On this week's edition of WTF.....No, really, I've been through the ringer this week. My daughter turned 16 last Sunday. We tried to make it special for her. We told her that she could have a small-less-than-10-people get together. We rented a party bus and they went to get tacos and then went downtown and had gelato at the Harbor and took pictures. Then they came back to the house and played games and had cake. Her friend's mom owns a bakery so she had this lavender cake with edible pearls. It was really cute. It was a good day.
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Sunday was her actual birthday, and that is when shit really hit the fan. I woke up early to bake a cake and cleaned up. She was not in a great mood on her actual birthday, so that was a whole thing. My husband was annoyed. I tried to just be normal. I went downstairs to ice the cake. I was almost finished applying the pink icing and when I turned the cake, it literally just slid off the counter and exploded.
I went upstairs, defeated, to inform him that I was going to the store to pick up a cake. He was playing a videogame and I noticed it raining inside. I looked up and there was water coming from the ceiling - right above where both of our workstations and computer stuff is. We sprung into a mad dash - moving computers and monitors and all the things.
We went into the attic and the air conditioner was leaking. Thankfully, our neighbor who installed it came over and discovered the issue and it was an easy fix but the attic and ceiling needed to be dried out and now we have to repair the damage. Which, let's be real, we're not going to do for a hot minute.
Then my husband and daughter got into an argument. It was less than ideal.
The next day, I had a massage scheduled. I needed it. I go once a month to a chiropractic office in North Charleston. I really like the therapist and I needed it after the day prior. I got there a few minutes early. I figured that I would sit in my car and answer emails for a few minutes. There was a man pacing the parking lot. I was vaguely aware of him but he wasn't bothering me. Then he stood 5 feet away from my car and just stared at me through the car window. I was spooked. I went to turn on my car to leave and he walked off. At that point, I just decided that I would go in and wait in the lobby.
I walk up to the front door and I could see someone kind of standing in front of the door. I went to open the door and it was locked but this person's head turned and I came face-to-face with a lady with CRAZY meth eyes. Like, frightening. I was like:
I jumped and ran out to my car and hauled my ass out of there. I called my husband and was like. "I can't be 100% sure, but the think the people in the chiropractic office are being murdered right now." I explained what happened and he was like, "You need to call the police." I decided to call the office first and the front desk lady was like, "It's fine, the police are here, you can come back." Ummmmm.....Hell Naw. I found out later that the man pacing the parking lot was the boyfriend of the crazy meth eyes lady and they were walking down the road and he was about to beat her up and she ran into the office and they locked her in. North Charleston Soap Opera Things.
After that, I went to the store to pick up some stuff for my daughter's serpentine belt. I get home and I apply the stuff on the belt and it worked. But when she took the key out it locked up the gear shift and the car didn't turn off. The shift release didn't work, the ignition was locked up. This has been happening periodically the past few months so we just decided to call it.
I called to have it towed to the dealership, which thankfully is only 2 miles away. I told the man on the phone that the car could not shift gears. He's like, "That's fine." He showed up two hours later and is says, "We need to put the car in neutral." I said, "That's impossible." He looked at me like I was a stupid woman, "How am I going to tow it?" F*ck if I know, you are the towing person. I gave him the keys and he tried in vain to shift the car out of park. It wasn't happening. "I'm going to have to drag it onto the truck." Great. He hammered these shoes under the tires and dragged it up. I followed him to the dealership.
He attempted to get the car off of the truck and, let me tell you, it was a process. All the service people were watching and it took almost 15 minutes to "ease" the car off the truck. Then, I went into the service center and they reminded me they couldn't even LOOK at it for a week. Which, doesn't matter really. It will just push the car bill into August. I usually do back-to-school shopping in August but I don't need to do that this year so it should even out.
The next day, I got up and was trying to take down the birthday decorations and clean. My oldest yelled down the stairs that she was having an issue that sounded like a kidney infection. It wasn't an emergency but it was a we-need-to-go-to-urgent-care right now kind of things. So, I took her to urgent care. It was full of covid people so we sat in the corner for almost 3 hours until we could be seen.
They brought us back and they were like, "Here is your covid test." Yeah, um, we actually don't need that. They were like, well we need to rule out covid and pregnancy. My daughter was so triggered. hahahaha. Nothing prepares you for that as a parent. I feel like anytime we go into urgent care for anything, that is something they check off the list. I could show up with my kid and say, "She fell down the stairs and is bleeding from her head," and they'd be like, "Okay, but we have to rule out pregnancy as a cause." We waited another hour and they prescribed her an antibiotic for an infection. When they closed the door she said to them under her breath, "Told you I wasn't pregnant biiiiiiiitch." I was like, "Can you not say bitch with the drawn-out i in my presence? Thanks!"
