Down for the Count

Last Thursday, the 17th, I went to the doctor because I had a dry hacking cough, my throat was on fire and my chest hurt. He said I had bronchitis (I had to ask for the diagnosis after he started writing prescriptions) and gave me a zpak and some prednisone. I took the medicine home and like a good patient, I took them exactly as the instructions said and I finished them all. Throughout the next week, I kept expecting to start feeling better, only I didn't. I went to work even though I didn't feel good because if I missed work every time I felt a twinge of something, then I would never go. But by Thursday, a week after the initial doctor visit, I was so much worse that I couldn't sleep for the coughing an nasal congestion. So, I headed back to the doctor, but not to the same one. I went to CareNow hoping they could tell me what was really wrong and give me something to fix it. Two and a half hours after checking in, I was walking back out the door after receiving a breathing test, chest xrays, two shots in the butt - one on each side so they would hurt equally - and 3 new prescriptions. The diagnosis...pneumonia...this second doctor thinks the first misdiagnosed me and the pneumonia has been sitting in my lungs for the last week. GREAT! I won't be going back to the first doctor again. Anyway, I was suppsed to take my students on a field trip today to the Texas Discovery Gardens and The Science Place in Fair Park. When I asked if I could go to work, the doctor laughed at me and said if I was tempted she could put me in the hospital. I told her no thanks, that I would cooperate and stay home.
Well, the meds are working. The cough is abating some, I can breathe and my chest only hurts when I cough. I have to go back tomorrow for a checkup and in two weeks for another chest xray just to make sure the pneumonia is cleared up. Even though I'm tempted not to go tomorrow, I think I'll go anyway because I certainly don't want to get worse.
My sweet friend Emily brought me some things this evening to occupy my time: a piece of cake (it was yummy), some ice cream bars (I look forward to them tomorrow), movies to watch, a puzzle book since I am bored with Sudoku, and a coloring book and crayons. It sure does stink to have to take care of yourself when you are sick, but with my bag of goodies, I think I'm going to make it.

Growing Older But Still Having Fun...

As of last Sunday, I am on the downhill slide to 30 - only 360 days left. Not that it's a big deal or anything, just a fact of life.

The week prior to my birthday, Emily kept asking me what I wanted to do to celebrate, but because I had bronchitis, I wasn't all that excited about it. Finally, on Friday, I decided that I wanted to ride the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) from end to end - from Dallas to Fort Worth. That evening, we mapped out a plan for Saturday. We would get on the train in South Irving and go west to Fort Worth, then we would turn around and head to Dallas where we would transfer to a Dart train and get off in the West End for lunch before heading back home. Well, Emily ran a 5K Saturday morning and by the time we got to the train station, we were about 5 minutes too late and because the trains only run every two hours we decided to revise our plans.

There is this store called Sam Moon - some of you may have heard of it. I have wanted to go for a long time. It seems that every time I comment on someone's purse, they say "I got it at Sam Moon". Since we missed the train, I decided I wanted to go to Sam Moon instead. OH MY GOODNESS! That place is huge - all it has is cheap, imitation, knock-offs of brand names but there were hundreds of purses and wallets and jewelry and even hairextensions. Emily and I both picked out a super cute camel print purse and matching wallet - we got different styles of the purse and wallet but the same print. Emily offered to buy mine as a birthday gift.

After we were done shopping, we decided to head to Red, Hot and Blue, a memphis style bar-be-que place that we enjoy. The food sure was yummy - but the onion rings were a little spicier than usually. When we were finished with lunch I decided I need to take a "fun" picture to commemorate my 29th birthday. Emily suggested we drive around and take pictures of me by the letters and numbers that spell out "Melanie is 29". I thought this sounded fun, so we set of on our journey.

First we found a big 2 on a parking lot sign, so I got out and she took my picture standing by it. We moved on and found the "m" on a box that had m'n'm's in it; the "el" at El Chico; an "A" in a sale sign at a Toyota dealership; "n" in the sign for the Westin hotel; "i" at IBT bank; "e" in a business park sign on Esters; "is" in a Chili's sign; and finally, the "9" on the fire truck at Irving station #9. The firemen were so sweet - they kept giving me suggestions about where I could go to find all the letter. One even went and found a 2 to hold up next to the 9 on the truck so it said "29".

All in all, it was a fabulous day even though we didn't get to ride the train. In fact, we probably had more fun doing what we did.

Click this link to see the pictures...

https://www.photoshop.com/express/index.html?user=emilyjward&galleryid=b187d8a038914cbfb2bbde3ffbadb70c&wf=share&trackingid=BTAGC

10 inches off

Last weekend I decided to cut my hair off. 10 inches to be exact.

Friday I was talking to some coworkers at lunch about donating hair to Locks of Love to make wigs for children sick with cancer or other diseases that cause them to lose their hair. I have donated my hair twice before (in 2004 and 2006 - April of both years) so I decided it was time to do it again. It has to be at least 10 inches and I had a least that much. I don't get my hair cut very often, so I had to find a salon to use. A friend said she had found a place to do it for free since she was donating it. I got out the phone book and started calling different salons, explaining what I was doing and asking if they would be willing to cut my hair for free or for a discounted price. I found a lady at Hightower Studios in Las Colinas that offered to do it for free! Yay!

She cut it a little shorter than I had hoped, but in about 6 weeks, it will be just about where I wanted it. Just in time for summer. Now all I have to do is send it off...

If you are interested in learning more about donating hair, go to www.locksoflove.org.