The Poisoning of Christmas

What is with all of the drama lately? As I write, I am struggling to breath normally and sip my Pedialyte.

It all began a dark and foggy Friday night after Christmas...at least that is the only thing I can figure out since everyone seems to think this has to be food poisoning and that is the last time I ate. Yes, it is Monday now. You would think I would be starving, but instead I tried to eat some oatmeal this morning and I feel like I just ran a marathon. I am so weak and exhausted at trying to handle a few bites of food. Jeez.

I woke up Saturday morning around maybe 6 (no chance to check the clock) and starting throwing up. This continued off and on for approximately 24 hours. The time I spent not throwing up was spent mostly passed out on the bathroom floor since I couldn't walk and it was a sure thing I would need to throw up again soon. I tried to eat 2 saltines, a few sips of water and 3 bites of bread on Saturday. None of that worked out very well. Finally at night I was able to drink about 4 oz of Gatorade and "hold it down."

Sunday morning I woke up at 5am to catch my flight home. I was feeling much better because I wasn't in the bathroom every 5 minutes, but I was so weak from not eating and still nauseous and light headed and all that. I drank some more Gatorade before the plane took off and some Gingerale once onboard. I was hanging in there when I was just sitting there, but about an hour and a half into the three hour flight I started to feel worse and tried to go to the bathroom. No one wants to really use those puke bags in the seat pocket in front of you. Can you imagine my poor seat neighbor?

Regardless, I didn't make it to the bathroom. I got right outside and they were full and I was feeling much worse, so I tried to sit on the floor in the hall (clearly I was out of it). I don't know that I made it because the next thing I remember was laying down with 2 doctors talking to me. Apparently Ray was nodding off when he heard an announcement that they needed a medic in the back. He ran to the back, knowing it was for me and saw my green socks sticking out from the back. Poor guy got a good scare. To make matters worse the flight attendant said she thought I had been out for 4 minutes and that I might have had a seizure. The doctors concluded probably no seizure because I was not confused when I woke up.

Here is where I underestimate the effect of what happened. I think, oh crap, I am just going back to my seat and trying to get some gingerale down. Instead I have to hang out in the back flight attendant compartment sipping gingerale (1 teaspoon size every 10 minutes) with the doctors and flight attendants and Ray all hovering asking me questions and taking my vitals periodically. Ray definitely upped the anti for husband-of-the-year (as if he hadn't already won after Saturday - not to mention the Peru sickness or the finger smashing! Or his general loveliness). He got me my jacket and a blanket and held my gingerale for me to sip and rubbed my back. He even stole one of the airplane bags to carry around with us the rest of the day so I was always prepared for whatever may come (or come up, if you will).

The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful - I did keep down a whole can of gingerale and 3 crackers, so I was feeling pretty impressed with myself. Unfortunately the paramedics had to come get me off the plane at the gate and do more testing and wouldn't let me get on our connecting flight.

Sidenote on the perks of passing out on the plane:
1. Ray and I got to sit together (a non-existant luxury these days on airlines)
2. Free drinks (they were charging $2 for any drink)
3. Blanket
4. Whatever I wanted from the "snack box" for free - too bad I had no appetite
5. We got to de-board before everyone else with the paramedics
6. I got wheeled around in a wheelchair for the rest of the day (this I would not really say is a perk since it sucks to be wheeled around, but when you are so weak you can't really walk it was the best luxury)

So, the paramedics told me I was severely dehydrated and should go to the hospital to get an IV. But I said that I had been drinking gingerale and keeping it down, so they said if I thought I could keep down liquids I could stay in the airport and drink and take a later flight. Tip for the severely dehydrated: no water, lots of salt and sugar liquids (broth, juice, gingerale with the bubbles stirred out, etc.) Ray alternately ran around our terminal looking for suitable goods and fawned over me while I mostly tried to suck salt off pretzels and keep juice down while laying on the airport floor until our later flight left.

Thankfully it was uneventful and short. I just kept my head on my tray the whole time and waited for it to end. After a long drawn out "getting home" process that included resting in bed for a couple of hours at the in-laws with Ray force feeding me broth and Pedialyte, we finally arrived and I crashed.

Such a short trip and so long awaited... cut short by an evil stranger that contaminated my food. Or was it me eating all that dairy? Is it possible to have such a violent reaction? I will certainly not be having dairy anytime soon, I can tell you that much. Don't even say the C-word in front of me! Maybe that will be a 2009 resolution...

Bathroom Pics!

Finally! I just took some pictures of the finished bathroom to share with you guys.

Unfortunately I did not take any pics of the Before or of Phase 1 (floor, wainscoting, toilet, sink)

You can see that the dogs helped a lot. And apparently I did nothing! :)

Surf & Turf

So, last time I wrote I mentioned that we were going to Surf & Turf for the weekend.

