’s not a waste of time to watch, but I wouldn’t go out of my way if I were you.
I’m almost finished with The Total Money Makeover, the reading that is. I’m thinking about writing about my persona experiences on here. I’ve never been one to hold back, so I might document it in detail on here. I hope to help inspire others by being open and honest about a subject as touchy as finance. We have a bit of debt, and most people our age do. Not everyone talks about it though. I think it is comforting to know that you aren’t alone.
I had a miscarriage almost 2 years ago and immediately I was told stories from friends and family about their miscarriages. I didn’t realize how common it was, because it isn’t something that comes up in everyday conversation. But knowing that there were others who had gone through the same thing and were willing to listen definitely helped a lot.
Now, to lighten mood.
