A bittersweet weekend

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!

Goodbye, Cancun

Luckily one of my aunts was kind enough to remind me to post this! I completely forgot! I'm blaming the pregnancy! Our last day in Cancun was very sad for me...I actually did not want to leave! We had breakfast and then went back to our room to finish packing. Unfortunately, I got sick, so pretty much Greg did the packing! Here's the picture I took of our room on the last day. Sorry, I didn't get the balloons above the bed in the picture. And I was right about that: we did get some one's left-over honeymoon suite. I know this because on the day that Randy and Shannon got married they came back to discover balloons and rose petals in their room.



I did have a small hang-up that day that kind of still irks me. I wanted to buy a couple post-cards to send to my nieces and nephews. Since I procrastinated, I could only purchase them from the hotel gift shop. They only accepted pesos and I asked how much it would be for four post-cards. They told me the amount and I went to the front desk to have my American money converted. Turns out it would have been $27 to buy four measly post-cards. So I gave up. I figured there must have been some type of communication issue, but I wasn't feeling up to going back to figure it out. Oh well.

The hotel had a van lined up to take us to the airport and we went through everything with no hold up. By this time I was ready for lunch and they happened to have a Domino's pizza restaurant there. That sounded pretty good to me, so I ordered a slice and a drink a piece for Greg and I. It was $17. Now, I'm not sure if that's just crazy airport prices, or if it confirmed that Mexico just really wasn't as cheap as I was expecting.

We finally loaded onto our plane that would take us to Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, the flight didn't seem as fast this time and I started doing my lovely sounding dry heaves. It wasn't very fun. Then, there was a slight delay in landing in Atlanta due to the weather. Once we finally landed, we were able to make it through customs without a hassle. I wish I could say the same for Randy and Shannon. They were carrying the sand that was used in their sand ceremony during the wedding and apparently the good ole' US of A doesn't appreciate people bringing foreign soil into our country! Finally, about maybe an hour (OK, it may have been less than that but I was so hungry it felt like an hour) later, everything was given the OK and we were free to go. Thankfully we had a four hour lay over, so at least it helped pass the time. From there we all went to TGIFridays to eat dinner. After that, I became real familiar with one of the restrooms...I'm sure you can figure out why. Not fun. We finally all just sat around in the waiting area near our gate and patiently (?) waited for our flight. Now, normally I wouldn't post such an unflattering picture of myself, but I think this really captures how ready Shannon and I were to get back home! (Yes, that is one of my popcorn buckets next to me!)



Eventually, we were able to load the plane and we arrived in OKC without a hitch. I think by the time we finally made it back to Granny's house it was around midnight. That's when I learned that when Greg finished packing he didn't check all of the drawers. So I had no clean underware. Let's just say the icing on the cake was getting to fall asleep in a pair of my husband's boxer briefs!

Cancun Day 4: Catamaran Excursion

On our last full day in Cancun, eleven people in our group decided to go on a catamaran excursion. I was pretty nervous about how I would do on the boat. Normally I don't have a problem with being motion sick or sea sick, but since I've been so nauseous throughout this pregnancy, I really didn't know what to expect. A lot of our friends took Dramamine, but I searched through "What To Expect When Your Expecting" along with the list my doctor gave me of approved medicines and I couldn't find any information about that particular drug. It may be safe to take, but I didn't want to risk anything. So I stuck with my prescription meds along with ginger pills and prayed for the best!

Now, for those of you who don't know me, let me tell you a few things about myself. First of all, I am in no way, shape, or form what one may call a thrill seeker. I'm very much a play it safe type of person. You'll never hear me saying something like, "I want to go skydiving!" Another thing about me is that I am scared to death of deep water. It never fails when we go to the lake, we always manage to anchor out in the middle of the water and everyone but me jumps in to cool off. I would rather sweat to death. Even if I have a life jacket on. That's just how I am. I know that this is one part about me that my husband desperately wishes he could change, but it is what it is.

