Um, Labor Day Weekend
I had high hopes for a weekend jammed with relaxation and exhilarating physical activity and time well spent taking in some of the summers last good UV rays. Is this what I got? Um…..noooooo.
Rewind to about 2 am last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning depending on how you look at it. I wake up on my sofa with the TV still blaring and telling me why I should buy that thing that you hook up to the vacuum and suck the air out of your sweaters with. I stumble up the stairs to bed and think hmmm my throat feels really sore. Wednesday my throat is sore all day. On Thursday I can feel the congestion in my nose and head as well and start coughing and sneezing. By Friday I’m willing to admit that I, the person who never gets sick, have a full blown cold in the summer. If this had been fall or winter I would have been prepared. I would have been downing my herbal cocktail of Echinacea and golden seal and washing it down with the Echinacea green tea. I would have been using Zicam when everyone else in the office was sniffling even though I didn’t need it just to ensure that I not contract the latest strain. I decide to go to the farm anyway. The only way to get rid of it is to not let it prevent me from doing what I would ordinarily do, right?
No. So very wrong….
By Saturday I felt like my head was going to explode. My nose wouldn’t stop running and I couldn’t breathe. I don’t think the fresh air and dander there helped me in any way. I listed some things on eBay for about an hour on Saturday morning then I sat my ass on the couch and watched DirecTV for the rest of the day and all day Sunday as well until about 3 p.m. when I actually took a shower and got dressed. You may ask why I even got up off the couch and got dressed. I did so because we were invited to an annual hog roast on the river. Question: What’s funnier or more ironic than a Jewish family who has a farm in a predominately Baptist town in the middle of nowhere in Missouri going to a hog roast on Labor Day weekend? Answer: Nothing that comes to mind unless it was on one of the High Holidays. The party was a riot. The idea of these parties is that the people giving the party provide the 300 lb hog and the iced tea and everyone who comes brings a side dish or a dessert. As usual there was an abundance of deviled eggs and carb laden potato dishes. They grilled corn and had people there to shuck it for you. This year they had a bluegrass band that started playing when it got dark. People started two-stepping. Needless to say the situation was very amusing. My punishment for getting off the sofa when I shouldn’t have was coming home itching with 12 brand new mosquito bites. The thing that always strikes me as odd about the country is that there’s an absence of the 22-35 year old age group. There’s a few of them around but they’re all married and have children who they had when they were still in high school. It seems that these are the years when people who grew up there choose to get out. I’ve been told most of them find their way back though.
Monday….
I make the drive home and go to my mother’s house. She’s having her boyfriend’s family over for swimming and dinner. It was tedious. This situation is still very awkward for me. I’m 28 and my parents got divorced when I was 27 after 32 years of marriage. I never thought I’d have to watch my mother have her boyfriend’s family over for dinner in a house that my parents lived in together that used to belong to my father’s parents. How’s that for fucked up? Want me to keep going? My mother and father are great friends, work together at the family business still, and chat on the phone. Oh, you’re still not as uncomfortable as I am? Two weeks ago I went out to dinner for my maternal grandparents’ anniversary with my grandparents, father, and his girlfriend who he has been living with for just about a year. They have been officially divorced for about 15 months now. Welcome to my world, the parallel universe. There’s not much wondering why I’m single now is there? I have fucked up notions of what relationships are. So to recap, dinner was weird on Monday night.
Now it’s Wednesday and I’m finally starting to feel better. I’m gearing up for the next round of bridal shower this weekend. I’m pledging to back on my diet. I’m putting off going in for the fitting on the bridesmaid dress but in another 3-4 weeks I’m not going to be able to put it off anymore.
So, how was your weekend?
Rewind to about 2 am last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning depending on how you look at it. I wake up on my sofa with the TV still blaring and telling me why I should buy that thing that you hook up to the vacuum and suck the air out of your sweaters with. I stumble up the stairs to bed and think hmmm my throat feels really sore. Wednesday my throat is sore all day. On Thursday I can feel the congestion in my nose and head as well and start coughing and sneezing. By Friday I’m willing to admit that I, the person who never gets sick, have a full blown cold in the summer. If this had been fall or winter I would have been prepared. I would have been downing my herbal cocktail of Echinacea and golden seal and washing it down with the Echinacea green tea. I would have been using Zicam when everyone else in the office was sniffling even though I didn’t need it just to ensure that I not contract the latest strain. I decide to go to the farm anyway. The only way to get rid of it is to not let it prevent me from doing what I would ordinarily do, right?
No. So very wrong….
By Saturday I felt like my head was going to explode. My nose wouldn’t stop running and I couldn’t breathe. I don’t think the fresh air and dander there helped me in any way. I listed some things on eBay for about an hour on Saturday morning then I sat my ass on the couch and watched DirecTV for the rest of the day and all day Sunday as well until about 3 p.m. when I actually took a shower and got dressed. You may ask why I even got up off the couch and got dressed. I did so because we were invited to an annual hog roast on the river. Question: What’s funnier or more ironic than a Jewish family who has a farm in a predominately Baptist town in the middle of nowhere in Missouri going to a hog roast on Labor Day weekend? Answer: Nothing that comes to mind unless it was on one of the High Holidays. The party was a riot. The idea of these parties is that the people giving the party provide the 300 lb hog and the iced tea and everyone who comes brings a side dish or a dessert. As usual there was an abundance of deviled eggs and carb laden potato dishes. They grilled corn and had people there to shuck it for you. This year they had a bluegrass band that started playing when it got dark. People started two-stepping. Needless to say the situation was very amusing. My punishment for getting off the sofa when I shouldn’t have was coming home itching with 12 brand new mosquito bites. The thing that always strikes me as odd about the country is that there’s an absence of the 22-35 year old age group. There’s a few of them around but they’re all married and have children who they had when they were still in high school. It seems that these are the years when people who grew up there choose to get out. I’ve been told most of them find their way back though.
Monday….
I make the drive home and go to my mother’s house. She’s having her boyfriend’s family over for swimming and dinner. It was tedious. This situation is still very awkward for me. I’m 28 and my parents got divorced when I was 27 after 32 years of marriage. I never thought I’d have to watch my mother have her boyfriend’s family over for dinner in a house that my parents lived in together that used to belong to my father’s parents. How’s that for fucked up? Want me to keep going? My mother and father are great friends, work together at the family business still, and chat on the phone. Oh, you’re still not as uncomfortable as I am? Two weeks ago I went out to dinner for my maternal grandparents’ anniversary with my grandparents, father, and his girlfriend who he has been living with for just about a year. They have been officially divorced for about 15 months now. Welcome to my world, the parallel universe. There’s not much wondering why I’m single now is there? I have fucked up notions of what relationships are. So to recap, dinner was weird on Monday night.
Now it’s Wednesday and I’m finally starting to feel better. I’m gearing up for the next round of bridal shower this weekend. I’m pledging to back on my diet. I’m putting off going in for the fitting on the bridesmaid dress but in another 3-4 weeks I’m not going to be able to put it off anymore.
So, how was your weekend?
posted by Michelle at 4:24 PM
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