The Last Holiday Of Summer...

Put up those white shoes and sundresses. Although autumn has not "officially" arrived, Labor Day is over and for most of us that marks the beginning of a new season. I never was really sure why school started before Labor Day because it is the last "official" holiday of the summer season. After Labor Day is over, THEN it is time to settle down and get back into a routine.

My Labor Day weekend for years now has always been the same. Robby is an avid golfer and he plays in the annual Deep South Four Ball tournament held at a local golf course. Now, I am not one of those golf groupies who follows the players around on the course, therefore, I usually just make a few plans for the day and then catch up with Robby for dinner in the evenings. The plans this year included taking my mother and sister to lunch on Saturday and then on for my mother to see our new baby, Parker. Although I would go on with my plans, I would end up not feeling very chipper on this last holiday of the summer.

About mid-week, my throat began feeling a little scratchy. Along with the long holiday weekend, some cooler temperatures had also blown in; the high was about 85 degrees...I know that does not seem too cool, but it was cooler than the 105 degree temperatures we had been experiencing daily. By Friday night, the scratchy throat had turned into watery eyes, runny nose and a slight cough. I knew that this was my first bout with seasonal allergies...GREAT! Determined not to allow my allergic symptoms to deter my Saturday outing, I decided to show those allergies who was BOSS! As Robby was kicked back in his recliner reading, I was "self-medicating". As I began to do this, I determined that it MIGHT be a good idea to share with someone the ingredients that I was mixing together in my quest to subdue my allergies. I interrupted Robby's reading to relay this information. "Robby, I'm going to tell you what I'm taking before I go to bed...you know...just in case." He peered at me with glazed over eyes and I suddenly felt that he was most likely the wrong person to be imparting this important information to. However, I continued..."I am taking 4 Advil, 1 Zyrtec, an antihistamine nose spray, my asthma inhaler...AND a little homemade cough concoction." This concoction consisted of a shot of whiskey, laced with lemon juice and honey. I'm not sure if this actually helps a cough, but it does burn your chest (which MUST mean it's working) and you immediately become very sleepy shortly after consuming it. After taking all of these medications, I headed off to bed.

Upon waking Saturday morning, I still was not feeling quite up to par, but continued on with my plans. I met my sister, her grand daughter and my mother for lunch at Piccadilly. This is not my favorite place to eat and I really didn't have much of an appetite, but I thought Mother might be more likely to find something she would eat there. Her present diet consists mainly of dill pickles. We're not sure why she eats so many pickles (and have even discussed this with her doctors), but I (the "food police"...that's what she calls me these days) decided she MIGHT choose some "real" food at Piccadilly. Upon finishing lunch, we headed over to see baby Parker.

Today Parker was 1 week old and although Mother was in attendance at the hospital during her birth, she had never actually seen her in person or gotten to hold her yet. I suppose I should also explain that my mother is a retired nurse. For those of you who do not have medical professionals in their families, let me embellish. There is not simple oo-ing and ahh-ing over the baby...there is an inspection to be done, along with some personal questioning. I tend to tune most of this out by babbling to anyone else who is around at the time about inane things. So...as I had predicted, once we arrived and the baby was placed in her arms, the expected conversation about bowel movements and breast feeding began...along with a good bit of eye rolling and silently mouthed OMG! from my sister and I. BUT, I had done it...allergies and all, I had accomplished my goals for the day despite feeling under the weather.

As this long Labor Day weekend came to an end, I really didn't feel as though I had accomplished much. September was here and I hadn't retrieved one fall decoration from the attic yet. I guess that will just have to be a goal for another day this week. In the meantime, "WELCOME FALL!"...and new school year...and routine...and football...and cooler weather. After all, what is there NOT to like about this time of year...after the last holiday of summer?