Yes, take as many as you like. Steam is good.

Absolutely rest and stay in bed. Sleep until you feel like you don't want to sleep anymore.

Those coughing jags create a lot of inflammation in your airways, which then triggers more coughing, which triggers more inflammation, etc. So the cough medicine helps to stop that runaway train. I hope you know I am not trying to scold you. Whenever I've tried to "power through" a bout of bronchitis, it takes twice as long to get over it. When I am really careful at following directions, I am feeling better much quicker. If you follow the doctor's directions explicitly, you *should* feel vastly improved by Monday. You won't be 100% back to normal for a few weeks; the cough takes up to 6 weeks to completely resolve. But you *should* feel dramatically better by Monday *if* you follow directions. Edited to add: For what it's worth, my husband has to nag me to see the doctor when I have bronchitis. Even though I *know* I need medical care, some part of my brain is like "nah...I've got this", and hubs has to kind of guilt and nag me into going.

When kiddo was early elementary, about once a week. Now that he's 10, I am having him shower about 3 times a week and plan to ramp that up to daily over the next few months. He's not especially dirty, but puberty is juuuuuuuust beginning and sometimes his hair looks really greasy or his feet stink. So, more showers needed!

You have to take the cough medicine as directed, not just at night. The "junk" may simply be mucus from inflammation caused by coughing. If there is crud to cough up, your doctor would prescribe a cough medicine with an expectorant in it, which would help loosen that crud and allow you to cough it up. But your coughing doesn't sound like a "real" productive cough. If you are gagging and wretching from the forcefulness of the coughing, then that reaction needs to be shut down so your body can heal the inflammation that is running amok in your lungs and bronchi. Also, if you are coughing that hard, you can end up pulling a muscle in your rib cage, which will make simply breathing extremely painful. I've done that. It's terrible. Like, kind of frightening-should-I-go-to-the-hospital-because-I-can't-breathe type terrible. Take the medicine, as prescribed. All of it. You will not get better faster by following the doctor's instructions only-sometimes. The FASTEST way to getting better, in my experience, (bronchitis twice a year, every year for nearly 30 years, until I moved to a different climate), is to follow the doctor's instructions meticulously, even if you think you don't need to.

Ahhhh! I have been puzzled about the spoons thing for years. I understand the point that "spoonies" (that name makes me cringe) are trying to make, as I am technically a "spoonie" (urgh) myself, but...spoons are not a form of emotional currency! Just whyyyyy....

I have a difficult and weird relationship with my parents, too. I'm sorry. I don't think I would text an apology for talking "too long". Dad is a big boy and if he didn't want to linger on the phone, he could have said something like "I'm sorry to cut you short, but I need to get going. So I am picking up kiddo at X time at Y location, correct?" He didn't really give you any indication until the very end that he wasn't happy with the call, so I don't think you should apologize. You aren't a mind reader and you aren't responsible for managing his feelings. If it was me, I'd text or call him and say "So, when we hung up, I heard you swear and mom ask what I was talking about? Was something wrong?", and see what he says. He'll either offer up a reasonable explanation like "Yes, I spilled coffee on myself and your mom mistakenly thought I was reacting to you", or he'll get defensive and try to shift some blame on to you, like you are the jerk in the situation. If he tries to shift blame on to you, you'll have to think really hard about where to go next with the relationship. Was it a misunderstanding, or a symptom of a chronic problem? If it's a chronic problem, what are the odds of fixing it? Or is it better to disengage a little and expect less of them? It's a tough spot to be. I'm sorry.

No one is going to think you are irresponsible or lazy when they hear that you were out with bronchitis. They are going to think "Oh wow, that's awful. I hope she feels better quickly, because bronchitis is the worst!" You aren't being melodramatic. Bronchitis is serious. Please stop trying to prove that you can get up and do things. Just sleep! Drink fluids. Use the inhaler. If you do all those things, you'll feel a heck of a lot better by Monday.

Kiddo puts his stuff away and some household things away. I put DH's stuff away and my stuff away. I fold zero underwear. It all gets tossed into the drawer, willy-nilly.

Yes. It is under "Buyer/Bidder Management". https://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/biddermanagement.html

Do not go to the Y. If this is caused by a virus, you are potentially spreading that virus to other people who would use the sauna. You need to rest. That's the fastest way to get over bronchitis, (but there's really no quickie cure for it). I get bronchitis often, (at least once a year), and feel worn out for 3-6 weeks. I usually get the albuterol inhaler, a cough suppressant, antibiotics, and a steroid inhaler from my doctor. I rest and drink a lot of lemon water to thin the mucus. The antibiotics are a protective measure since my immune system is already weakened by the illness and then I'm getting steroids on top of that.

One word response to people like that: *pause* "Wow." *long stare*, and then you walk away. They'll stew about it for days, and it let's eeeeeeeverybody that witnessed the scene know dude was a jerk and you know it too.

I have a bright, quirky 10-year-old. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me if he has autism because he didn't behave in the way they felt 10-year-old boys should behave. I get asked this all.the.time. and when I say "No, he is not autistic", the person asking this rude question then says "Have you had him tested?". And I say "Yes, I have". "Well, was it by a regular pediatrician or a specialist?" "A dev. ped. tested him". "Well, how long ago was it? Because now that he's older, you might get a different result from the testing, you know these tests are never very accurate when the kids are so young..." "He doesn't have autism. He was identified as gifted." "Well, every child is gifted in their own way. Besides, giftedness is usually part of autism blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I-watched-Rainman-once-so-now-I'm-an-authority-on-autism". This conversation happens at LEAST once a year, with all different people. For what it's worth, I clenched and shook my fists in excitement when I found out a Chik fil A was coming to my town. I am 46 and don't have autism, lol.

