THE HOSPITAL, CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE DOCTORS TRIANGULATION

What is it about the holidays?

or just the month of December.

It has been a doozy.

And that is an understatement. There was the loss of a family member and the almost-loss of another. I sat in a hospital (which I hate) for hours on end.....for days.....until the crisis was over. Then a funeral.  That, funnily enough, made things a little bit better. While sad for the rest of us left behind, that funeral was truly a celebration of a remarkable man's life. I can only hope when it's my turn that I will be loved as much.

Then shopping for presents.

I know, I know......I could have done this all online but it seems that I'm a glutton for punishment. I just had to go to the mall. No, that's not quite the truth. I just love Nordstroms. Between Nordstroms and Costco, I'm in heaven. Actually, I admire their return policy. So, I brave all of that and start to wrap presents.

For some reason the present wrapping is worse than braving the mall.

The motions of wrapping presents seem to set me off for some reason. Maybe it's the repetitive motions.....I don't know but by the time I was done, I was done. I am now officially sick of shopping and wrapping presents. That, my friends, doesn't happen very often. 

This year has been bad.

Just bad.

I don't mean about the losses. I don't mean to minimize them...that's not my intention at all. I'm talking about the flares and the pain and the overall fatigue. It just hasn't stopped.

And I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

It's not just the fibro that's been flaring. I've got quite a few disks from "the accident" that have been acting up. Now the doctor wants to implant a neuro-stimulator that will help mask the pain. I've heard pretty good things about them. The people that do have them think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Even the shrink I had to see said they give you a new lease on life.

I know leases and the only ones who win are the landlord. 

And this little baby will surely be the one in charge.

I'm not sure I want a battery operated "thing" surgically implanted. For some reason, it is required to see a psychiatrist before you can be implanted with this device. He found me very well adjusted considering the extent of my back injuries. I mentioned the Fibro and he didn't seem to flinch. Maybe that's a good thing. Well adjusted?? I had to laugh at that one.

But therein lies my problem.

If it was just the back I'd be OK with it, but it's not. It's the Fibromyalgia that concerns me. This will set off a flare. The reason I know this is because every single time I have a procedure done, it takes me months to recover. I have no idea what kind of reaction this will set off. I get poo-pooed by the doctors but it's my body and I know it well. It may help my back but it's going to wreak havoc with the Fibromyalgia.

So what to do?

Oh......and then????

To top it all off?

I got the flu on Christmas.

Let's just add that ol' tiara!

Oh......just one more thing!

I got a flu shot this year.

Oh yeah.....that worked.

I SHOULD WORK AT COSTCO

I've said it before.

I'll say it again.

I LOVE THIS STORE!

I got hooked on Costco years ago. Even though I didn't have a large household, I'd by toilet paper, paper towels, detergent and all that kind of stuff there. I didn't even look at the other items UNTIL a woman showed me some book cases that she bought  and they were $99.99. I still have them and they're gorgeous. Ever since then, I've been a Costco junkie. Did I say junkie? It goes way beyond that.

If you ask me where I bought something, more often than not, I'm going to say Costco.

Why?

I'll tell you.

Sometimes I buy stuff and it stays in the boxes or it looks good and I don't end up using it. That's kind of what happened with my shredder. I put it in the closet in my office. Kind of an out of sight - out of mind sort of thing. When I moved it went to storage and then I set it up in my boyfriends office. The first time he went to use it after his shredder went out, mine didn't work either.

He asked the magical question.

"Where did you buy it?"

Duh...........

OK....we load it up in the car and off to Costco we go. Now, I'm really excited....I know it's dumb but it's like going to Nordstrom for me. I can always find something to buy. YAY!!

Back to the story.....

I get in the return line and I get to tell my story. "Hi, I bought this shredder and it's mostly been unused and in storage. When I plugged it in, it wouldn't work. I don't know if you can help me because I'm not sure when I bought it."

She calmly looks at me and says, "when do you think you bought it?"

I'm thinking........I'm thinking.......

"Maybe a year or two ago??"

She looks at the shredder and it is still in pristine condition.....it was really hardly ever used and she says, "let me look it up."

OK.....I'm waiting.....it's a good 4-5 minutes and she comes back.

"You bought it in 2007"

OH MY GOODNESS......I was in shock! 

"2007????? I'm so sorry! Can I just leave it up here while I shop?? Again, I'm SO SORRY!!"

Now, get this..........she looks at me quizzically and says......

"YOU DON'T WANT TO RETURN IT???????" (caps are mine)

Now, I am in shock. I said, "you're kidding, right?" 

Nope...she wasn't kidding......

She returned it and gave me the equivalent amount on a cash card and sent my beyond shocked fanny on my way. 

Do you believe that????

It cemented my belief that those stores who stand behind their products and treat their employees well will thrive. It's a basic business premise that has been forgotten by bean counters than only look at the bottom line. 

Why do I shop at Costco and Nordstrom? Because they care. They care about their customers and it shows. Plus, they sell QUALITY. 

By the way.......the meat at Costco is UNBELIEVABLE. Just get one of those little vacuum sealers and you're good to go.

Yep, I got that at Costco too!

Okay....I spend waaaay too much money there but, hey.....it's Costco!

I just had to share this story! It's too good!!!!