A hiccup...for perspective

At the beginning of this week, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed with to-do lists, but also excited with anticipation. We had a schedule full of fun activities for the week leading up to Christmas, including 2 class parties, a girls' night, an out-of-state friend visiting overnight, and my sister's annual Grinch-watching-gift-wrapping-par-tay.

We started off as planned: errands completed, zoo trip, class party #1, Brian's friend Joey arrived and I left them at the house for the evening while I met the girls at Cheesecake Factory. This was a special occasion because Abigail was back from Colorado and we were all anxious to hear how her new life was settling in out there. We laughed, we sympathized, and we ate. Specifically, I ate chicken enchiladas and half a piece of Hershey's chocolate cheesecake.

On the way home, Beth and I stopped at Target and I finished my Christmas shopping (one gift for Brian and stocking stuffers). I came home to find Brian, Joey, and Melanie kicking back with some beers and some laughs. We got to bed late.

And then I woke up at 4 in the morning and ran to the bathroom. It was one of those situations in which you are looking at the toilet and the trashcan and trying to decide how you're going to make this work. I usually appreciate someone holding my hair in that situation, but I told Brian to stay out. It was that bad.

Then I laid in bed and ran through all the best and worst case scenarios in my head for the week to come.

Best: it was something I ate tonight, and is therefore not contagious. I will be better by tomorrow and we will continue with all of our plans.

Worst: this is the start of The Stomach Bug that Ruins Christmas, in which we spend the next week passing it throughout the house, and I have to choose for each of our carefully laid out plans whether to give my entire family the stomach flu or miss Christmas celebrations. It took us a month to schedule the next 8 days of visits and travel in order to see everyone at Christmas, so it's not like I can just push it back a week.

I stayed in bed that morning while Brian (and Joey) stayed home from work with the kids. I felt much better by noon, so they took Katy to school and went in to the office. (Katy was late, she forgot her book-in-a-bag AND her library book. Sometimes I forget all that is involved in getting a kid to school) Mel came back and took David to Katy's class party, and Luke took the longest nap he has taken in a LONG time.

I chose not to share the news with the girls from our night out, because I decided that if the tables were turned, I'd just rather not have that paranoid thought in my head for 4 days leading up to Christmas...that there could be a small chance of catching a stomach bug. Hopefully by the time you all read this, it's been long enough that you won't be worried - love you ladies! :)

So now it's Christmas Eve, it's been over 72 hours since I was sick, and at this point it appears that we have a Best Case Scenario on our hands. *knock on wood and prayers already sent* No one else has been sick, and I read some things online that lead me to believe that it was likely the chicken enchiladas at the restaurant that made me sick.

But I don't place blame in what caused it - I really didn't mind being sick at all as long as I didn't have a nasty bug that was going to spread to the whole family and ruin Christmas! And if it did anything for our week, it helped me to slow down, appreciate the people who are here, and be SO thankful if we are able to make it Christmas morning without any further gastrointestinal incident. My mom, Greg, and Melanie are here and we're ready to party! Let's do this thing!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!