Halfway Home…

Before I get to my story it would help if you know that I’ve been sleeping on the sofa in the den while sick so I’m not back in the room with The Wife and Daniel. She said she would leave the door open so she could hear me if I needed her. So, I woke up this morning around 2:30 feeling like it would be a good time for the world to end. It was a strange combo of shaking because of chills yet feeling like my head was on fire. I tried to get up but had some trouble. Things weren’t getting any better so I figured I’d try to get The Wife to help me. I know what you’re thinking… “Greg, why didn’t you just take some medicine you big baby?” Well, I wanted to… but I didn’t know where it was (and, like I said, getting up didn’t feel like a great idea). So I yelled for her. Nothing. I tried again. Still nothing. Granted, my throat was hurting and I didn’t want to wake the girls up… so I wasn’t yelling at full strength… but still, our house isn’t THAT big. I thought she should be able to hear me. But, it seems, she couldn’t. So I tried texting her. Nothing. I don’t know why I didn’t just try calling her on her cell phone… I wasn’t really thinking straight. Anyway, I figured if the bedroom door was open then maybe I could get the dogs to come out and maybe that would wake The Wife up (allowing her to hear me yell for her). So I starting calling for Maverick and Scooby. Nothing. I whistled, I called, I said the magic word (“outside”) and there was no movement. At this point I’m starting to wonder if maybe the world has come to an end and things didn’t end well for me. I mean, there’s no way the bedroom door could be open and the dogs, MY dogs, not hear me. I mean, Maverick hears EVERYTHING and Scooby always comes to me (even when I don’t want him to… and I usually don’t want him to). So what to do? I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep but that didn’t work. I decided I would check my temperature. It was then that I learned why things weren’t going all that great for me at the moment… my temp was 104.8. I knew I would have to take matters into my own hands or my head might really catch on fire (or worse, I would suffer some sort of brain damage that would make me think that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a better song than “Free Bird”). I got up and made my way (very slowly) back to our bedroom/bathroom to see if I could find the freakin’ meds. I didn’t find them back there, but what I did find was Maverick and Scooby sound asleep. I shook both of them until they were awake and then I looked them in the eyes and said (to each one) “You are dead to me”. I was finally able to find the meds and go back to the sofa… just in time for The Wife to wake up and come check on me.

This has nothing to do with me being sick, but when I got out of the shower this morning and went into my room to get dressed Maverick came running in with a bagel in his mouth and a pissed off ewok (Susie) chasing him with a spoon.

The Wife took me to The Doctor and he pretty much said he didn’t know what was wrong. He did rule out some things, but that’s about it. He told me to stay home and rest and drink a lot of clear fluids not called water (funny, he specifically said not to drink water but said nothing about vodka. Hmm…).

A funny thing happened at The Doctor’s office. We’ve been going to The Doctor since we got married and moved to Summerville. The whole family goes to this doctor. It seems he has a relatively new nurse to his practice. I think she’s an experienced nurse… just new to his practice. Anyway, she calls me back and The Wife comes with me (Great Nana was watching the kids at home). The Wife comes with me because if people start asking me questions about what I’ve been taking or anything like that, she knows the answers better than I do. This new nurse also calls back some other person (a woman). She told us to go into this room so she could check our weight. I thought it was a little odd that she would have me and another patient in there at the same time, but whatever. So then she takes us back to the exam room and says one of you can sit on the bed and the other in the chair (I thought it was obvious that I was the patient between me and The Wife, but whatever). We then figure out she isn’t talking to me and The Wife… she’s talking to me and this other woman. We (me, The Wife, and this other woman) now have pretty odd looks on our faces that it seems the nurse is unable to see. She then starts asking why we’re here. As you can see, I don’t mind telling people what’s wrong with me… but I had ZERO interest in what was wrong with this woman. I’m sure she’s a nice lady, I just don’t care what her problems are. Someone (maybe me… maybe The Wife [who was in the hall], I don’t remember) brought up the obvious question (to everyone except the nurse)… why are me and this other woman in this room together? I think maybe The Wife asked and the nurse told her it was we (me and this woman) have the same last name. I asked her what her last name is. I don’t remember it, but I do remember it starts with a “S”. As you know, there is only one “S” in my name and it’s the very last letter. So with an increasingly irritated look on my face, I say my last name so everyone (i.e. the nurse) can hear that our last names sound nothing alike. Then the nurse says she didn’t call my name. So we have to go through the whole thing of yes she did, she just doesn’t say it the same way I do. So the other woman gladly leaves and goes to a different room (I got the feeling that she wanted to be in there with me about as much as I wanted to be in there with her) and The Wife comes in the room with me. Then the nurse comes back and starts asking questions. My throat was hurting and, like I said before, The Wife knew the answers better than I did anyway… but the nurse made a point of acting like The Wife wasn’t in the room. I came thisclose to telling her if she had a problem with The Wife being in there then we would be happy to leave and let The Doctor know why we’re leaving. I would be comfortable saying this because I know how much money we give to The Doctor each year. The funny thing is when The Doctor came in to see us, he asked The Wife as many questions as he did me. He asked me how I was feeling. When he started asking about how long the symptoms had been around and what I was taking… he was looking to her for the answers. I hope it doesn’t take long for this new nurse to get on board with how we do things.