I knew that we were going on a boat ride. And I knew that this boat was called a catamaran. What I didn't know was what a catamaran really was. Until we were about to board. And let me tell you, it freaked me smooth out. The best way for me to describe this "boat" is to say it has two long structures that kind of make an = sign. Those are on the outside. The inside is basically made out of trampoline material. I hate trampolines. Which meant the "safest" place for me to sit was on one of the side things. With basically nothing to hold on too. To say that I was nervous before we sat sail is putting it mildly. Luckily once we got going I relaxed when I realized we couldn't go very fast. And the beautiful turquoise water was so breath taking that it was hard for me to focus on the negative.

We "sailed" for about an hour until we reached the Isla Mujeres which is an island that I believe is East from Cancun. We made our first quick stop so we could have the opportunity to hold a one hundred pound shark and have our pictures taken with it (sorry, forgot what type of shark it was). Granted, we couldn't use our own cameras, we had to have the catamaran people take the pictures so they could in turn sell them to us. Go figure. From there they took us to another spot along the island so we could......drum roll please.....snorkel!

Now, snorkeling is something I thought I'd never do in a million years. Basically the only reason I did it is because before we even left to go to Mexico, Greg asked if I would do it if he stayed near me. I was super nervous, but also excited at the chance to see some cute fish! Of course as soon as we reached our "spot" I began getting super nervous. Then the guide asked if there was anyone on the boat who wasn't a strong swimmer. I raised my hand faster than you can imagine! They told me after I put on my flippers and life belt to join one of the guides. Since I was scared, I was one of the last to get all of my equipment on. Basically I was procrastinating. By this point most everyone had already jumped in, including my husband. Then, they told me to jump in. I had a momentary minor panic attack in which I said that I couldn't do it, and Greg morphed into an authority type figure and yelled, "Get in the water!" I almost cried. I was shaking. It was horrible. Then the guide had the bright idea for me to sit on the side of the boat and slide in. That seemed easier to me since that would put me a little closer to the water. I was just scared to death of going under water.

I took a deep breath, and slid off the boat. Luckily, I didn't go under the water! The life belt worked and I instantly felt a little bit better. Then the instructor came up beside me. He had a life ring with him that I was to hold on to the entire time, which I was so grateful for. He then demonstrated how to put the snorkel in my mouth and told me to put my head in the water. I couldn't believe how much I could see! It was incredible! And I had it pretty easy since I just held onto the life ring while someone else led me around. We were in the water for about twenty minutes, but I wish we could have continued all day!

Afterwards we got back on the catamaran and they took us to yet another spot on the island. This is where we were to get off the boat for an hour for shopping time. Unfortunately, we were all so wet, then hot, and hungry, that none of us was really in the mood to shop. We half heartedly browsed through a few stores, then went back and waited to load back on the boat. Our excursion was supposed to include lunch, but I made sure to pack snacks to have with me so I wouldn't get sick. What they didn't tell us was that they don't serve lunch until around 2:00. Everyone was starving, and although I had snacks, I was trying not to eat all of them because I knew I would need some even after lunch time. I was honestly expecting sandwiches on the boat, but they took us to yet another spot on the island where they had a delicious buffet. Afterwards we were in front of a small swim beach so we all just hung out for about an hour. Unfortunately, since my eating schedule was altered so much, I started to get sick. The boat ride back to the dock seemed to take even longer and I began dry heaving/spitting up over the side of it right about the time we pulled up to the dock.

We had to take the public bus back to the hotel. By this point I was so miserable and hungry it wasn't funny. This was probably about 6:00. Then, from where the bus dropped us off, we had a short walk back to the hotel. I was so weak I was bringing up the rear of the group, being sick the whole way. I think I pretty much freaked our friend Justin out but I was beyond the point of thinking it was funny at the time. Somehow I made it back to the hotel, ate dinner, and of course was sick for the rest of the night. We did manage to go visit some of our friends in their room for a few minutes, but for the most part we spent the evening in our room watching "Legally Blond". Complete with Spanish subtitles!

