Phlem-y

Saturday morning, one day into my official Christmas vacation, I woke up with the World's Worst Cold. My throat felt like I was swallowing knives and my entire face was consumed by gigantic, swollen sinuses. Mark and I were headed to Tulsa that day for a graduation/birthday party for a college friends of his, and I had strict orders to be at his house ready to hit the road by 8:30 AM. So I stopped by CVS and spent close to $30 on Tylenol Cold, Chloroseptic throat spray and cough drops. Fast forward to that evening and I am all but dying in a house of 20 people who are trying to re-live their college days. Some of them were still awake (and drinking) at 5:00 AM. Oh geez.

Sunday morning we hit the road (in 14 degree weather!) and drive back to Dallas and head straight for the Care Now. I wait about an hour and see a bitchy lady who is angry that she went to medical school, only to work at a primary care unit that is open on Sundays and four days before Christmas. She assaults me with the Strep Throat Kit (seriously. she held the swab stick like she was in a fencing match and shoved it into my throat as if she was jousting with a knight) and runs some tests. Outcome? It's not strep. Just the World's Worst Cold that is draining into my throat and growing bacteria. She writes me a prescription for penicillin (yes!) and tells me to take Mucinex with it. Just like on the commercials where the little green glob families are living inside of you? Yup. That's what's going on in my throat. I've been on the drugs for a day and a half now. Let's just say it's a lot of nose blowing. As long as I'm feeling better by Christmas, I'll deal with it. Everyone who steps foot into my parents' house is immediately handed a Vitamin C tablet.

So I'm up in Muenster now. It's been almost two days and I haven't showered yet. I love being here and having nothing to do. Nothing but rest and get over the WWC and listen to Christmas carols on iTunes. We ate dinner tonight at the kitchen table with the entire family for the first time in who knows how long! Sure it was KFC chicken in a bucket, but it felt like home to me.