Don’t forget, Darius Rucker will honor Pattison's Academy should he win CMT Performance of the year! This is a FAN supported contest. Click here to vote for Darius and you'll be voting for Pattison's!!

And remember the NCIS Season 8 finale is tomorrow night at 8:00pm (on CBS).

We will now continue our countdown of the I’m just sayin… Top 1,081 Songs of All Time

556 - “The Girl from Yesterday” by The Eagles

“It wasn't really sad the way they said good-bye/ Or maybe it just hurt so bad she couldn't cry/ He packed his things, walked out the door and drove away/ And she became the girl from yesterday”

555 - “I'll Take You Home” by The Drifters

“I know the way that you feel, I can understand (I'll take you home)/ Mm-mm-mm/ 'cause I had a date just like you when the dance began (I'll take you home)/ But the girl I came with just wasn't true, she's the girl who took him from you/ So you see now, I'll take you home 'cause little girl, I'm lonely, too”

554 - “Day Tripper” by The Beatles

“Got a good reason/ for taking the easy way out/ Got a good reason/ for taking the easy way out now/ She was a day tripper/ One way ticket, yeah/ It took me so long to find out/ and I found out”

553 - “Help Me, Rhonda” by The Beach Boys

“Well, Rhonda you look so fine (look so fine)/ And I know it wouldn't take much time/ For you to help me, Rhonda/ Help me get her out of my heart”

552 - “The Search Is Over” by Survivor

“Now the miles stretch out behind me/ Loves that I have lost/ Broken hearts lie victims of the game/ Then good luck it finally struck/ Like lightning from the blue/ Every highway leading me back to you”

551 - “Stuck Like Glue” by Sugarland

“There you go making my heart beat again,/ Heart beat again,/ Heart beat again/ There you go making me feel like a kid/ Won't you do it and do it one time?/ There you go pulling me right back in,/ Right back in,/ Right back in/ And I know I'm never letting this go/ I'm stuck on you/ What-oh what-oh/ Stuck like glue/ You and me baby we're stuck like glue/ What-oh what-oh/ Stuck like glue/ You and me baby we're stuck like glue”

Another MR favorite.

550 - “I Just Called To Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder

“No April rain/ No flowers bloom/ No wedding Saturday within the month of June/ But what it is, is something true/ Made up of these three words that I must say to you/ I just called to say I love you/ I just called to say how much I care/ I just called to say I love you/ And I mean it from the bottom of my heart”

A sweet song.

549 - “Oh Sherrie” by Steve Perry

“Should've been gone/ Knowing how I made you feel/ And I should've been gone/ After all your words of steel/ Oh I must have been a dreamer (dreamer I know)/ And I must've been someone else (someone else)/ And we should've been over (over now)”

The beginning of this song is what hooked me.