**sorry, no pictures this time! I didn't take my camera with me!**

Cancun: Day 2

Friday was our second day in Cancun. It began at the best breakfast buffet I've ever been too! They even had a fresh fruit juice bar and I went a little nuts over the fresh pineapple juice. Yummy! While we were enjoying our breakfast, a lot of our friends mentioned how uncomfortable their beds were. Greg and I were shocked. We both slept so good and literally did not want to get out of bed. Our friends thought we were crazy. (Eventually we realized that our bed had a thick pad on top of the mattresses that was not on any of our friends beds.) We also asked them what type of towel creation they had in their rooms, and again, they looked at us like we were crazy. We finally came to the conclusion that our room was some one's honeymoon suite prior to us. That explained the balloons and more than likely the "left-over" towel creation. Not that I'm complaining! In fact, when we arrived back in our room after breakfast, we had an ever cuter towel creation greeting us in our bathroom!



After breakfast most of our group decided to take a stroll over to the mall and the Mexican market which was located not too far from the hotel. What cracked me up during the entire trip was how much everyone complained about the heat and humidity. My husband included. To me, the weather just reminded me of a hot summer day in Oklahoma. And I had plenty of dresses with me so I was actually fairly comfortable. The main purchase I wanted to make in Mexico were some sarongs. I am addicted to those things! I love how I can throw one on over my bathing suit whenever we're going to the lake and I don't have to look like a complete lake bum. I was able to find some really pretty ones at the Mexican market along with a pretty "Mexican" dress. Now, one thing that I was really looking forward too was how "cheap" Mexico was supposed to be. We were able to negotiate the price slightly with the store owner, but I still didn't leave feeling as though I got the bargain of the century. Then, to rain on my parade just a little bit more, once we got back to the hotel I looked at my sarongs and realized they were made in Indonesia. So much for authenticity! The mall held a store that interested Greg. You guessed it: a Harley store! He was pretty happy to have bought a Harley t-shirt that says "Cancun, Mexico" on the back.





Around lunch time we all made our way back to the hotel and helped ourselves to the buffet. Most of the group was pretty tired this day, so Greg and I decided to lounge on the chaise lounges next to the beach. It was so peaceful and relaxing! Then, later that afternoon he and I made a visit to the spa. Our trip included a $25 spa credit per person so Greg was able to get a deep tissue massage while I enjoyed a deep cleansing facial. I can definitely get used to resort life!

After our spa time we went back to the room to get ready for dinner. I thought that our group would be going out to Senior Frogs that night so although I didn't want to put make-up on my freshly cleansed face, I did! We joined everyone in the main buffet room for dinner. Friday also happened to be Randy's birthday. We told our waiter that, and they actually brought him a birthday cake at the end of our meal! I'm tellin' ya; an all-inclusive resort is definitely the way to travel!




Prior to dinner I was marveling at the fact that I hadn't gotten sick during our vacation. Shortly after Randy's birthday cake was presented to him, I realized I needed to use the restroom. I excused myself from the table, went to the public restroom....and then it happened. Mid-pee, I suddenly had to throw up. And I had no choice. I did it in my under ware. I swear, there's never a dull moment in this pregnant girls life! By some small miracle I had the room key with me so I was able to jet straight to my room to change, and went back to the buffet without any of my friends knowing the difference! (Well, unless they read this!)

Needless to say, I was no longer in the mood to experience the Cancun night life after that, so Greg and I opted to watch the show the hotel was putting on that night. It was called "Broadway" and they showed clips from famous Broadway musicals, and then performed a dance to a song from that musical. The dancers were fantastic, and of course, I would have enjoyed it more had my back not been killing me!

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Destination: Cancun! Day 1

By some small miracle we managed to make it to Oklahoma in one piece. What I haven't mentioned to anyone is the lack of sleep I've been experiencing with this pregnancy. I'm usually up and awake for two to three hours every night. It's so annoying. Knowing that we had to wake up at 3:00 A.M. to catch our flight out of Oklahoma City didn't make me very happy. However, I managed to convince myself that I would probably be up at that time anyway. We went to bed around 9:00 P.M. and for the record, let me say that I had the best sleep in weeks on Granny's guest bed! When 3:00 rolled around, Greg had to wake me up. And, since we have the best Granny ever, she got up with us and made us bacon, eggs, and biscuits and gravy!

