Sunday, October 16, 2011

It's Okay To Cry...



"Do you have the time to listen to me whine..." Green Day
WARNING: This blog contains lots of whinging and complaining, frustration, humiliation, and germs. Reader discretion is advised.

So far, I'm having a lousy Fall. This is my Christmas. And it's being ruined by illness, thieves, and fires.

I'm not sure where to begin, so let's start with Monday. After someone stole $14.00 off of me and left us with $3.00 to live on and Columbus Day held up Doug's check, a friend of mine treated us to lunch. She let me do a load of laundry. I hung out with her until Doug got out of school. We had fun...until...but I won't get into that. It's not worth rehashing. I also had a costume fitting for Judgment House that night.

Tuesday, Doug and I went to visit his parents, who treated us to dinner, then my mnl allowed me to get some things at the store with her card. Very nice of her. We would not have made it through without her help.

I took Doug to school, picked up a few things at the store, got home, put them away, and settled in with an ice cold bottled water and an equally ice cold Coke. Then I turned on the television for background noise and began to work on my book. The kitties came in and hung out, just a typical evening of solitude. Doug sent me a text stating to come pick him up from school. I saved my work, grabbed my purse, phone, and shoes, and as I'm walking through the dining room, I smelled a structure fire, but the smell is ONLY in my dining room, so I explored all of the outlets, checked everything plugged in and touched everything to make sure it wasn't hot. I sent Doug a text, stating I had not left yet because I smelled smoke. He called, I explained the whole mess to him. By that time, I could smell it in the kitchen. Doug told me to go outside and see if I can see flames or smoke. We stayed on the phone, I rounded the corner and I started crying as smoke billowed into the air. This was really happening. My apartment building is on fire. Doug instructed me to call 911. I hung up with him. I called and got a really nice dispatcher who can't seem to figure out what I'm trying to communicate to her. She acted as if I were speaking Japanese. By the time we got off the phone, I had no idea what she got from our conversation. Three ladder trucks pulled up in front of the apartment, lights and sirens going, the whole deal. The two gentlemen who live next door run out. Lainey, he called, "Shellye, what happened?" I said, "There's a fire in the apartment downstairs!" And firemen came running toward the apartment. One man said, "The dispatcher said there were two people trapped in a burning apartment building upstairs!" I said, "No, I have two cats upstairs, and I couldn't get them out." Meanwhile, other fire fighters ran toward the smoke. I saw flames. The woman in another apartment building next door came running out. "OMG, OMG, am I in trouble?" She was freaking out. Then she proceeded to explain that her stove caught fire twenty minutes ago, and that she threw a blazing pan out of her window, then she said she put flour in the pan twice to put out the grease fire. So, to make an incredibly long and embarrassing story short, the pan she threw out her window had reignited, causing smoke and flames. I apologized profusely, and the fire fighters took the neighbors names, and I ran into my apartment, which wasn't on fire. And my cats were safe, and I called my husband and told him what a freaking idiot I am. And he got a ride home while I sat on the couch and cried.

Wednesday, I started feeling terrible again. I've never really gotten over this illness. My cough is still almost as bad as when the illness started, and my voice is going in and out and my chest burns and my back aches and my throat and head hurt off and on. And I've plowed through a box and a half of tissues. But I had Judgment House practice, so I had to go to church. Practice went well, but if I walk around alot, I start coughing really badly. So we're going through the scene, and I couldn't breathe in without coughing. Then the Judgment room leader had a meeting, so he said, "Shellye, take them through the scene a few more times. So I had to read, and my voice was going in and out. And I could barely talk without coughing. But I took everyone through the scene and played my part successfully. Then I went upstairs to the crow's nest, leaned my chair way back, and I rested while listening to the service.

Thursday, I got treated to lunch by my lovely friend, Jodi, then I attempted to drop her off at a home of a lady from church so she could watch her children while the lady and her husband could go to the marriage retreat. My phone has a GPS. My husband programmed the address into the GPS, and I left, confident that I would find the place and drop Jodi off at the proper time. After lunch, we headed to Barboursville. The GPS did well until it started telling me to turn on roads that were not there. Not only that, it took me past the road and an hour and a half out of the way. So Doug missed a meeting, Jodi was late. I was tired. I dropped her off when we finally found the place, went through the Starbucks drive through, and went home. I spent the evening working on my book.

Friday, Paul came over and we ordered pizza. We had not seen him for a while. We had a nice time.

Saturday, I woke up feeling worse than before. We laid in bed and watched movies until almost five p.m. before heading to the enclosed retail compound. I looked for shirts, but no luck. Instead, I found this beautiful purse on clearance. I purchase it and left. We went to Qdoba where I got soup and salad. Doug had to order for me because my voice was gone. The woman acted like he was being difficult. Then, we stopped by store, where I had a coughing spell that almost caused me to faint, and I got more cough drops and tissues, and then went home. I discover the cashier forgot to remove the security tag from my purse.

Today (Sunday) I stayed home from church and rested. Doug didn't have to do the screens for the morning services, just the evening service, so he stayed with me. Then we went for a drive and a Starbucks. I watched more movies, then Jodi called and asked us to eat dinner with her at West Tenampas. Doug picked me up on his way home from evening church service. Then we got her and went to eat. I got chicken tortilla soup. It was good, but I'm still not feeling any better. Jodi informs me that she and Steve are getting married in seven months!!!!!! I am SO EXCITED!!!!! I am seeing a prayer I prayed for her come to life right before my very eyes!

So now, I'm laying in bed, still feeling lousy. Am I ever going to recover from this?

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