Vacation Day

I don't want to be a complainer, but I've been having some back trouble, and shoulder pain, and neck strain.  Not surprisingly, I'm a mom and it's easier to defer aches and pains for more convenient times.  Still, this started during my last pregnancy, the baby's already 18 months old, and I still don't have an open afternoon.  When I had several of those "THIS IS IT, I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET OUT OF THIS COUCH" episodes, Kel insisted I not wait until Rosie could fetch me ibuprophen herself. 

X-rays were inconclusive, so I had to move on to plan B:  The MRI. 

At first I was actually looking forward to the test.  A quiet drive into town, lingering forever in a waiting room, not minding one bit because I can catch up on my 3 back issues of Good Housekeeping...  Sipping a cup of coffee from the cafeteria, browsing the gift shop... Then participating in a non-invasive assessment in which caring and professional technicians would make sure I was comfortable...  Perhaps catching a few Zzzz's during the test...  Stopping for a bite to eat on the way home...  By myself.

Basically, a vacation.

I wish.

I had to be up at 5 am, to be out of the house at 5:30, to arrive by 6, to avoid construction and park by 6:15, and to be checked in by 6:30.  Waking up to the same rain to which I fell asleep, I was dismayed to find some type of "leak" in the bathroom cabinetry, so dumping the contents into several large laundry baskets delayed my departure.  (The six inches in the basement Kel later found himself).

The rain pummeled the car on the drive into town, but I counted my blessings when I found a parking spot just a block from the hospital, and I actually felt a huge sense of accomplishment that I had arrived by 6:29!  (The Krenz's are noted for always running in, late.). 

I had forgotten my magazines, and had no interest in the hospital's Computer World, and Field and Stream.  But I still embraced the early morning quiet until Jeff appeared to escort me back to the MRI area located in the bowels of the hospital. 

Now, I'm pretty "long suffering", and if I ever get into a position of needing to suck it up and be a martyr, I have enough confidence in myself to think that I could do it without much of a whimper.

But let me tell you, the test started out with much difficulty for me, and about 2 seconds in I was hitting the panic button. All of my expectations of vacation days and catching Zzz's were dashed the minute he slid my strapped self into that paper towel tube of the MRI machine. 

Thankfully, Jeff offered me an opportunity to watch a little documentary dvd during the test.  He produced a pair of goggles which he strapped on my head, and before long I was swimming with the dolphins in the coral reefs of the Fiji Islands.

Vacation.