What a Week

My wife likes to joke that we are the Griswalds (National Lampoons Family Vacation), to which I try to disagree as much as possible. You see, we are the Griswalds. Anything that can go wrong, usually does. Nothing catastrophic mind you, but continuous nickle and diming of little dramas.

I have to disagree with her because I do not ;;ever feel my life was like this until I married her. Yeah, I had the usual mini-dramas and such, but I think her family gave me the Griswald Virus. The stories I have heard about their family adventures pale in comparison to anything I have experienced.

Anyways, this has been one Fucked up week.

1. My sister leads off the week with news that she is getting a divorce. This does not surprise me much, as I always felt it was only a matter of time. My brother-in-law is a coward and never fights for anything. And now he isnt fighting for his family. 3 kids, the youngest of which is 4. And even though it didnt surprise me, it still stresses me thinking of my sister and my nephew and nieces.

2. I got pink-eye. Again, nothing huge, as I get pink-eye 2-3 times a year due to allergies. But, it led up to event #3. So, pink-eye. Yeah. This had to be one of the worst case of pink-eye I had ever gotten. So bad, that I left work early on Tuesday. So bad, it looked like I had a cyst on the eye because part of it was swollen. Took Wednesday off to go see the doctor leading us to....

3. On the way to the doctor Wednesday morning. Im coming up to the frontage road to one of the tollways here in Dallas, when the light changes to yellow. Normally, Ill keep on going and risk running through the red to make the turn right. But this time I notice a cop on the street perpendicular to mine, so I decide Id better stop. I didnt stop suddenly, but I did slow down quickly.

**** BAM *** Holy shit. WTF? Im stunned. I realize that I have just been rear-ended. Quite. Fucking. Hard. ;; My sunglasses flew off, my hat flew off and shit was all over the place. Dude hit me so hard, our frames were stuck together. Had to have a wrecker pull us apart.

Best thing about the accident? The cop saw the whole thing. Best witness you could ever have. The other guy was listed as at fault and even got a ticket for failure to control speed. Ouch. ($5-$7k damage to my vehicle).

Worst thing about the accident? Well, for those that dont know me, I have a fucked up back. I had back surgury back when I was all of 23 (I am 34 now). Ive had problems ever since. I take muscle relaxers to sleep at night. So whiplash doesnt do me any favors. My neck is still sore almost 5 days later and my back in general has felt out of whack.

I guess my rotation of accidents is almost complete. Ive been rear-ended, I have rear-ended (very minor), Ive side-swiped (again, minor) and Ive been in a head on collision (very bad, though no fatalities). I guess all that is left is for me to be side-swiped. Not looking forward to that one.

4. Took Thursday off to rest and see how bad the aches and pains would be from the accident. Wife calls from work to say that my daughter has a croupy cough. So I have to go and pick her up and bring her home for a breathing treatment.

Worse comes to worse, and by that evening she is coughing really bad and throughout the night. So I have to take Friday off now to take her to the doctors. ;; 3 days of vacation/personal days down the drain.

5. Weekend rolls around. Today is Fathers Day. Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. We go out to eat after Church. So far so good. The little one wants to go to the mall and ride the train for kids. Ok, no problem. Then the wife decides she needs to shop. Dear. God. If there is one thing I absolutely hate, its shopping with my wife. She will look at shit for hours on end without coming to a decision about buying something. I cant stand it. It is pure torture for me.

I am finally able to drag my wife and child out of the mall and head for home which leads up to...

6. My dog is dying. We get home, and the dog has either shit or thrown-up all over the family room. The dog hasnt eaten in almost a week now. Weve been waiting for her to pass an object in her stool or to throw it up, as she is notorious about eating anything and everything in site. (She ate a Hawaiin Lei about 2 weeks ago.) But, she always passes it one way or the other.

Not this time. Were pretty sure that she is dying. My first lab went through the same symptoms when she died, that this one is now exhibiting.

So, tomorrow, on my Wedding Anniversary, I get to take my dog to the vet and have her euthanized. What a great way to celebrate a wedding anniversary.

What a week.