Neverending sickness...

For those of you who are curious, Mike’s business trip went well. He made it home safely and the trip was not a waste for him. I’m not sure exactly what he learned from the experience but it sounds like he felt informed when he left. Not long after he returned home, sometime the week of August 10th, Mike succumbed to the flu/cold virus going around. He missed a little bit of work (shocking for him!) but he was a real trooper when we had plans on Friday night to go bowling with some friends. We had a great time bowling and even managed to keep up with the pros – Kristen and John – in scores. I am not a great bowler but I like to go. Mike and John had a healthy competition going for quite some time. I think John ended up beating Mike but not by much. I think I broke 100 once but that was it =)


We just don’t have time to be sick in this household…Saturday August 15th we had plans to go with Melanie and Bruco to a “Salsa Showdown” in Holland, Michigan. It was a competition for salsa. Local people made their own versions of salsa and the talent ranged from amateur to pro. You got a basket of chips and you went around tasting the different selections. When you found one you liked the best you gave the people a poker-like chip. We all picked different people who we liked best. I like sweeter salsas so I picked someone who used pears, mango and pineapple in his salsa. It was super yummy. I think Mike picked someone who made a different version of a mango salsa.

After the competition we took off for the beach. This was one of the first weekends Michigan had where the weather was warm enough to go to the beach (80s). It’s been pretty cold for the summer. I can hardly believe we even had a summer since the weather has been so cool. Anyways, we brought our blankets, umbrella, books and coolers to the beach for a few hours of fun. I’m not really a swimmer anymore so I lathered up with sunscreen and played a beached whale while everyone else went swimming. I hear the water wasn’t too bad but they didn’t last long in it. Overall we decided we were all old and didn’t stay on the beach longer than 2 hours. It got too hot and uncomfortable. We packed up and left early. We stopped for dinner on the way back before crashing for the night.

Sunday, August 16th Mike and I had plans (again) with Mom and Dad Smolsky. A new casino opened up in Marshall, Michigan and we decided to see what the fuss was about. We also wanted to check out Mom’s new patio they had installed at their house. We arrived around 1 p.m. and saw the patio first. The day wasn’t very nice or we might have stayed for a glass of ice tea or something before the casino. I took some pictures so you can see what it looks like. I think the workers did a good job. Mom said it took them a full 8 hours to complete. The stones were pretty heavy.

After viewing the patio we took off for lunch and a bit of gambling at the casino. I have to say it was quite shocking to see my parents at a casino. I just haven’t ever seen them in that type of environment. We ate lunch at a buffet and managed to convince Mom and Dad to try their luck at the slot machines. No one had much luck with it. I lost my allotted money pretty quick. Mike played Craps for awhile but he didn’t win more than $20. Overall it was a fun trip but obviously not our time to win.

Around this time I finally caught what Mike had and got sick. At first it was bad but then it tapered off into annoying. I was sick the whole week with typical cold symptoms. The weekend of August 22nd & 23rd Mike and I attended a friend’s pig roast, visited his parents and did some much needed clothes shopping. We decided to try the malls in Grand Rapids since they have more store choices. Overall we managed to get a lot of stuff for reasonable prices because of the back-to-school sales. It was an exhausting weekend of socializing and shopping (hard to believe I can say such a thing!).

This week (August 24th) I haven’t improved health wise. I finally gave in and went to the doctor on Wednesday. They diagnosed me with bronchitis and sent me home with antibiotics. At first I felt like I improved but by Friday I was feeling the same and I didn’t have many antibiotics left. However, as usual I didn’t have time to go to the doctor for it. Instead we had plans just about every night of the week. Our friend Steve and Dee came to town from Connecticut for a wedding so we say Steve Thursday night. We had a great time but I was reminded by my lungs that smoke and bronchitis do NOT mix!! I left early so I could breathe.

Friday we had plans to visit my friend Alice in Elkhart, Indiana. Alice is my ex’s great aunt who has always kept up with me after things were over with us. She in her late 80s and will most likely be moving in with her daughter in New Jersey soon. She’s sharp as a tack but her body is just not cooperating. I promised her I would bring my new husband Mike to visit her before she left. Mike was a real trooper going to visit someone he didn’t know well at all and accepting the circumstances of how I knew her.

Overall the visit went fantastic. Alice’s daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Bob, were in town planning to take her with them back to New Jersey next week. They brought their two birds with them and it was very entertaining. I will try to post the video of these birds doing their tricks. We had a great time watching them and chatting with Linda, Bob and Alice.

Saturday Mike and his dad, Rich, started on the deck project. Our deck needed to have a bunch of nails replaced and have the stain reapplied. I understand this is a long, drawn out process. They got to work pretty early in the day fixing boards and putting in new screws. Mike’s Mom Lois brought Charlie to town to have his next series of vaccinations from the local SPCA where they adopted him. Louie tormented Charlie a bit in his cage. I'm surprised Louie is not more frightened of dogs but he doesn't seem afraid of anything! L0is and I took Charlie to have that done and then I drove her back to Grand Rapids so she wouldn’t have to stick around all day while the boys worked. We had lunch afterward at the mall and looked around for a little bit. I took off soon after to come home. Mike and his dad worked pretty late while I relaxed for a few hours before bed.

This morning I got up to go wedding shower shopping with my friend Kim. Our co-worker is getting married next weekend so we had an office pool for her gift. We had a pretty nice budget so we got quite a few nice things for her. Afterward we had lunch at Jessica’s house before all three of us went to see the movie “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” I think we all had the opinion we need to read the book. I liked the movie, although I’m not sure I would run out and buy it, but I hear the book is much better. I’ll put the book on my list of books I need to read.

Mike and Rich were still working on the deck when I got back. They’re making really nice progress. The reddish color of our deck is almost completely gone. Unfortunately I don’t think Mike will be done by Wednesday as he originally hoped. We’ll have to squeeze in finishing it before our cruise next week though!
As for me, after seeing the movie I gave in once again and decided to go to the doctors for my unimproved condition. Today my coughing started producing bloody mucus (sorry if that’s TMI!) Since we leave in less than 5 days I really need to be better for this trip! I went to the local urgent care place and they got me in pretty quick. Good news it he bronchitis is gone but I have fluid in my ears and they believe I’m developed a sinus infection. While the antibiotic I’m currently finishing is great for bronchitis it doesn’t do much for sinus problems. So I’m not on a second round of a different antibiotic, steroids to help relieve the swelling in my esophagus from coughing so much (hence the blood), cough medicine to help calm the cause of my irritation, and an inhaler I need to take 4 times a day. Seriously, if this doesn’t cure me, I think I’ll scream (or at least try).

The doctor at the urgent care suggested if this all doesn’t help than I need to go back to the allergist and get tested for asthma. Since I’m allergic to my darling cats, I may be fighting a losing battle if these problems all stem from my cats and not a virus. I really hope it’s just a virus. If it is the cats, I have a whole new set of problems!

That’s about all I got for now. We leave Friday evening for Detroit to catch our plane at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday. We’ll be gone Saturday September 5-12th. We leave from Miami on the Royal Caribbean cruise to Jamaica, Haiti and an island somewhere off Mexico. We’re both really looking forward to it!