One Long Week ... and it's only Thursday

I guess it all started on Sunday. My throat was feeling very scratchy. I thought nothing of it and went on.

Then Monday hit. Whoa ... talk about the bottom of the barrel. I was taken out by a major headache plus the sore throat. My eyes felt like they were about to burst out of my head. I managed to get along -- although I badly needed to go home to BED -- but I took the night off work to get some rest.

Tuesday -- Jason' funeral. Troy drove up from Mitchell and we drove (along with Katie) to Marshall to attend. Although we got there an hour early, the church was already packed. We had to sit in the basement and watch two television monitors (reception was terrible), so we made-do with what we had. My sickness worsened ("oh, hell," cried Tony), and instead of driving to the cemetary near Green Valley, we drove back to Madison. Again, I took another night off work to rest.

It was on Wednesday that I found out some of the details of the funeral. It was probably the biggest media event so far of the year. Cameras from television stations were set up everywhere, representing the Twin Cities and Sioux Falls. On the Argus Leader's front page was the picture of my old DSU friends (including Josh, Chris, Rick, and Steve) carrying Jason's flag-draped casket to the hearse. Teresa stood at the top of the stairs following close behind, flanked by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and U.S. Senators Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman. A very emotional picture.

As far as my sickness goes, yesterday it got a little better, but today I'm almost there. I'm still a little stuffed up, my throat is a lot better and my headaches are gone. I've decided to work on Saturday to make up a few hours from missed work.

Eh...