Happy Halloween!

Well, I made it through my birthday lunch on Wednesday, but ended up seeing the doc yesterday. All symptoms indicate strep throat. Test results won't be in for 48 hours, but I started antibiotics last night.

I sure hope things improve by this evening. The pain is horrible and much worse at night when I go horizontal. It's been a week since I've had a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately, if it is strep throat, I've been contagious for days. I feel badly about that, but I kept expecting the sore throat to develop into a typical upper-respiratory infection not be diagnosed as a bacterial infection.

I just read it can take 24-36 hours of being on antibiotics to start feeling better. I'm praying for noticeable relief by tonight. I hope to use my extra hour this weekend to catch up on much needed sleep.

I did watch Jonah yesterday and we managed to make cupcakes, which is a Halloween tradition for our family. BTW, he's still not 100% after coming down with a fever two weeks ago. Fun times.

Battling a Cold

Both grandsons were sick last week, so guess who's sick this week? Yep, no matter how careful I am, I always get what the boys get. They just love sharing!

It's one of those illnesses that's worse when I lie down and takes being upright for a few hours before having any energy. I've been taking Zicam for two days and believe it's helping. I think I'd be much worse if not for the zinc.

Whether or not I'm 100%, however, I'm determined to be well enough for lunch with a girlfriend tomorrow. We have a lot of catching up to do, and it's my birthday. We're going to one of my favorite restaurants – Brio Tuscan Grille. Fingers crossed!

Beating Kohl's at Their Own Game

I used to shop at Kohl's often, lured in by their seemingly incredible sales and promotions. But, in the last couple of years, I've only been a handful of times. In addition to curtailing my spending, I just got bored with what Kohl's had to offer.

Nevertheless, as a Kohl's credit-card holder, every year I get a $10 gift card for my birthday, which I make sure to always use. So today, armed with my gift card, a 30%-off my entire purchase coupon, and another coupon for $10 off a toy purchase of at least $50, a shopping I went.

Years ago, I spent at least $80 whenever I had a 30%-off coupon, wondering how in the world that happened when everything was on sale or clearance and further reduced by 30%. But not today. Today I got a $79.99 Thomas the Tank Engine set (sale price $52.49), a pair of $40 workout capris (sale price $21.99), and two $8.99 ornaments (sale price $4.49 each) for the grand total of $48.13, including tax. Bam!

It felt great saving money and not buying anything I didn't need. But, better yet, with today's purchases I finished my Christmas shopping, which beats my record by five weeks. Bam! Bam!

Cherokee, NC

On Friday, October 17, we had lunch in Cherokee, NC before exploring a small section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was fun to find these life-size bears scattered throughout the town. I've since read there are 25 in total, each decorated by a different artist.

Trip Videos

I'm clearly not good at making videos, but hopefully these give an idea of the wonders of the Great Smoky Mountains we were fortunate to experience:

Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains Stream

Trail to Rainbow Falls, Great Smoky Mountains

Trail to Rainbow Falls, Great Smoky Mountains (2 of 2)

Safely Home

We're safely home after a week of driving and hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was a great trip and I'll share more, hopefully, this week.

Ranger guided hike to Cataract Falls.

Part of the trail to Rainbow Falls.

Many many photo ops in the beautiful Smokies.
(Love that I can still squat!)

Captured at the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Busy Weekend

Saturday we went to the Best of Missouri Market at the Missouri Botanical Garden with my daughter's family. It's been an annual event for us for several years. The weather was sunny and cool, which I absolutely loved. We sampled a lot of good food and, as usual, the boys enjoyed all the kid activities. Plus, as a bonus this year, I snagged a number of half-priced Lego stocking stuffers in the gift shop.

Jonah was very proud of the pumpkin
he picked out and decorated.

After the Market we picked up hubby's new iPhone at Verizon, which I had been dreading. It's amazing to me how clueless he is about technology despite using it all day every day. I had to do all the talking because he had no idea what the sales clerk was asking. The kicker was when he asked me what his Apple ID and password were!

When we got home, I connected the new phone to our WiFi and went through the setup process. All seemed well until Sunday when a message appeared saying the phone wasn't activated. At that point, I strongly suggested he go back to Verizon and get it fixed, and didn't offer to go with him. He simply has to work harder at keeping up with basic technology. If I have to explain one more time what IOS 8 is I'm going to scream!

Verizon had no idea how they didn't properly activate the phone the day before. But it seems to be working now. Best of all, hubby shouldn't need another new phone for at least two years.

On Sunday we went to California Pizza Kitchen to use my birthday award, $10 off $40 worth of food plus a free dessert. In addition to our entrees (California Club sandwich for hubby; Chicken Piccata for me), we shared a Caramelized Peach Salad and a piece of Pumpkin Cheesecake. Everything was delicious, but we had to take home half of each entree. Hubby had his leftovers for dinner last night. Tonight, along with leftover home-roasted vegetables, we'll share my leftovers. Thank you CPK for five great meals with no kitchen clean-up for the birthday girl!