Pete is the last one who is still sick around here, and even he appears to finally be on the mend. He'd been having fevers off and on for a week, and enough was enough, so on Friday I took him to the doctor's office. I was more than half hoping they'd find evidence of a bacterial infection so he could get some antibiotics and get better already. They pricked his finger to check his white blood count, which was normal, so it was the dreaded "just a virus" diagnosis. A few minutes later, however, he had a vasovagal syncope (fun to say! terrifying to witness!), which means that he turned gray, twitched, and fainted. While he and I were alone in the examining room. You can only imagine the extent of my freakout. Everyone came running and quickly assured me that they see this all the time (particularly with guys). Pete has fainted twice before (though not after finger pricks), so this appears to be one of his "things." If I continue to lose 10 years off my life each time ... well, you do the math.
But anyhow, back home, I was just wanting to be next to him (breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out), so I agreed to watch the god-awful remake of Total Recall. I don't recall (haha) too much about the original version with Ahnold and Sharon Stone, but I do remember wondering throughout what was the truth and what was the manipulated memory in the main character's brain chip. In this remake, though, you know that the whole thing is going on in real time, and that the main character is just confused. Also, it would be interesting to try to find a worse actor than Kate Beckinsale. But I got to spend 2 hours on the couch with Pete, so there's that.
Then, over the weekend, we all (sans Steph) watched Invincible, which is a terrific feel-good flick about Vince Papale, the 30-year-old bartender who tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles with no more experience than a weekly neighborhood game in a mud lot—and ended up playing three seasons for the NFL. Mark Wahlberg does a great job playing Papale, and the folks at Disney got all of the 1970s-era haircuts etc. right. Underdog stories are a dime a dozen, but this one is based on real events (albeit enhanced a bit). I don't even like or understand football, but I recommend this for a family movie night.
Meanwhile, Steph finally got to have her Sweet Sixteen party, which had been postponed when she was sick. First she and four of her friends had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (with the rest of us at a nearby table). We'd never been, and although it was fine, I won't be in any hurry to go back. (Overly ambitious menu, ridiculously huge portions, nothing bad but nothing special about the food, pricey.) They had a blast, which is what matters. Then they came back here, watched Mean Girls for the bazillionth time, and had a sleepover, followed by doughnuts in the morning. Perfect.
Karen, my son has had vaso twice--the first time he was working at a farm and passed out in the fields (on soft grass), the second time was last fall when he was now 6'3", and fell flat on his face, fracturing both his front teeth which meant double root-canals 3 weeks later and now double-crowns. It was one expensive faint! Now he knows to SIT DOWN at the first sign of light-headedness. Scary.
Posted by: amy | January 21, 2013 at 03:49 PM
I GET THAT ALL THE TIME. I mean, every time I get my finger pricked or get a scope stuck down my nose or other invasive good times.
If Eleanor has inherited that from me, I will DIE OF TERROR.
Posted by: raych | January 21, 2013 at 05:39 PM
Fainting!!!! Eegads. Hope your week gets better. Just keep thinking of how good the Fifth Grade concert was!
Posted by: Stephanie | January 21, 2013 at 07:28 PM
Hi Karen- I read and enjoy your blog all the time, but I think this time you made a mistake and I hope you'll correct it. You mistakenly said Steph was celebrating her sweet sixteen. You meant eighth birthday, right, or maybe tenth? I'll go as far as forteenth, but that's where I draw the line! (Happy Birthday to Steph! Gulp!)
Posted by: Janet | January 21, 2013 at 08:45 PM
SO sorry about the fainting. I have no experience with it at all, and I hope it stays that way.
BUT . . . hating on Kate Beckinsale? She's not my fave, but Cold Comfort Farm was a delight.
Posted by: Wendy | January 21, 2013 at 11:15 PM
Glad someone else has the same reaction to the Cheesecake Factory that I do, only was able to put it into words much better than I can. Yet my wife and girls love the place. We've been twice for birthday dinners. Ugh.
Posted by: Jonathan Arnold | January 22, 2013 at 01:15 PM