Chalk it up to Real Life

It's been quite a week. Monday started out with a call from Trader Joe's telling me I won their weekly drawing and was quickly followed by an an email from a favorite editor at Better Homes and Gardens with a project in mind. Things were definitely looking up after spending the previous week battling the flu.

Come Tuesday morning however, I received a call from my daughter who is away at college, complaining of a very sore back. I figured it to be a flare up from a riding injury she sustained years ago. She agreed and headed off to class.

Wednesday morning brought another call, this time flat on her back with a high temperature. After failing to score an appointment at the campus health clinic, thanks to her "House Mom" at the sorority, she's on her way to the immediate care clinic who quickly send her to ER! I get a call from a daughter in severe pain with a very high temperature, and a doc who wants to know if she'd been vaccinated for Meningitis.

Holy you-know-what! Mama Bear is 8 hours away and my daughter is about to have a spinal tap to test for a very serious illness! My husband and I made the mistake of looking up Spinal Meningitis on the internet. BIG MISTAKE! I immediately started looking for flights to Missoula - nothing 'till morning.

Test results start coming in, I have a conversation with the ER doc. Not yet ruling out Spinal Meningitis, (she had been vaccinated), we move on to her kidneys.

Long story short - that was the culprit. A severe kidney infection which kept Kate hospitalized for 2 nights. With a hearty helping of intravenous antibiotics - she was released Friday afternoon!

Needless to say - my plans for the week were a teensy bit interrupted! However, not a total loss. Thursday evening I was able to keep a speaking engagement and was fortunate enough to talk to an amazing group of professional women about organizing. Take that, real life!!

And so it goes. I've been writing this blog for nine weeks now - real life has trumped my schedule for two successive weeks. Still - most days - I feel I end up in the plus column. The way I see the it - real life reminds us to live it - get through it and be thankful for what we have. I have a daughter on the mend. What else could I ask for?

So, Monday begins a new week and a new outlook. I'm raring to give 'er a go, I hope you'll stay tuned.

In the meantime, this morning my daughter and her infected kidneys left before dawn for Dillon, Montana to compete in the English Regionals Horse Show. We couldn't believe the doc OK'd her to go! He said she might be a bit uncomfortable at the sitting trot. With a smile I say this - a Montana doctor probably would know just how that might feel!

Have a great weekend!