pajama days

I have spent the last 72 hours in pajamas!! Mind you, not the SAME pajamas, but pajamas nonetheless. This is highly unusual for me. You can guess that I have also not left my house in 72 hours, which again, is not typical. Although I do see some people (mostly college-aged kids) frequenting public places in their pajamas. I guess I am just not part of that oh-so-hip crowd...or maybe they are just too lazy to change into regular clothing. However, in ninth grade, way back in 1985, I wore flannel plaid pajama pants to school as actual attire. This was obviously before people were appalled at Dave Matthews wearing flannel pajamas pants during his shows and before these modern day college kids were out and about in their nightwear.

It's strange to see how fashion cycles go, as it were....things I wore back in the 1980's made heads turn and made the people question "why"; in today's standards you can do the same or even more extreme and noone really thinks about it twice. Doc Martens, mohawks, coloured hair and "odd clothing choices" were just not deemed "normal". But I will say this (and you can ask my mother, too)-- I was always covered in my choice of clothing--you never saw parts of me "exposed" like you do with girls and women nowadays. And that, my friends, is a definite fashion faux pas. Friendly fashion advice--take a look in the mirror before you leave the house. If your stomach is exposed, go change. (**This applies no matter what your weight. I do allow exceptions for gym clothing- at the GYM- or if you are at the beach, of course!)

Although you wouldn't catch me in my pajamas at Target or Wal*Mart these days, unless I had a really outstanding excuse.

Moving on---

Why have I spent the past 72 hours in pajamas?

I spent four hours at the emergency room on Thursday evening. I had been experiencing chest pressure in my heart for four days. Being a heart patient as it is, things such as this should not be taken lightly. So Greg really insisted I go, and feeling as I did, I gave in. Just as well- with him working nights this entire weekend what if something happened while Clare and I were home alone? It is fairly typical for me to get pains in the heart area when that irksome faulty valve of mine decides to close up when it should be open, but this was an entirely different pain altogether and four days....well it could have been something terrible. Come to find out, I have an infection around the wall of the lung and around the heart area, so I was administered a bag of antibiotics via IV, a pain killer which was at first declined- then I gave in- and it then resulted in the pain dissipating, but a horrid nausea enveloping me if my eyes were open... which lasted for 12 hours straight.

At any rate, I am tired and weak and it will be a month or so before I am A-Ok, but at least we know what was causing the problem. No heavy lifting, no hauling my beloved vacuum up and down stairs, no stress, says the doctor. Prior to the pain killer I was given, we spent our time in the ER finding hidden pictures in Clare's Highlight's edition of the Hidden Pictures books. At least we were occupied and making good use of our time at the hospital!

I begin my new job tomorrow--I am in charge of tourism/special events and marketing at a local caverns. A little bit different than the museum world I am accustomed to, but in the end, still dealing with the same type of clientele...families on vacations, school groups, elder hostel groups, home-schoolers...so we shall see. I attended a meeting up there on Thursday last, and although feeling pretty crummy health-wise, I found it welcoming that my co-workers were excited I was there and even more excited to show me the re-modelled space which is to be my (temporary) office. They even painted the walls! I was told I get to go out and choose/buy a new computer (laptop) so I am looking forward to that. There will be several special events to plan and execute this year, so it will be challenging and rewarding.

Clare had a great Christmas, by the way. We did our usual- attending Midnight Mass with my parents at the Cathedral which is at the heart of our Diocese. We were up until 3am though and once realising this, we scrambled into bed to be ready for Santa. Up before 9am Christmas morning and Clare received the three items she requested: Play-dough 50th anniversary playset, Gameboy Over the Hedge game and the Paws and Claws Pet Vet computer game. In addition to this, we also bought her the American Girls Molly paper dolls and art set (Molly is the American Girl representing the WWII era), the entire Molly book series, other books, art supplies, etc. My parents and relatives bought her some nifty items as well. You'd be hard-pressed to get something Clare doesn't like...she is such an easy and appreciative child, she loves books, art, horses and well, animals in general.

We actually got to spend a few days down at my parents' house which was great. So all in all, Christmas day was quiet and, ironically, we spent pretty much the entire day in our pajamas.