548 - “Tuckers Town” by Hootie and the Blowfish

“Staring back at you/ Did you see my lips/ Or were you smiling right in front of me/ Your father called my name/ Then he smiled with great relief/ 'Cause it wasn't me that you were clinging to/ He made you turn around/ You do that thing you do/ And then you laughed with me”

547 - “Rock You Like A Hurricane” by Scorpions

“Here I am, rocked you like a hurricane/ Here I am, rocked you like a hurricane/ Here I am, rocked you like a hurricane/ Here I am, rocked you like a hurricane/ Rocked you like a hurricane”

Hmm, I really thought this would be in the Top 100.

546 - “I Shot the Sheriff” by Eric Clapton

“I shot the Sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy/ I shot the Sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy/ All around in my hometown, they're trying to track me down/ They say they want to bring me in guilty/ for the killing of a deputy/ for the life of a deputy, but I say:”

545 - “Sussudio” by Phil Collins

“There's this girl that's been on my mind/ All the time, Sussudio oh oh/ Now she don't even know my name/ But I think she likes me just the same/ Sussudio oh oh”

544 - “Come Fly With Me” by Frank Sinatra

“Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away/ If you can use some exotic booze/ There's a bar in far Bombay/ Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away”

543 - “Back When I Knew It All” by Montgomery Gentry

“At the ripe ol’ age of nineteen/ I bought a short-bed pick-up-chick machine/ Life ran on beer and gasoline/ A half a lap ahead of the law/ I had a fake ID that got me into Tuffy’s/ “Love” was a word I used to get lucky/ Was a big time spender with that plastic money/ Back when I knew it all”

542 - “No Time to Kill” by Clint Black

“If we'd known ten years ago today would be ten years from now/ Would we spend tomorrow's yesterdays and make it last somehow/ Or lead the cheers in someone else's game and never learn to play/ And see the rules of thumb are all the same that measure every day/ The grass is green on both sides of the hill, there's no time to kill”

541 - “Flirtin' With Disaster” by Molly Hatchet

“I'm travelin' down the road,/ I'm flirtin' with disaster./ I've got the pedal to the floor,/ My life is running faster./ I'm out of money, I'm out of hope,/ It looks like self destruction./ Well how much more can we take,/ With all of this corruption.”

540 - “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” by Chuck Berry

“Beautiful daughter couldn't make up her mind/ Between a doctor and a lawyer man/ Her mother told her darlin' go out and find yourself/ A brown eyed handsome man/ Just like your daddy, he's a brown eyed handsome man”

539 - “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson

“Keep On With The Force Don't Stop/ Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough/ Keep On With The Force Don't Stop/ Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough/ Keep On With The Force Don't Stop/ Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough/ Keep On With The Force Don't Stop/ Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough”

538 - “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams

“Look into my eyes - you will see/ What you mean to me/ Search your heart - search your soul/ And when you find me there you'll search no more/ Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for/ You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for/ You know it's true/ Everything I do - I do it for you”

537 - “Tuesday's Gone” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

“Train roll on, on down the line, Won't you/ Please take me far, away/ Now I feel the wind blow outside my door,/ Meantime, I leave my woman at home, Lord and./ Tuesday's gone with the wind./ Oh my baby's gone with the wind./ And I don't know oh where I'm going./ I just want to be left alone./ Well, when this train ends I'll try again, alright/ I'll leave my woman at home, Lord and.”

It still kind of blows my mind that all Lynyrd Skynyrd songs aren’t in the top 100… but the votes are what they are.

536 - “When I Get Where I'm Going” by Brad Paisley with Dolly Parton

“I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy,/ and he'll match me step for step,/ and I'll tell him how I missed him,/ every minute since he left./ Then I'll hug his neck.”

535 - “The Song Remains the Same” by Led Zeppelin

“Hear my song. People won't you listen now? Sing along./ You don't know what you're missing now./ Any little song that you know/ Everything that's small has to grow./ And it has to grow!”

The thing I said about Lynyrd Skynyrd songs could also be said for Led Zeppelin songs.

