Two Shots and One Sinus Infection Later...

I love and hate my "travel" days. Anybody who spends a lot of time around me knows that I travel -- by travel, I mean 80 miles, one way, from Columbus to Newnan and back -- a lot. I actually travel a lot less than I used to, as I used to commute every weekend. But that was before gas became expensive and the roads became so dangerous. Now I make the jaunts for appointments, weeklong vacations, holidays, and the summer.

I love my travel days because I love driving and being on the road. I think I have a wandering spirit that just likes being out and about. I like the travel days because I walk around with a purpose, and I rather enjoy having things scheduled... I don't really believe in the concept of time (which is an entry for another day), but I love schedules. Hm. Go figure.

I hate my travel days because I run myself too hard. While I like walking around with a purpose, I tend to invest 150% into said purposes, and run out of steam... and if I have to keep moving after running out of steam, I get frazzled. I hate the traveling because the roads are dangerous, but that's just a risk you have to take.

Anyway. Today was one of those days. (It was also my twenty-and-a-half birthday. Woo.)

The trip was much easier than last time, as there were no wild trucks entering my lane and traffic was light due to timing. And, as I knew the roads were going to shift, the transition wasn't as bad. In fact, after the lanes shifted, the ride was almost as if it were any other trip... that was sorta pleasant.

I got to go get tormented -- checked out -- by my doctor today... gotta love surgical clearances and forgetting to get critical immunizations. But I digress. Me and my needlephobia, I took Mama with me so that somebody would guard the door... I mean, distract me. (I really don't try to run. I just panic and need a distraction. Morbid curiosity is the devil.)

They did the immunization first, a nice shot in the hip. The immunization is to protect me from that dastardly virus that tried to become terminally cancerous, so Mama was very insistent I get it. It's a series of three, and, fortunately, this was my last one. (I'd started on the set just a week before they discovered the cells in my body... then time got away from me and I forgot to get the third. Go figure.) I was so impressed that I was able to actually get up and position myself... not only because it's a rather awkward position to put yourself in -- especially with your mother in the room -- but because my fear normally paralyzes me. I yelped a little when the injection went in, but that was it. I was proud.

The next was the one in the arm... the one I dread so much. They decided to lay me down, knowing my fear, and Mama kept me looking at her... my damn morbid curiosity drives me to look and scare myself. This was where I shed all of two tears, then stared blankly at Mama until it was over. But then I tried to stand up and they realized I was pale and didn't look right, so they made me lay back down until my color returned. Damn me and my weakness. We had to sit there for 10 minutes and wait for me to mildly recover.

While I was there, we tackled the issue of my sets of sniffles and coughs. Fortunately, it isn't the dreaded bronchitis that puts my life on hold for 3 days -- or makes me hack horribly for 3 months -- but instead a minor sinus infection... something I get all the time. They threw me yet another handful of my favorite medication and sent me on my way. Mama drove us home, as my head was cloudy and I was walking wobbly.

I learned that dizziness plus drowsiness from sinus medication can make for a fun time if you're already clumsy by nature. The medication tastes awful, which motivates you to hurry and swallow the damn thing. Seriously, if you don't get it down within two seconds, the bitter taste gets stuck on your tongue for an hour. It also makes your throat dry as hell, which has me coughing hard and loud... I could take some liquid cough syrup, but liquid medication and I don't mix. As in, I don't take it well.

Meh. I've rambled far too long. For my half-birthday, I got two shots and a sinus infection. But I also gained a bit of courage against my needlephobia...

I guess today wasn't all bad. But it wasn't all good, either. I don't know how I'd rate today.

Maybe I'll just call it neutral. For now, I need to get some sleep before I travel yet again. A day in Anniston awaits in the morning.