I had been looking forward to last weekend for several weeks now. Our good friends Corey and Christina were driving down from Colorado to meet us at our lake house. Greg took Thursday and Monday off so we could enjoy a long weekend with them. Items on the agenda included fishing, boat trips, hanging out on the beach, the amazing catfish buffet restaurant we all love, the Sand Bass festival, and a few adult beverages along the way.
However, things didn't turn out as expected. On Wednesday afternoon Parker threw up his snack. He then proceeded to throw up his dinner and his bedtime cup of milk. It was stressing me out and next thing I knew I was throwing up. And, I also had diarrhea (gross, I know). I assumed it was just because I was worried about Parker and left it at that. I fell asleep on the couch (Greg put Parker down to bed for the first time ever) and was miserable. I was freezing cold, yet I wasn't running a fever. Eventually I dozed off, but would wake up hot and just couldn't get comfortable. Around 3 A.M. Parker woke up crying and hungry. As much as I was afraid to give him milk I did just that. Seconds after he had a sip he snuggled in my arms and was trying to fall back asleep. That's when it hit me all of a sudden. I broke out in a sweat and I thought I was going to poo my pants (gross, I know. I'm sorry for being so disgusting). I yelled out for Greg and told him he needed to help me and to take Parker. As soon as he did I took off for the bathroom. That's when I began to feel dizzy. I stumbled to the bathroom like a drunk person and tried unsuccessfully to sit down on the toilet. I knew something was wrong with me when I was too dizzy to sit down where I kept aiming for. I finally made it to the toilet and I remember thinking that I was going to die. I remembered praying for God to help me and that I couldn't die for Parker's sake. (Yes, maybe I was being a drama queen). The next thing I knew Greg was placing a wet shirt on my forehead. I say "the next thing I knew" because I passed out and apparently I was yelling for Greg to take me to the hospital and he got in the bathroom just in time to see me have a vacant stare, my eyes to roll back in my head, and for me to slump over and hit my head on the sink. I'm sure it was a scary sight for Greg. As I sat there I still didn't feel quite right and knew that there was something wrong. Since I'm the type of person who always daydreams and over-thinks things I instantly thought I had some form of cancer and envisioned tons of CAT scans and MRI's and doctors telling me I would only have two months to live. Needless to say, we loaded Parker up and off we went to the ER. No, I don't have cancer, and as far as my health is concerned I'm pretty sure I'm A-OK. Apparently I was dehydrated. 4 IV's, a liquid breakfast, and a nasty lunch that I didn't upchuck, later I was able to go home. I still felt weak and tired but we decided to go to the lake anyway. I had asked the nurse if I was contagious and she said no. Corey and Christina were leaving that morning and they had decided to chance it and head South anyway so we hoped everything would be OK the next day. Parker had no other problems and held all his food down that Thursday.
We roll into "town" at the lake several hours later and stopped at a gas station to grab a bite to eat. (That's a lake community for ya!) Their kitchen was closed so we had to go someplace else. When we got back in the truck Greg said, "I've got bad news. When I got out of the truck I felt really dizzy." My response was, "Uh-oh" (proof that I spend all day with a toddler). I hoped maybe he would feel better after he ate since my husband is hypoglycemic. Unfortunately, I thought wrong. By 10 that night Greg was throwing up and had diarrhea. I was still exhausted from my day so we all went to bed fairly early that night.
On Friday Greg still felt bad and spent all day in bed. I was feeling a little bit better so Corey, Christina, Parker and I ventured down to the beach that afternoon. I made a lasagna for dinner and by the time it was ready Greg was feeling a little bit better. He noticed that Eric, the guy who lives behind us, was home so he said we should invite him over for dinner. We told him we had both been sick so he said he wouldn't stay long and that he would wash his hands. At this point Greg was feeling good enough to plan a fishing trip for the next morning. We had other friends who were showing up at our place later that night, Mike and John. I asked Greg if we should tell them not to come since we had been sick but he said, "Nah". (Typical guy for ya). Since they planned on getting up at 4 in the morning to begin fishing we all went to bed early again.
Parker and I stay at home while everyone fishes, it's just too much for me to force a toddler to tag around for an activity I don't really enjoy anyway. So, imagine my surprise when at 9:00 A.M., Corey and Christina pull into the driveway. Apparently Corey suddenly broke out into a sweat and began feeling dizzy and nauseous, and Christina wasn't feeling very well either. Within an hour Corey was throwing up and later that day Christina had as well. They spent all day closed off in the guest room and I felt horrible. So much for me not being contagious. In fact, as horrible as this sounds, later that afternoon Greg, John, Mike, and myself were sitting at the kitchen table. Corey walked out of the room and we all took one look at him and started laughing. Greg said he wished he had a camera so he could take a picture of him so later Corey could see it to see just how bad he looked. I feel bad for laughing but, well, he looked like crap. Again, I felt horrible.
That evening was
The Sandbass Festival in Madill. One of my favorite bands was performing,
Steel Magnolia. Originally I was going to ask my mom to come down and babysit Parker so we could have a night out with our friends. However, I quickly decided that my mom didn't need to catch whatever bug I had and decided Parker could tough it out and go with us! After all, a late bed time never killed anyone! ;) We left Corey and Christina at the house and Greg, Parker, John, Mike, and myself headed into town. The festival had several booths to check out and even this cool beaver!
Now, one of my weaknesses is fair food. I had full intentions of scarfing down something utterly unhealthy. But, since being sick, I still didn't have my appetite back. I didn't eat a single thing, which I guess is for the best. Eventually Steel Magnolia took the stage and they rocked!!! I'm not the biggest country fan, but they have that "newer" country sound to them. They actually won the reality show "Can You Duet" that Greg and I watched. I was so happy when they won and was excited to get to watch them in concert. The bonus was that the concert was FREE! Unfortunately an hour and a half into the show Parker just got to be too much to handle and we left before they finished their set. Luckily I got to hear them perform the few songs that I know, so I was happy.
The following day was Sunday and since Corey and Christina were feeling better that whole crew went fishing again. They came back around lunchtime and we made plans to go out to eat that evening because Christina had "cabin fever". I can't say that I blame her! Mike and John were leaving that afternoon, so we made plans for the 5 of us to take the boat to a marina where you could eat. We ventured by boat over to Lowe's High Point Marina. I had never been there before, and it was awesome! There is a yacht club there, and boat slips full of huge, beautiful boats. The restaurant was on a dock overlooking the water and featured yummy food and a full service bar. I couldn't believe Greg and I had never been there before, but am now looking forward to going back for years to come. Parker was so good on the boat ride there (probably because he was sleepy and hungry) but not so good on the ride back. As in, he only wanted dada to hold him and had a fit if anyone else did. We capped the night off with a few smores back at our place, and then off to bed.
The following day was Monday and it was spent relaxing and then cleaning (Me, wishing I had Lysol spray and that it wasn't so stifling hot outside so I could have opened the windows to let out all those germs!) Sadly we found out that our neighbor, Eric, got sick as well. It just blew my mind how quickly something like that spread. However, here's the kicker. I kept waiting to hear that Mike and John got sick after they left. Go figure, they smoke like chimneys and drink almost a 12 pack of Coke a day, and neither of them got sick. Figures!
Now you know why I had a bittersweet weekend. It was sweet because our friends came down to see us. Yet, it was bitter because we all got sick!