Here are some pics of what goes on in this mysterious hobby of Ray's... *I say that with a loving smile*

It is actually a lot of fun - we camped right on the Pacific, right in the sand! The dunes go on for miles, I have never seen anything like it.

We went out on a trail ride on Saturday and the guys rode around on the dunes the rest of the time.

Our 4-wheelin buddies Resty & Maria were there (that is Resty in the first photo) - you guys might have met them at our wedding. That is Ray climbing the rocks in the second photo. Then, of course, our little Mela below on her cushy bed in the back of the FJ!

It got so windy on Saturday that some people's tents blew away and ours got full of sand. I was freezing and miserable for a minute, but it calmed down and it was a great, relaxing weekend overall.

Speaking of getting away, only 5 short weeks until we are in Chicago! I can barely wait.

Sigh of Relief

The worst of my latest deadline is over, so I am breathing a sigh of relief. Ray and I are going away for the weekend and I think it is a good thing because I need to get away and forget about work for a bit. I am sure Ray is happy to get away, too, since he has had to do everything around the house.

We are going on this annual 4-wheeling/camping trip called Surf & Turf. I didn't go last year, but I guess we go down to Pismo Beach (south of SF, on the coast) and ride around & camp. 4-wheeling is not a passion of mine, but Ray loves it so much... I do like to do the camping part and Ray also promised we could stop at this place in San Luis Obispo that has the best fries ever. I am easy to please. Fries, a book or two, no email or phone, sounds perfect. Maybe I will even get my People mag today so I can take it with! :)

You guys really are getting the mundane, aren't you?

Rainy Day Saturday

I keep waiting for something interesting to happen so I can blog about it... nothing so far. So I will blog about all of the uninteresting.

Today it is raining in SF. Pouring at the moment. The rains started yesterday and even though I love sitting inside while it is raining, it is sad because it signals the end of our Indian Summer and the beginning of our winter (winter=rain all the time). But it might as well be raining because I have been working all day. One of my clients has their audit coming up and all of the paperwork is due this week. No one else seems to be able to do it and it is a disaster, so I have been frantically trying to clean up and prepare. It's not so bad because I have not forgotten all of the weekends and 18 hour days I worked for PwC while I was salaried - being hourly makes it so much easier to swallow!

Ray is replacing our front door lock/handle right now. His key stopped working last week, so we got another one made and it doesn't work either. The lock has always been temperamental, but last night we really couldn't unlock it for 10 minutes. In the rain. That was the last straw, so today a new lock is being installed. Oh, the charms of old houses sometimes... :)

What else is new... we found out Lisa and Drew are having a baby girl, so we are keeping the nieces and nephews ratio even at 3:3. We love other people having babies for us to play with! Speaking of... can't wait for Christmas!! It is coming quickly now that we have snuck into November. The countdown is on!

Well, I hope you guys are having a good Saturday, too. Sending love your way from the SF nest!

Peru Photo Links

In case you want to see the hundreds of Peru pics we took, here is the link to the complete collection: http://ranthonyjuachon.smugmug.com/Travel/621422

Here is a link to the "Best Of" collection if you want to save yourself a couple of hours: :) http://ranthonyjuachon.smugmug.com/gallery/6000798_fYp9d#375134571_WenH9

The Finger Finale

I haven't been sending updates on my finger because a) it is old news and b) blood and guts was more exciting than the current tedious healing process. But some people have been asking, so here it is: I went to the dr last week and he is happy with the progress. I do have a nail sort of thing growing in, but it is jagged and thick and lumpy and brownish. He said he has seen that before and he is not sure why it is growing like this, but that it should grow out normally after awhile. So, good news there. I am continuing to get more feeling back and there is no obvious deformity to the finger, so good news there also. The worst news is that it will take another 2 months for the bone to heal completely (it has already been 2 months...!) So, I am not supposed to use the finger, but I don't have to keep it in a splint. As far as actual living and using it is much better now than it has been. I can get it wet, which makes showering, washing dishes, etc, much easier. It is also getting less sensitive to touch, although it still stuns me good if I knock it accidentally. Overall a very good prognosis and I believe the excitement is over. Yay! :)

Just a thought about keeping in touch...

It is widely known how awful I am about keeping in touch. It might be my extreme introversion or my tendency to pack more into my day than I can usually accomplish. Or maybe it is just a skill I never learned and need to practice. Regardless, it breaks my heart to be so disconnected from the people I love the most. If we were close, I could stop by and catch up while helping you around the house or playing with your kid(s). All of the mundane interactions add up to knowing each other and what is going on with each others lives. From afar, every visit is more of an event and less of a true picture of our daily lives. Boo hoo. I want the boring, everyday, monotony. So, first I will share some of mine and hope others join in...