I'm not sure I'll follow along exactly with this challenge, but I've always meant to read all of Christie's Poirot stories in order. If my user name doesn't give it away, I'm a big fan of the Belgian detective and his assistant. Though I will watch the John Malkovich version, David Suchet will always be Poirot for me.

I went to an estate sale/auction at a hoarder house once. It was emotionally overwhelming for everyone there. Everyone was angry and stressed, even the auctioneers who were very experienced professionals. I will never, ever go to another sale like that! What the tv shows can't show you is the smell that comes with a hoarder house. Years and years of rotting paper, mold, rodent pee, and more rot rot rot. Never again.

I was deep in denial about Celiac and gluten being problematic because my symptoms were not anything I associated with Celiac. Yet every time I eat anything with gluten, all those really awful symptoms come roaring back. It's just better to stay away from it. I feel so much better when I do! Did you have endoscopy done or other testing for Celiac?

The combination of burning mouth, b12 deficiency, and joint pain made me think Celiac. Those were some of my not-obvious signs of Celiac.

I like this: https://www.sephora.com/product/sugar-lip-treatment-spf-15-P57002?skuId=683847 The price is a little bold, but it lasts a very long time. I get the untinted.

This is what my family considers "normal", too. Cocktail hour and hor d'ouevres, catered, sit down dinner, professionally made cake, formal photographs, professional flower arrangements, multiple bridesmaids, expensive hotel or country club venue. I just got an invite to a cousin's wedding. Fancy D.C. area venue and the hotel rooms start at $225 a night. After adding up all the costs to go to this, it would be over $2,000 for us to go. No thanks! And this isn't even the wedding! It's just the stateside reception because the couple is marrying in another country.

1st wedding: Dad and overbearing stepmother insisted that the only way to be officially and appropriately wedded was via big, fancy, New York country club wedding. I was very young and very under their thumb and agreed to all sorts of things I never should have. The wedding cost between $20,000 and $25,000 by my estimation, about 22 years ago. I paid $5,000 of that, and overbearing stepmother still sniffed that things weren't fancy enough and everything was Simply.Wrong.Because.Reasons. There was a lot of drama and I'm too embarrassed to admit to some of what I was coerced into. It was a belittling experience. 2nd wedding: I briefly discussed getting remarried with my dad, half-siblings, and stepmother. DH and I had been living together and had DS by then, and all of the financial/insurance hold-ups to marriage had been resolved, (don't ask; not up for discussion). I didn't want a big wedding but thought it would be nice to have everyone come over and then go out to dinner. The extended family tried to turn everything into a 3 ring circus again, insisting that what I wanted was not possible, couldn't be done, would bring shame to the family (???), and then proceeded to treat it all like a joke and said they'd show up wearing grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts if I insisted on having a "backyard" wedding. So they got disinvited, and DH and I got married in our living room by Reverand Kevin from Rev-On-the-Run, and then we went out for a really nice dinner with our son. I don't remember the cost, but including our dinner, it could not have been more than $300.

I have an online business which ramps up during the holidays. I like the idea of shifting some of the prep-work for Christmas to an earlier point in the year, so I don't run around like a nut during the actual holiday season. I want the maximum amount of room in the holiday season for FUN for all of us, including me! Buying gifts early for my kiddo or husband won't work for us, because we all have summer birthdays so any great gift ideas get used up mid-year. But I can definitely come up with a more mindful gift budget for the extended family. Since my in-laws are quantity vs quality type people, I can probably tuck things aside all year long as I find good deals. They don't seem to care what they receive as long as there's a lot of it. 😕 But things like tidying up the ornaments? Started doing that today! I also saved all the gift bags from Amazon this year, to make "wrapping" gifts quick next year (no expense and no waste!). My cards are pre-addressed and ready for next year, plus while I was addressing them, I sat down and wrote out some cards for elderly relatives that live far away to send this month and next month. My resolution this year is to send all of them a card every month, so they know I am thinking of them. I am really terrible about sending letters and cards, and while it is maybe a little assembly-line to write them out now, it's a heck of a lot better than the hastily-written-or-not-written-at-all thing that I've got going on now, lol!

We decide together. If DH feels really strongly that something needs to go in certain place and I feel very strongly that he is wrong, we'll live with it his way for awhile. Then we try my way, and what do you know, he agrees that I am right! 😉

Oh yuck! I was at the park with a friend and her young child. The child was standing near the public bathroom/pavilion next to a trash can. I looked up to see the child lick the wall, and I yelled out "Omg XXX, do NOT lick that!!!" Just, whyyyyyyyyy....*shudder*

I don't think you are overthinking it! I'd probably go through some crazy maneuvers to retrieve something important, like my keys, without having to really dig into the gross bathroom trash.

Pretending needles aren't an issue, I still won't reach my hand in the trash because of things like poo-filled diapers and snot-filled kleenex. This is how people get sick. If the can is barfing out paper towels, I go to the service desk and tell them the bathroom needs attention.