Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas 2006: Down in the "Dumps"

Here's my quick extended weekend update:

Friday night men's group was fulfilling as always with discussion about friends making foolish choices, how to help, what difference will it make. It was a much deeper discussion than that brief synopsis implies.

Saturday went running with the wife, spent some time catching up with Anna and her trip to the monastery in Guatemala, watched Dead Man Walking, napped, went to J&A's to visit with some old friends. Then watched Little Miss Sunshine. Good movies, good times. And then it all went downhill.

I woke up some time around 3:00 in the morning, with a crappy feeling in my stomach. So I got out of bed and took a dump, thinking this would solve the problem. Two hours later, I got up to do the same. At 7:00, I woke up for the third time and tried to poop again, but it was like water coming out. My stomach still felt terrible, so I reluctantly allowed myself to puke. I hate vomiting. But I thought for sure I would be fine after that. One hour later, I got up to dry heave. Then went back to bed and sweat for the next two hours.

I missed church, which really stinks, especially this time of year. I crawled out of bed to watch a Colts game. Big mistake (more on that later). Then felt too crappy to welcome my brother and his wife, who flew in from California for the holidays. I was miserable.

Then Christmas morning, I didn't feel a whole lot better. By this time, I had eaten half a bowl of Ramen noodles in the past 36 hours. I missed out on church again, which really is really disappointing. It's frustrating to spend 40 days preparing for something and then not being able to participate in the feast. So I took a two hour nap around 9:00, and when I woke up, I miraculously felt better. It was so weird.

So then we had Christmas with my folks and family. Lots of good food that I had to stuff into my shrunken stomach. After that, we ran over to the wife's side of the family for more food and presents. It was nice to be with all the family for Christmas. I'm trying not to take it for granted.

So that was my Christmas weekend. It's tough being back at work.

6 comments:

Luke Beecham said...

Dude, that sucks. Sorry to hear it. Sounds like Jon got the same thing, as he was miserable yesterday at the folks. Thanks be to God though that you both got and got rid of this before the wedding!

Hope you're still on the mend. Merry Christmas!

Arthur said...

Yeah, I feel sorry for Jon. Not sure if he made it in to work today. If he'll let me, I'd love to upload the picture he took of the byproduct of this illness. I'm sure you'll see it either way.

Anonymous said...

Sounds awfully similar to the food poisoning I suffered in Paris...bleh.

Arthur said...

Yikes man. I'd hate to have this while traveling. That would be a nightmare. Especially if you had to pay to use the "loo."

Anonymous said...

Fortunately, it lasted less than 24 hours and I was confined to my room which had a bathroom. A free bathroom. Just my luck, this all happened on the day everyone went to see Versailles. Oh well.

My last day there, I had to go really bad and I was out on the streets and ended up having to eat at a pizza place just so I could use their restroom. The hostess got mad at me because I did my business before ordering food.

Arthur said...

Haha. That's hilarious. Man, I keep meaning to do a post about the time I had the dumplings out in a boat in the middle of a lake. That's a classic. I'll write about it one of these days.