534 - “Without Love” by Bon Jovi

“I see my life/ There's some things I took for granted/ Love's passed me by/ So many second chances/ I was afraid/ But I won't be afraid no more”

533 - “Anything But Mine” by Kenny Chesney

“There’s a local band playing at the sea side pavilion/ And I got just enough cash to get us in/ And as we are dancing Mary’s wrapping her arms around me/ And I can feel the sting of summer on my skin/ In the midst of the music I tell her I love her,/ We both laugh cause we know it isn’t true/ But Mary there's a summer drawing to an end tonight/ And there's so much that I long to do to you”

532 - “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down

“I took a walk around the world/ To ease my troubled mind/ I left my body laying somewhere/ In the sands of time/ But I watched the world float/ To the dark side of the moon”

531 - “Any Way You Want It” by Journey

“Any way you want it/ That's the way you need it/ Any way you want it/ She loves to laugh/ She loves to sing/ She does everything/ She loves to move/ She loves to groove/ She loves the lovin' things”

530 - “Wild-Eyed Southern Boys” by .38 Special

“It’s a hot night at the juke joint/ And the bands pumpin rhythm and blues/ Gonna spill a little rock and roll blood tonight/ Gonna make some front page news/ And the ladies hate the violence/ Still they never seem to look away”

529 - “Janie's Got a Gun” by Aerosmith

“What did her daddy do?/ What did he put you through?/ They say when Janie was arrested/ They found him underneath a train/ But man, he had it comin'/ Now that Janie got a gun/ She ain't never gonna be the same”

The video for this song was great.

528 - “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel

“I'm gonna try for an uptown girl/ She's been living in her white bread world/ As long as anyone with hot blood can/ And now she's looking for a downtown man/ That's what I am/ And when she knows what/ She wants from her time/ And when she wakes up/ And makes up her mind”

I remember exercising to this song during PE in the 1st grade.

527 - “Lay Your Hands on Me” by Bon Jovi

“I'm a fighter, I'm a poet, I'm a preacher/ I've been to school and baby, I've been the teacher/ If you show me how to get up off the ground/ I can show you how to fly and never ever come back down”

526 - “It Never Woulda Worked Out Anyway” by Brad Paisley

“Like the time I told that lawyer that you spent a year in jail/ And the salesman you were seein' you hang out at cheap motels/ Even if I am responsible for scaring them away/ You really ought to thank me, I was doin' you a favor/ 'Cause it never woulda worked out anyway”

Very funny song.

525 - “Alright” by Darius Rucker

“Don't need no five star reservations/ I've got spaghetti and a cheap bottle of wine/ Don't need no concert in the city/ I've got a stereo and the best of Patsy Cline/ Ain't got no caviar no Dom Perignon/ But as far as I can see, I've got everything I want”

524 - “Jack Daniels If You Please” by David Allan Coe

“Jack Daniels if you please/ Knock me to my knees/ You’re the only friend/ There has ever been/ That didn’t do me wrong/ Jack Daniels if you please/ Knock me to my knees/ You can kill this pain/ That’s driving me insane/ Since my Baby’s gone”

I’ve been there before…

523 - “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John

“Hey kids, shake it loose together/ The spotlight's hitting something/ That's been known to change the weather/ We'll kill the fatted calf tonight/ So stick around/ You're gonna hear electric music/ Solid walls of sound”

522 - “Some Kind of Wonderful” by Grand Funk Railroad

“I don't need a whole lots of money,/ I don't need a big fine car./ I got everything that a man could want,/ I got more than I could ask for./ I don't have to run around,/ I don't have to stay out all night./ 'Cause I got me a sweet ... a sweet, lovin' woman,/ And she knows just how to treat me right.”

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Quartermaster James Brown (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 4, 1863 on board the USS Albatross. His citation reads:

Served on board the U.S.S. Albatross during action against Fort De Russy in the Red River Area on 4 May 1863. After the steering wheel and wheel ropes had been shot away by rebel fire, Brown stood on the gun platform of the quarterdeck, exposing himself to a close fire of musketry from the shore, and rendered invaluable assistance by his expert management of the relieving tackles in extricating the vessel from a perilous position, and thereby aided in the capture of Fort De Russy's heavyworks.

Sergeant James Brown (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on August 27, 1872 at Davidson Canyon near Camp Crittenden, Arizona. His citation reads:

In command of a detachment of 4 men defeated a superior force.

Captain Jeremiah Z. Brown (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 27, 1864 at Petersburg, Virginia. His citation reads:

With 100 selected volunteers, assaulted and captured the works of the enemy, together with a number of officers and men.