twilight flu

i've never gotten the flu shot. it's not that i have anything against the idea, and i'm in the target group even when i'm not preggie (asthmatic), it's just that i figure flu happens! but, due to the baby growing (and boy is she ever!) in the belly, my doctor stressed the importance of the vaccination. he also strongly recommends the h1n1 shot. i refuse to get that one due to the fact that it's so very new, and there haven't been any long term tests done on the pregnant ladies who have received it. there have been no studies on the effects on the children born to these women. i think that it needs more research before i allow it to be placed in my body, let alone my daughter's.

anyhow...i went to kroger 2 weeks ago to get this flu shot. there was no line, and i was thrilled! i filled out the paper, and was told it would be a 20 minute wait. so, i wondered around for a bit and came back to the window. while i was waiting,i wondered if i should tell them about the cortisone shot i had gotten that morning in my left wrist. worse case scenario, in my mind, was that they would have to give me this shot in the right arm. when i asked, the pharmacist flatly told me that he would NOT allow me to have the shot at all that day. he said that the cortisone would lower my immune system, and that the flu shot would as well. he told me to wait a week and come back. so, 30 minutes wasted, great. i went back a week later, and wouldn't you know it, they were out of shots. damnit! i've been faithfully calling them every day to ask if they had received more--no luck.

last night, i was at work and hearing stories from friends who are sick, or know someone who is and i sent a message to justin asking him to look around for other possible sites for me to get this elusive shot. he found out that the cvs near our apt was giving them out today from 3p-7p (or until they ran out).

i wondered all morning what time i should get to the cvs. i didn't want to show up too early and be leered at for wandering the aisles. i also didn't want to show up just to stand in line forever and have them run out. i went at 130p. -yes, an hour and a half before they were to pass them out. i pulled in and noticed several cars with people just hanging out in them. after a brief conversation with jus (in which i told him that i really didn't want to wait forever) i decided to go in the store to see how many people were waiting. i made my way back to the pharmacy area and saw several people. i asked if that was where we needed to wait for the shot and was told to get a number. i waited in line at the register to be given the number 22. "not too bad", i thought and i took a seat. this woman sat next to me with a tiny baby in her arms. she was young and (how should i say this nicely???) what my gran may refer to as "white trash". her baby looked underdressed and was super super cute. she was feeding her a bottle; she immediately saw my belly and apparently thought that my open book was a sign that i wanted to talk.

lady w/baby (lwb) "you should go to the hospital."

me "pardon?"

lwb- " for the shot, they'll give it to you, you know. and the h1n1 shot."

me " i don't want the h1n1 shot."

looks at me like i just said that i hoped my baby was born with 18 eyes..."you HAVE TO GET IT"

i then try to smile and pick up my book....she really must think that this is a hint to keep talking because she proceeded to tell me all about how she had only gained 10 lbs the whole time she was pregnant, how she was pissed that she couldn't go to cedar point while she was pregnant, and how she (unlike her friends, or "homies" as she called them) waited until she was at least 20 to have her baby. i gave up on my book at this point (ignoring her the whole time)and started messaging justin

m-"next to world's biggest blabbermouth"

m- "kill me"

j- :-( (he's a man of few words)

m- "this blows. shoulda pretended to be deaf. to late now damnit"

m- " she has to tell me all abt her pregnancy. already getting lectured about h1n1"

around this time, i overhear a woman telling someone that the shots are cash or check only. i ask her to make sure and then approach the pharmacist. she confirms this. damnit. i never have cash. so i go to the front of the store, and buy gum and get cash back. when i get back, not only to i have a seat still, but trashy, lecture mom is gone!!!

i sit, and sit, and sit..then we're told that we have to move the chairs we're sitting in to make space for the tables they need to set up. so preggo me is helping old farts of varied mobility move and carry chairs. they set us up in a single row going down the vitamin aisle. i find myself next to a tammy fae wannabe and an ancient man who has nose hairs that closely resemble and octopus' tentacles as they reach out to smother its prey (at least i'm guessing that that's what it would look like from the fish's point of view) nose hair likes to talk at about 100 decibels and he goes on and on about his various afflictions( 2 strokes, heart attack, bunyons and constipation), and how he can't believe how much the government charges for this shot. he also screams that anything the government touches can't be trusted, and he doesn't know why he has to get this shot anyhow...after all he made it through the asian flu.....sigh

during this time, jus and i decide (after my "this kid soooo owes me" comment) that we should start an excel spreadsheet for olivia listing all the things she "owes" us for. we decided that "giving her life" would be a freebie. we will give this list to her in her birthday card on her 18th birthday so she can start making amends.

it started to get really crowded and i dutifully noted on my facebook that it "smelled like old people and dirty diapers" in line. and it did....what a mess!!

then, in walks in a deaf guy i have interpreted for. he grabs me up in a big hug (culturally appropriate) and smashes my face into his chest hair because he has his hawaiian shirt mostly unbuttoned in true miami vice style (NOT appropriate). he's sweet, but um how do i say....he's annoying as fuck. to top it off, he knows tammy fae (they used to work together) and he quickly begins to use me as his interpreter to catch up.

i finally got my shot (after another lecture from the shot giver on why i needed to get the h1n1 shot) and got out of there at 330p. 2 freaking hours!!! i won't even stand that long in line for the new twilight movie and i love twilight!

i have to add this beauty from yesterday.......


i hadn't eaten much all day and i was starving. in the weird way of pregnancy cravings, i knew i HAD TO HAVE a meatball from marcella's. and pecorino cheese. i grabbed my book, and went to the restaurant. i got the meatball and the pecorino cheese (comes with honey and green apples YUM!!!!) i killed it (and in the meantime managed to spill honey on my belly). my hot ass waiter came over and said that he would bring my check. i had to stop him and say, "actually, i want to order more food." how horrifying! but i wasn't full! just the look he gave me screamed "moo".

and...random thought #2--

i had a dream last night that my friend was dating a large, black woman. odd since he's gay. anyhow...all i really remember about the dream was teasing him over and over about that fact that he liked "dark meat". i really think that i'm losing my mind!


ok, off to work. bye all