Sinus Siren

Day 192

I wake up with a raging sinus headache.  One where you want to turn off all the lights, crawl back into bed and forget that you have hungry children who want breakfast.

“You look terrible,” my husband says in lieu of good morning.  I grunt. 

“I’m going to the store to get lunch stuff, then I’m going back to bed.”  It’s my way of pushing away some of the guilt of passing off parenting to my husband until I feel better.  At least they’ll have lunchmeat and apples. 

I walk into Kroger with one goal: get what I need and get out.  My eyes feel squinty and the pain in my temple is spreading across my forehead. 

A friend’s husband comes around the corner of Aisle 6 with a panicky look on his face. 

“Oh, good,” he starts.  “I thought that was you.  Can you help me?”  I attempt to smile but it comes across as a grimace.  My head is screaming. 

“What are you looking for?”  I ask. 

He’s a dad on a mission to find soccer snacks pronto and is having difficulty navigating the new layout of the grocery store. 

“Let’s check down the cereal aisle.  I think that’s where the granola bars are,” I say.

His blank look says, “Cereal aisle?”

“This way.”  I turn my cart and roll it towards the snacks. 

“And kids will eat these?”  He asks picking up a box. 

“Not those,” I steer him away from the raisin bars.  “I’d stick to these.”  He picks up three boxes of chocolate chip. 

“Drinks?  Do you need drinks?” 

“In the car!  Thanks!”  And with that he turns and dashes towards the check out. 

And I hobble towards the lunchmeat.