Now, being the planner that I am, I had it all figured out as to what outfit I would wear for my arrival in Cancun. Unfortunately, the Oklahoma weather didn't cooperate. When we left it was drizzling and freezing! A majority of our group had flown into Mexico the day before, but another couple was on our flight to Cancun so we had a great time visiting before we boarded the plane.

Remember my post about going to the Warren for our anniversary? Well, when we got there I wasn't feeling well and asked for a popcorn bucket in case I was sick. They gave me four. Apparently they really didn't want to clean up someones vomit! Those buckets have now become my security blankets. I carried one with me throughout the entire plane ride. And, miraculously, I wasn't sick on the plane. However, by the time we landed in Atlanta, I was starving and nothing sounded better than a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit from McDonalds. Now, we were supposed to have an hour layover in Atlanta, but I wasn't expecting the size of that particular airport. It was bigger than Lamar! So, to make a long story short, since I was so determined to have McDonalds, Greg and I almost missed our flight. Shyla and Justin were already waiting for us on the plane and she was a little freaked out that we were going to miss it!

The flight to Cancun felt like it only lasted thirty minutes. Having never traveled outside of the country before, I had no idea they made you fill out all kinds of forms on the plane. Then, I wanted to put on my make-up (apparently the guy next to me was absolutely fascinated by this process). Once we arrived, we went through Customs, which wasn't as bad of an experience as I was expecting. Especially since I had a carry-on bag loaded down with snack food!

Finally, we arrived to our van that would take us to the fabulous RIU Cancun Resort. The only thing the four of us wanted to do was: EAT! We attacked the first buffet we found. Once that was finished, the four of us went to Shyla and Justin's room because ours hadn't been cleaned yet. We changed into our bathing suits and went down to join everyone else in the pool.



Now, for most of the trip, the majority of our friends were content in the pool with the swim-up bar. I, on the other hand, wanted to be on the beach listening to the sound of the waves.
The nice thing was that the waiters came down to the beach as well, so I was never without my precious virgin pina colada!

Later in the afternoon Greg went to see if our room was ready. Once I realized an hour or so had passed, I decided to go check on him. Now, I already knew what our suite was supposed to look like since I had been in Shyla and Justin's room. However, when I walked into ours, there were red and white heart shaped balloons hanging beside the bed and the cutest little towel creation I had ever seen.
Greg had already unpacked and hung all my dresses up, and I was in such surprise to see the decor, I asked him, "did you plan all of this?" This is where my husband screwed up. He said, "NO!" as if it were the most ridiculous thing for me to ask him. If he was smart he would have said "Yes, dear, because you deserve the best!" Ha, ha! We all know I live in a fantasy world!

Our resort had so many buffets and in addition to those it also had a couple of restaurants that required reservations. One of which was a Japanese restaurant. Our group had already made reservations for that night but unfortunately they couldn't accommodate all sixteen of us so we went in two groups. Luckily, we went with the 6:00 P.M. group since the next dinner wasn't until 9:00 P.M.
I have always wanted to try sushi but have never known what to try. Part of our appetizer was a huge platter of about seven different types of sushi. Unfortunately, I could only try two since the others had seafood in them. Greg has continued to surprise me recently by his willingness to try new things, so he sampled each piece of sushi and actually really liked the ones with salmon and shrimp. Two years ago that would not have happened!

That night a majority of our group went out. However, we were so exhausted from our busy day that we decided to take in the Michael Jackson tribute show that our hotel was putting on. I arrived with mixed feelings. I'm a theatre and dance junkie so I was excited to watch a show, but I was afraid it was going to be cheesy. I was wrong! It was so good! We had front row seats, and I was happy to sing along with all the Michael Jackson songs I know and love. The only down fall was that my back was killing me. Afterwards we went to our suite and had the best sleep ever on the extra comfy bed!



Stay tuned for Day 2!