I went home, made dinner, went to get her medicine and by the time I got home it was late. The next day was jammed packed with errands. I had so many "things" come up that I was way behind. I had to go to the grocery store because I had no food in the house. I had some meetings and commitments I needed to wrap up for the boards I was formally on. I literally was not home all day. But I got done what I needed to do,
The next day, I was dedicated to cleaning my house and doing all my laundry. It was bad. That's what I did. I cleaned the shit out of my house. I was all done. I loaded the last plate into the dishwasher and ran it. Then water started pouring from the bottom of the dishwasher. I was triggered.
My husband offered to fix it but he had worked all-day. I told him I'd fix it in the morning. I had the same issue with it a few years ago when he was in Texas for a few weeks. It had a clog and I had taken it apart and fixed it all by myself. I felt confident about it.
The next morning, that's what I did. I drained it and took it apart and cleaned out the clog. I was covered in disgusting dishwasher water, but it was fixed. I went to run a quick errand afterward and then I made myself lunch. After lunch, I decided I was going to spend the rest of the day relaxing on the couch. I was going to watch trash TV and play my game. I needed it. I had been on the couch for 15 minutes when I hear my husband urgently calling for me. I ran upstairs and my daughter was on the floor. He was trying to get her to stand up and she was screaming out in pain. She could not stand.
"Pick her up and put her in the car. I'm taking her to the Medical University," I said. I started giving instructions to my youngest while I gathered some sweatshirts and bottled water. "I need her shoes, a phone charger and the medicine on the counter." She did what she was told to do. What a great kid. 100% helpful and amazing.
We are so fortunate to live so close to an amazing children's hospital. I never take them there unless I am really concerned. In 13 years of living here, between 2 kids, I've only been 4 times. One of those time was an almost-weeklong stay with my youngest a few years ago. Thankfully there was no traffic and I got downtown in 14 minutes. I was zooming. The peds ER has moved, which I didn't know. I haven't been to the ER at the Med U in 5 years. A safety officer saw me turn around and she pulled up next to me. She said to follow her to the new ER entrance and I told her I was alone with my daughter and needed a wheelchair.
I followed her to the entrance and someone came out with a wheelchair right away. She sobbed and screamed out in pain just getting from the car into the wheelchair. I just left my car in front of the hospital. I walked next to her and the man says, "Don't worry, we'll get you right down to labor and delivery." Bruh, for what? For her to give birth to a kidney stone? "Please take us to the pediatric ER."
They were so great. We were in the non-covid part so there was no one there. They got us back right away. They gave her morphine which helped considerably. They did all the things that they do. They started and IV, took blood. Ordered imaging. I camped out in a chair and watched TV and we waited. They did an ultrasound of her kidneys and a UA. Her antibiotic they prescribed earlier in the week was not working and they suspected that she may have small kidney stones. They have her IV antibiotics and discharged her. We got there at 3 and left at 9:45pm. At that point, she was comfortable and we had a plan and an idea of what was going on, so I was relieved.
We got in the car and I realized that I was STARVED. I hadn't eaten since noon and she hadn't either. It was late and the only thing I could think of that was open was Taco Bell. I pull up and ordered the only thing I like from TB, shredded chicken tacos. It was really slow. I think the workers were passing the dutchie between orders or something. We finally got our food and went home. When we opened the bag, my daughter said, "Ummm....this isn't our order." We ordered 4 tacos and there were 12 beef tacos. I don't like beef tacos from there. It kind of reminds me of wet dog food. I was so hungry, I ate the wet dog food tacos. I had to laugh. It was like an Alanis Morissette song...."It's like 12 beef burritos when all you need is a chicken taco....." LOL.
I woke up this morning a little scared, not going to lie. I had relax on the couch and drink coffee. Then, I got the text that her medicine was ready to be picked up. I got into the car and turned on the radio and Christmas music was playing. Then they were talking about the reindeer social distancing and all the elves wearing masks and I was super confused.
Not sure what planet I'm living on right now. I feel like I'm living in some weird, shitty alternate universe. Surprisingly, I feel mostly okay. These are things that I can fix. I can fix a car, I can get my child medical attention, I can buy a cake. So, in the grand scheme of things, it's okay. Wish we hadn't crammed it all into one week but it just be like that sometimes, as the kids would say.
I feel like my faith and mental fortitude is being tested. I'm trying to stay positive. Thoughts become things. I still have a whole lot to be grateful for. I think it will all work out.
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