How about 5:30?

My family traditions have sort of snuck in over the years and established themselves without anyone looking. One is "It's Not Thanksgiving Till Mom Cleans the Fridge." Another is the "Christmas Day Furniture Shuffle," in which my Mom always, every year, without fail, rearranges the living room furniture after we have Christmas dinner. The week after Christmas brings "It's Not Christmas Till Somebody Loses a Gift Card" in which trash cans, bags, and gift boxes are emptied and shaken to find the $75 gift card from Grandma and Grandpa that my sister swears she put with the greeting card it came in.

The other holiday tradition, the one I don't like, is the Christmas Week Sickness. All the running around and deadlines and stuff culminate in one harried visit to the doctor's office, and usually they say "the quick test said no strep but we are going to treat it like it is." This weekend I took care of my friends kids, and on Tuesday one was at the doctor's office and came home with a diagnosis of strep. Today my throat started feeling scratchy and I feel a little warm.

So I called the doctor, and they said "How about you come in today at 5:30." I hear there is a shot I can get instead of antibiotics. Sign me up.

I'm going to try to finish up my deadlines as fast as possible and get out of here. I do not want to be sick at Christmas.