A Blog-Worthy Holiday Weekend?

Last week I had the Plague. Well, not really. I wasn’t deathly ill or anything, but I did have an elevated temperature on and off for 3-1/2 days. This sucked because I was forced to wash my hair every day. I hate washing my hair every day. And, besides, being sick in general sucks.

So I spent my time shivering and covered up in as many layers as possible – or, once my many fevers broke, I was a sweaty, stringy-haired mess. Thus, all the showering and hair washing.

Let’s just say that I am NOT looking forward to hot flashes.

And, yes, by the way – I did go to a doctor and, yes, I did get prescription medication. Fortunately, those little pills in that Z-pack seem to have warded off the evil spirits, which is a good thing because otherwise I was thinking about calling in an exorcist.

I worked for most of that time, but people around the office tended to stay away from me. Hmm. Wonder why? Was it that my stringy, plastered-to-my-head hair was distasteful? Or did they just not want to catch my cooties? Probably it was more likely my snarly disposition. Unfortunately, when I’m sick but still have to report to work, I’m a little less, uh, agreeable than normal.

Having a “slightly elevated” temperature is worse than a flat-out, near-death fever, too. Because when you’re at that latter stage, nobody expects you to wash the breakfast dishes, pick up the dry cleaning or deal with the annoying vendor who is desperately trying to make a sale. Being “slightly” sick means you still have to do all those things, but because you’re not feeling well, you’re way crankier than usual when doing them.

Plus, you don’t get much sympathy when you’re not majorly sick. Well, except from Mom. Yeah, I was lucky – mom called every day to check on me. Made me feel a little better, too.

So, anyway, I didn’t write any blogs. I don’t think the word “blog” even crossed my mind last week. See what happens to creativity when the Plague hits? It disappeared right along with my well-coiffed ‘do.

But. I’m baaaaack. Now… what am I going to write about?

If I hadn’t been sick last week, I could’ve written about our fun weekend in Cincinnati to watch the Indians vs. Reds baseball game. Indians won, I hear.

But, um, we didn’t go.

Or I could write about the dazzling fireworks display that lit up the sky in downtown Columbus or the many suburban fireworks displays.

Except…we didn’t go anywhere and sit on a blanket and watch any.

Yeah, I can see where this is headed. I’m going to have to start making stuff up pretty soon.

On the other hand, we did sit on the couch and watch Red White & Boom on TV. We even watched the Boston Pops and the spectacular fireworks display set off in the Boston Harbor.

So that was something. Besides, watching fireworks from the comfort of the couch wasn’t all that bad. We didn’t have to deal with the heat or the crowds. Our restroom facility was only five feet away and was (most importantly), not a Port-O-John. And we could have a beer or two without designating a driver or worrying about getting behind the wheel of a car afterwards.

All good things.

So, on the whole, it wasn’t a bad holiday weekend. Plus, I had a couple extra days to fully recover from the Plague. Oh, and I also got caught up on the laundry. Yay.

But was it blog-worthy? Eh, probably not. But that just makes you appreciate the truly blog-worthy subjects – doesn’t it?

Sigh. Maybe I need to plan another road trip…

Oh well. I didn’t want you to forget that I sometimes write a blog. So I wish you a Happy Hump Day, folks. Hope your day is blog-worthy.

Independence Day 2010

So did you have a happy 4th of July? Or since my niece Chloe refers to the holiday by its official name, I suppose I should do the same. So did you have a happy Independence Day?

Did you eat lots of burgers, brats and potato salad? Or, if you’re a vegetarian – lots of potato salad, fruit salad, and tossed salad?! (And if you’re a vegan, well, I give up. I just hope you had plenty to eat!)

And I also hope you were able to spend time with your friends and family. That is the best part about holidays.

We had a good weekend, too. Busy, though. I mentioned the other day that we had seven events to attend in two days. It sort of kills me to say this, but…um…I was wrong. I know – it IS hard to believe! I’m hardly ever wrong! But it was actually seven events in THREE days, which made the schedule a whole lot easier to handle.

Okay, so not really. By the time Monday rolled around, I was exhausted. Slept ‘til noon – so I burned half a day of precious time off trying to catch up on my sleep.

On the upside, I saw more fireworks displays this weekend than I think I’ve seen in the past five years combined. We went to Red, White & Boom on Friday and then on Saturday saw a friend’s fireworks display that rivaled any suburb’s display. Not only that, but we saw several other displays off in the distance. And then, on Sunday, we inadvertently saw two different suburb’s fireworks displays because we got turned around and were driving in the wrong direction so we caught them coming and going!

We also watched the Washington DC and New York City fireworks displays on television – and let me tell you – those were impressive, particularly the NYC display, which featured six barges firing off identical fireworks simultaneously.

Fortunately, I’m no longer as susceptible to migraines as I once was because I’m pretty sure all those flashing lights could’ve set off a major headache.

Our gathering on Saturday was fun and interesting. This was on Vince’s side of the friend-o-meter and I really didn’t know anyone except the host. Well, besides Vince, of course. Clearly, this was an annual shindig as they’ve had several years to refine the program. It also shows you what kind of party you can throw if you have lots of land.

There was a 7-piece bluegrass band complete with cowboy hats, guitars and a banjo. Oh, and singing. There was a red-and-white striped tent that rivals any that Barnum & Bailey might have, under which long tables were set up and filled with every picnic-type food you can imagine. And there were two port-o-potties set up in different parts of the field for the comfort of the party-goers. (Well, except for me. I don’t do port-o-potties.)

There were even folks who brought their campers along and parked along the perimeter of the property ready for an all-weekend party. (I don’t know this for sure, but I imagine those folks were grateful for the port-o-potties. A weekend is an awful long time to hold it, especially since mass quantities of beer was being consumed.)

What was most fascinating about this party was that there was a veritable mountain of wood, branches and various other flora and fauna in a pile about the circumference of Epcot ready to be lit once darkness fell. This was no mere bonfire. Oh no. Had it been spotted by someone who was concerned about fire dousing, it would’ve been at least a five-alarmer.

Once the pyre was lit, the party attendees weren’t quite sure what was more interesting to watch – the fireworks to the left or the inferno to the right. Vince took several photos of the fire using people or the port-o-potty in the frame to measure scale. And it was…well…BIG. Not only that, but it was also HOT. As you might imagine.

Despite the weekend temperatures closing in on 90 degrees, it was rather chilly in the country once the sun set. Other people were prepared and brought sweaters and jackets, but we didn’t. We figured it was friggin’ 90 degrees outside and we couldn’t imagine the temperature dipping much below 70. Yes, we were wrong. OMG. Twice in one blog. What are the odds?

Happily, the inferno allowed us to keep warm once we moved our chairs a little closer. Of course, we had to move back about three times before we were able to open our eyes without risk of burning our corneas and singeing our eyebrows.

But we eventually hit the most optimal inferno-sitting distance and we sat and watched the dancing flames and reflected on how fortunate we are to live in this country and enjoy the freedoms we have. To be able to choose life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And to select which seven events we wanted to attend in three days.