365 Project - Day THIRTY THREE

Thank goodness for cell phone cameras. I hate the picture quality, but they sure come in handy in a pinch.

Tonight, Jack and I went to the walk-in clinic because we both had sore throats and a mild fever. With the news these days and the swine flu pandemic hype, I guess as a mom I felt it was better to be safe than sorry? I don't know. I knew in my mom way that this wasn't the case, but there was the little devil on my shoulder screaming, "WHAT IF?" So, me, Jack and Mazie trudged our way to the clinic.

When I explained what was going on to the less-than-receptive receptionist, she damn near threw these masks at us. The look of horror on my metrosexual son's face was priceless when he discovered that he had to wear one in PUBLIC. He asked if there was a special room that we could sit in. When the not-so-charming receptionist heard us discussing the possibility of not wearing the mask, she bitterly announced that if we didn't wear it, there was a big chance that they would not allow us in a clinic. In a show of solidarity, I boldly put on my mask and then put Jack's on his face (like I learned on the airplane).

We had to sit in the waiting room for about 45 minutes and watch the newcomers to the clinic make a wide berth around us mask wearers. While we were waiting, we entertained ourselves with taking pictures and writing our names in cursive. They had taken all the magazines and papers out of the waiting area in the interest of sanitation. We were pretty bored.

When we got back to the room, we had our throats swabbed. The kids got a kick out of hearing my garbled voice when I was told to say, "Ahhhh" while I got swabbed. The doctor then came in and told us that we tested negative for strep and discussed our symptoms with him. He then examined both Jack and I more closely.

When it came time to put the tongue depresser in my mouth to look at my throat, my kids nearly passed-out from laughing hysterically. They know about my extreme aversion to anything that could pass as a popsicle stick. If I even smell the stick smell or talk about it, I break out in goosebumps and my voice becomes so strained it's hard to talk about. IKEA has a lot of items that exude that same smell, therefore making it difficult to visit that store. My kids were clapping their hands worthy of a self-stemming behavior and gleefully laughed when the doctor brought out the giant stick from hell. It was as horrible as expected.

The doctor determined that our symptoms were far from being severe. He told me that we merely had a mild cold and not to be concerned. That was good news.

I think I can still taste the stick.