The Long Anticipated Weekend

Just because we've been married for almost 25 years doesn't mean that the sizzle is gone from our marriage. You might be able to imagine the anticipation of a nice relaxing weekend when I heard several months ago that my teen daughters were going on a Youth Retreat this past weekend.

Yes, it is nice to have the young-uns around and they *are* the most well behaved teens you will likely ever meet. They're entertaining and somewhat intelligent, if I do say so myself. At the same time it is nice to know that you can just dilly dally around the house, not have any demands put on your time and just generally take it easy. It's a little like having a vacation without the expense of a vacation.

Plus the oldest son is so low maintenance and works most of the weekend anyway with his hours keeping him gone most of the day, he was going to be out of the house, too.

I get the gals ready on Friday for their weekend trip while working my regular "J.O.B." (just over broke is what some would call it. I call it working from home on a flex schedule and getting paid for it). My next step is to take them to meet with the other youth & sponsors in the afternoon and return to my home for the evening's plans (thank you sponsors for going with them so I could stay home).

The idea then was to get home before hubby did and make him a nice dinner. I just didn't anticipate that he would be home before I was. (Nice surprise there!) We decide to go out to eat so we find a nice steak place and have a good dinner. We return home to watch my favorite show & then his new favorite, with the plans that after our programs were over we would go on our customary walk around the park and maybe a little quiet time when our walk was over.

(Regarding that walk- I'm up to 3 miles per day, usually 5-6 days a week, after having begun this exercise program about 10 weeks ago. Great progress and I'm enjoying knowing that I am not letting my body rebel against it, even if I am *not* enjoying the workout.)

We settle in for our nice nite at home (cheap date could describe it pretty well) and about 3/4 of the way through my program, I begin to feel a tad bit warm. Not knowing if it was a hot flash/power surge or if our air conditioner had given way, I asked Jim if he was warm. When he says "No" I begin to assess the situation a little more clinically. My throat is achy, my arms and legs hurt and my head is splitting. He comes over and feels my forehead. "Oh my. You're warmer than I am!"

To understand the magnitude of this comment you have to understand that I am a very cold-natured person. How cold-natured, you might ask? Fact: I have been known to wear long sleeved flannel nightgowns with socks and 3 layers of blankets to slumber-land. This IN JULY AND AUGUST when it was over 100 degrees during the daytime & in the high 80s at night!! To say that I am warmer than Jim is like saying that the popscicle is now as warm as the hot link. (The man could sit in a refrigerator and think it was beginning to feel pretty warm on most days.)

Suffice it to say the weekend began to go downhill from that point. I was appropriately dosed by Dr. Husband (no, he's not a doctor, he doesn't even play one on TV) with the usual anti-flu medications and sent to bed. (with much whining on my part to no avail)

After a long night's sleep, I felt somewhat better the next morning. We had a productive visit to the local Sam's Club for miscellaneous items and came home to put them away. Since I was feeling about 80% recovered, we decided that we could now go on that too-long delayed walk after we helped our son search for reliable transportation for our daughter-in-love. (Doesn't hurt to have Dad help lend an ear & eye if you have never bought a car before.)

After an abbreviated (2.0 miles) but still lovely walk around the park left me feeling appropriately tired, I went and took a shower to get the sweat, (I mean GLISTENING GLOW) off my tired body and sat down to watch some more telly. I was convinced at this point that I had dodged the bullet on the illness wagon and was ready for a fabulous evening.

After about 20 minutes of conversation with the husband and son, once again I realized I was feeling one of those power surges/hotflashes/whatever-they-were again. No, I do not believe I am, or ever have had, a power surge/hot flash. I was just beginning to think maybe that was the cause as I had felt so good all day. Upon which time Dear Husband said "You don't look like you feel well." and we were off again to Theraflue-Land.

This time medication didn't seem to help as much and I was sent to bed once again.

Sunday morning I awoke at 8 am to the alarm and tried to get out of bed. My voice stuck in my throat, my eyes crossed and the body refused to move. I croaked to Jim that I had better not share these germs with the body of Christ (aka my sisters and brothers whom I love but not enough to share germs with them). Somehow in my fever induced fog mind I thought Jim had stayed home also. I also remember some sort of dream about rabbits and brooms and cruise ships (hallucination, anyone?) and awoke around 10:30 drenched in sweat.

Not being one to give up the ghost to the flu, I decided I would crawl to the shower and try to wash some of the toxins (-I mean - sweat!) off my body. The shower only weakened me more and I barely managed to get dried off and dressed before Jim returned from worship early.
Jim decided he didn't want me to touch his food and also didn't want to pick me off the floor if I should try to help him cook, so we went out to Pancho's for lunch. (Mexican has been known to cheer me before, so he was giving it his best shot).

We then come home and he "makes" me take another nap (no, he didn't get much argument from me) then he picks up the girls at the appointed time. They charitably give me a generous dose of sympathy and sit on the sofa with me to watch old movies like "Singing in the Rain" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "The Lady Vanishes".

All the while, the dear husband (who has been very patient) decides he will piddle/work on his computer. (For some reason musicals from the 50s and mysteries from the 40s just don't appeal to him.)

So much for that romantic weekend, HUH? I'll undoubtedly end up in the doctor's office tomorrow sometime, I'm thinking it's either a sinus infection or strep throat. Either way, it wasn't a great time for a romantic weekend this go-round.

Quite frankly, after almost 25 years of marriage, this is not the first time one or the other (or even both) of us has been sick on a much-anticipated and highly-planned weekend. I dare say it will not be the last, either. It's just nice to know that after all this time, we can still make each other at least WANT to have a weekend alone, even if those hopes don't materialize.

Oh- That Romantic Weekend? We'll find the time later this month/year/decade to go away for a REAL weekend. I'll just have to remember the flu meds might not fix it up for us. We'll keep the number and location of a minor emergency clinic handy, wherever we do go.

We've learned in 25 years that one of the major keys to marital happiness is flexibility! A generous supply of Flu Medication doesn't hurt, either.