a few things...

Last Friday, Ross took the afternoon off of work.  He came home early, picked Elliott up from school, and we got ready to head out on a little adventure.  We were headed to the zoo and to get dinner and to shop for some new shoes for Elliott.

We got to the zoo at 3:30 and I was pretty shocked at how crowded it was for such a late afternoon.  The zoo is only open until 6:00 I think, but it was packed.  And, the zoo is under construction (always) and so the exhibits that are open feel extra crowded.  And, I don't think that I've ever been to the zoo in the late afternoon before because we always shoot to be the first ones there as soon as it opens in the morning.

That being said, it must have been scary day at the zoo.  I cannot remember the last time I was surrounded by such icky people.  Really, I hate to pass judgement and don't know anything about any of the people that were there, but it was gross.  Women covered head to toe in tattoos and baby doll dresses screaming at their children.  Toothless and stinky men and bra less tipsy women.  Lots of big families who didn't have control over a single child.  Lots of parents who were there to let the zoo babysit.  Lots of pregnant and nursing women.  Lots of yelling.  Lots of little girls barefoot and in swimsuits.

The zoo recently opened a little splash pad, and as with all splash pads and parks, I'm not a fan.  I'm a germ-a-phobe and I don't believe in letting my kids get soaking and sopping wet in their clothes, especially when they still have to walk the entire zoo and especially when we are doing stuff afterwards.  It's not judgement, it's just me.  I'm not a fan.  If you are, I'm cool with that...just watch your kids.  

When we got to the otters, there is a hollow log that the kids can walk through.  Wyatt decided to do it. On top of the log was the soaking wet, out of control, too big for the hollow log, probably 12 year old girl, jumping.  A stranger, not associated with the little girl, but who had seen Wyatt's casted arm, started yelling towards her, "Be careful.  Stop jumping.  Be careful, there is a little boy with a ...." and just as he was about to say "cast", spaz girl jumped off the top and smashed my little 4 year old with a full arm cast into the ground.  He of course, screamed bloody murder and tore some skin off his good arm and both his knees.  The little girl?  Stared at Wyatt as if it was his fault, and ran away to her parents.

Yeah, the zoo was awesome.

I mentioned a few weeks ago in a post that Grandma Judy has a quail sitting on a nest of 9 eggs in her front yard flower bed.  She is keeping a close eye on the mama to be, and when we were over for dinner on Sunday, got all the kids a good look at the quail sitting on top of her eggs.

On Sunday night, after putting the big boys to bed, Ross came into our bedroom and told me that he and Wyatt had an interesting conversation after Elliott fell asleep.  Out of nowhere, Wyatt asked, "Dad, does mom have eggs?"  Not sure where the kid was going, Ross said "No, why?"  Luckily, the conversation was derived from the mom quail sitting on her eggs and Ross and Wyatt had a great conversation about animals that lay eggs versus animals that have babies born alive.  And thank heavens, whatever the answers were, they made sense to his little brain and the questions subsided.  We are not prepared to have "that talk" with a four year old.

For almost a month now, I have had a cough.  Not just any cough but a dry, hacking, rip out your guts cough.  At least three times a day, usually more, I am rendered completely immobile from the coughing.  I cannot even describe what it sounds like, but I can tell you that last week, I coughed so hard that I had to run to the bathroom because I was inches from throwing up.

My ever supportive husband has been telling me to go to the doctor for my cough.  He tells me I have "The most unproductive cough ever" and that I am coughing because of "post nasal drip".  I snuff my nose at him and tell him that I do not have boogers, or dripping, or anything else.  No sinus infection.  No anything.  I just am coughing like there is no tomorrow.

It's the worst at night.  I sleep with cough drops in my mouth, and haven't had a nights sleep that has been uninterrupted by coughing for about two weeks.  It's crazy.  I cannot lay down, water doesn't help, it's just a big pain in the butt.

I finally broke down last week and told Ross if he made me an appointment that coordinated with when he could be home with the boys, I'd go to the doctor.  I have about a million other little things wrong with me anyway, so I could go with a laundry list.

The appointment hasn't been made yet, but it might not have to be.  Last night, I had to go and pick up two prescriptions from the pharmacy drive-through.  One of the prescriptions was my blood pressure medication that I've been on for two months.  As I was finalizing my transaction the pharmacist came over to talk to me through the microphone.  He asked me if the blood pressure medication was working.  I said, that yes, I thought it was.  He said, "good.  Have you had any side effects?"  and I replied with a no, that I didn't think I was having any side effects.

He then said to me, "Have you been coughing?  Like a real dry, hacking, "unproductive" cough?"  I looked him in the eye and said, "YES!  I HAVE BEEN COUGHING FOR WEEKS AND ITS KILLING ME!!!!"  We traded a list of symptoms and he told me that the cough I have is the main side effect of the blood pressure medication I am taking and that, if it is really bothering me, I should have my doctor prescribe me something different.

How crazy is that?

When I got home, I told Ross that I had learned something getting my prescription.  At first, he didn't believe me.  And then, it was nice to be a little bit vindicated....my "unproductive cough" isn't because I don't have good coughing skills at all.