My Days Have Been Colorful

Thanks to melamine dishes left on the counter full of Trader Joe's Gorilla Crunch...

and multicolored cough and fever syrup slurped up by ailing children...

and the gas fire Sean asks me to put on every morning because he's freezing with fever...

and cherry and honey-lemon throat lozenges...

and plastic cases full of movies and video games watched and played...

under the quilt my mother made for him...

and The Darjeeling Limited which is constantly on the free movie channel we're getting...

and my pink laptop on which I have been spending too much time...

and the bright red chili with green peppers I just made...

and Sean's pajamas that he hasn't gotten out of very often...

and the border with planes, trains and automobiles in the tiny pediatrician's exam room that we waited in for entire hour while Sean coughed and I fell asleep in my red jacket in the blue chair...

and the magnetic letters in the toy pile there with which we wrote, in our boredom and frustration, a note to the doctor: u r late...

but the mega-ibuprofen I took this morning for the pinched nerve in my neck was pure white.

I hate March, have I ever mentioned that? It is the worst month of the year for me. Maybe subconsciously it has to do with the fact that 38 years ago on the last day of March my 6 year run as an only child came to a screeching halt. I don't know, I doubt it. She's alright, I got used to it eventually. In March it's like my body is at its lowest vitamin D level, hasn't seen the sun in months except for a weekend in Florida where I realized - on a balcony with a mojito - that bodies really do need sun. (And balconies and mojitoes too, I think.) Mentally, I'm at my wits end, I cannot wait until spring, and this year is worse because of all the medical issues we've had. After all we went through this winter, the kids getting the flu now - or whatever evil germ it is - was simply mindbending and exhausting - further exhausting. I do not know how people deal with serious chronic illnesses and still walk the earth sanely.

Anyway, I sent Sean to school today with a cough, but he's feeling much better. A couple weeks ago I put my neck out doing pilates and now I can barely move it. I am going to the chiropractor today but, oh, if you knew my chiropractor. Nice guy, couldn't be nicer, but he talks incessantly about anything and when I go to him it's usually because I feel like a bottle whose lid has been put on wapper-jawed. It's like my head is screwed onto my neck the wrong way and missed a couple threads, you know? So, I'm already seeing double and then Dr. Jim starts in, as nice as he is, and then I begin to see triple. Luckily, he does his job well and I always leave with a smile and the returned memory of why I keep the dude in my life. I guess sometimes we need to give a little to get a little. I lend an ear to his Disney trip and all the transportation foibles he experienced and he puts my lid back on straight. Okay, I think I'm ready to make that call now.

Thanks for lending me your ear. May you have a colorful day...in a good way!

p.s. Thank you Dr. Jim. I feel much better now. You work wonders, how do I forget?