I kept a small paper cup by my bed and spit out all the disgusting phlegm I coughed up, then flushed it down the toilet when I got up and tossed the cup in the trash bin outside. I really felt like calling out at work but has been busier than a bee hive so decided to just take cough meds, 500mg Ibuprofen, wash my hands every five minutes at work and stand far back from my tables. So far no one at work has come down with it (they tend to come down with fake illness) and just stayed in bed until the last possible moment before getting in a scalding shower pounding onto my teensy chest and jumping in the car just in time for work.
Then when I got off every night drove directly home and climbed under the covers for another sweat fest in my flannel sleeping pants and shirt. A couple of days I spent almost sixteen hours in bed. I barely ate but always had a banana, cup of yogurt, meds, a multi vitamin before I left the house for work with a huge bottle of water.
I was beginning to think I needed to break down and go to the doc but Massey got better so who am I to let an almost twenty year old show me up?
On Tuesday of this past week, Massey went to Atlanta for the day with her bestie and text me to see if he could come home with her for dinner.
I said sure he could, but wasn't cooking dinner. The only thing cooking was my forehead. He declined the offer. (smart kid)
I got bills paid, muh hur did, toted home about twenty more bags of top soil for the sink hole out back and went to buy dog food once and groceries but other than that was down to working and sleeping at best.
A couple of shifts I felt so bad, could have curled up in a ball on the dirty floor of the dish pit area in the kitchen just to let the humid heat warm me up but somehow made it through...and usually with a smile, albeit forced.
Woke up yesterday when Massey hollered up the stairs that it was almost one. I could tell I felt better when I got in the scalding shower, just not sure for how long. I doped up and went in, feeling great until about eight then popped two more 500mg of ibuprofen and made it through the shift.
I woke up today promptly at eight thirty and felt like a new woman. I took the dogs out, had some OJ and Nestle Quik and lolly gagged in the bed until noon. I went out back and cleaned weeds from around the A/C unit, replaced the filter in the unit in the attic and packed a hefty lunch for work. I even made a blueberry cobbler, taking half to work with me for my boss who helped me out at work the night before when we got slammed like a home run ball and made it to work thirty minutes early.
So I wasn't dying!
Tonight wasn't that busy but had exceptional tables, every single one. I connected, chatted and amused every one of them and rewarded most spectacularly. I even gave the shuttle bus driver (my favorite one) a ten dollar tip when she dropped me off at the parking deck. She tried to decline it but told her to shut up (with a smile).
There's no better way to end a day at the Crazy House (aka) the world's busiest airport than to walk out and see Ms. Thornton behind the wheel of the shuttle bus you step up on to. Sometimes (on good nights) probably make her weekly salary in eight hours. She always asks about Massey if she isn't with me. Massey loves her too. And when my crappy ole Volvo broke down last winter in the parking deck after work when it was fourteen degrees with wind chill factor of ten below, let me on her bus to warm up and rode the loop from the deck to the terminal for over an hour never stopping to pick up anyone but letting me stay warm until one of the Lost Boys arrived to take me home. Whenever I have a good night at work and she's my driver...always tip her, always will.
When I first started at the airport a friend of mine (Kimberly) warned me off saying it was an exhausting place to work which could suck the life out of me.
She was right but lucky for me have an out in six months. It also absolutely changed our world and all for the better. It's like the best of both worlds.
I have twenty four weeks left to rake in the most money I've ever made. Spring Break for rich kids flying overseas to warmer destinations is in full swing, followed by the Masters in Augusta to vacation season for all in early June to the summer olympics being held in Brazil. I'll knock it out of the park and bring it all home for my family.
Then I'll exit, grateful for the opportunity and things I've learned but our family will be whole again...and together.
The last six years have been six which taught me the most about life in my (well over) half a century on this planet.
You get what you give.
Never be ashamed to accept help unless undeservedly.
Always Pay It Forward.
A bad day only lasts twenty four hours.
Karma has an excellent memory.
And as my alter ego says...
I'm straight now, thanks to the curve from many!
Til next time...COTTON
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