Monday, December 2, 2013

Vomitorium

I’ve been MIA for the past few days. Do you ever just not feel motivated to write? I think it has something to do with the whole family (with the exception of me) coming down with some hashtag gross stomach bug, pretty much all at once. Emma 7:00 p.m…..Sam 12:30 a.m….Ken 5:00 a.m….I almost thought it was food poisoning, but we all ate the same thing and I was fine (and we all know my stomach is wimpy as hell).

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Calm before the storm

It happened the night after Thanksgiving. Suffice it to say it is a good thing we have four bathrooms. This was the kind of illness where the body simultaneously explodes from both ends, which makes things interesting. Poor Emma had never been through those kinds of explosions before and I think she has a bit of PTSD from the whole experience. As do I. Pathetic family of mine. They suffered!

This is what the last three days have entailed for me:

  • Lysol (basically chasing everyone around with it)
  • Buying ginger ale
  • Buying orange Gatorade
  • Earplugs (for me because I cannot stand the sound of someone getting sick)
  • Making toast
  • Tums (not sure why, they never work anyway)
  • 4 Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel (wonderful acting!)
  • 1 book read (The Art of Racing in the Rain)
  • 2 runs (on the road, not on the toilet)
  • 1 bike ride
  • Watching the Broncos beat the Chiefs (and seeing Knowshon Moreno’s superhuman tear ducts – WHAT? See here. I honestly had no idea a human could literally cry a faucet)
  • 6 walks with Heidi (I kept thinking the fresh air would keep me healthy. It’s working so far, knock on wood)
  • Wine
  • Home made macaroni and cheese (which no one ate but me)
  • A large batch of Creamy Chicken Vegetable Soup (recipe HERE, really good)

While they all felt like crap, I basically ate and drank a lot. It was my own little party.

My favorite quote from the weekend: Emma said, “Well, I guess we won’t be able to eat frozen pizza and sautéed spinach again for a long time. What will we do on Friday nights?”

Once again I am grateful for my friend, running, who made me feel a bit sane during stomach-flu hell. I am convinced there is very little that running cannot make better, or at least manageable.

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Anyone sick at your house?

Would you rather be mildly sick with a cold for two weeks or have a violent stomach bug for 12 hours? I’ll take the cold. Vomit and I don’t mix #emetophobia

What’s the best book you’ve read lately? I really liked The Art of Racing in the Rain (and I just happened to finish it on the one year anniversary of Lucky’s death. Weird). I’ve got a few others I’m wanting to read now – The Orphan Train, Me Before You, Life After Life, The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

SUAR

39 comments:

  1. Oh Lordy knocking on wood and hoping everyone feels better soon! The Art of Racing in the Rain was good! Orphan Train is good! Haven't read the others but let us know how they are! Don't know why I'm ending everything with an exclamation mark!

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  2. I'm so with you on the cold for 2 weeks over a vomit bug. I hate sick. I hate being sick and I hate dealing with vomitty people. Kids are sick? I get hubby to deal with them. I'll hold my breath and strip and remake beds. Don't get the vomitter anywhere near me!

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  3. I'm so with you on the cold for 2 weeks over a vomit bug. I hate sick. I hate being sick and I hate dealing with vomitty people. Kids are sick? I get hubby to deal with them. I'll hold my breath and strip and remake beds. Don't get the vomitter anywhere near me!

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  4. AH! I thought the same thing about the water faucet crying. SUPER WEIRD!!!!!!

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  5. Me Before You was wonderful. Our family reunion last Thanksgiving consisted of a whole week of stomach bug being passed thru 17 people. So glad it did not happen this year! Thank you for motivating me to run off all this food!!

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  6. Poor family, but glad you were spared and having your own little feasty party! I truly hate stomach cramps, but they if they go away quickly, I think I might, might choose that over 2 weeks of coughing.

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  7. glad you're feeling better -- and kept your golden humor throughout the whole thing!

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  8. Did you cry all the way through The Art of Racing in the Rain? I did, but it was wonderful, I could not stop reading. At one point, I was sitting on my closet floor (I must have started to loo for something to wear), crying and reading that book. It was amazing.

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    1. Yes, pretty much, especially when I got to the end and Enzo was dying and I remembered it was one year ago I had put my own dog down. It really has made me look at dogs differently...

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  9. What is my problem then? I run and still want to punch people in the face. Really the neck as I do not think it will leave as lasting a mark.

    Also, I experienced the double end explosion years and years ago and to this day it just boggles my mind that I was able to do both. I mean how can the human body make the decision that this piece goes this way and this piece goes that way in that small amount of time? I mean really!

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    1. The balls are good for punching too.

      Yes, exactly! Ken did the quick flip around while Emma opted for the sink.

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  10. It's horrible when everyone gets sick and you are the last one standing and like OMG when is it coming? Should I eat? Wait, is that a stomach gurgle?

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    1. YES! I've been so afraid to eat anything that I really like b/c I don't want to throw it up and not like it anymore.

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  11. Definitely prefer the cold, so thankful I haven't had the "both ends" thing for quite a few years, ugh....and it is almost worse when it is your family and you have to take care of them.

    Thought of you Sunday when Sherry was mentioned in a NY Times article - glad she has not been forgotten, scary how things have changed in that part of the country....

    Hope you are all better soon!

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    1. Thank you. I did see that article. Here it is if anyone else wants to read: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/us/as-oil-floods-plains-towns-crime-pours-in.html

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  12. That sucks! We have all had an upper respiratory cold the past week and I would take that over the other any day. Hope everyone is feeling better soon.

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  13. Yikes! Sorry to hear that. I hope everyone gets better very quickly for your sake and theirs. I would def rather have a cold for 2 weeks - hands down.
    I'm curious to see how you feel about Me Before You.
    I'm reading A Prayer for Owen Meany. I read it every year at Christmas. :-)

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  14. Hahaha love that!! I definitely want to punch people in the face when I don't run!!

    I'm sorry to hear you aren't feeling better!!

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  15. After spending the better part of 40 weeks (twice) puking my guts up all day (morning sickness my ass) through two pgs, I still have a weak stomach, but I am hardly phased by my own puking. I'd take the 12 hour pukefest in order to just be over it - colds that drag on totally suck and I worry about passing it around the family only to get it again just as I'm finally over it.

    I'm currently reading the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs (Bones TV show fame). The stories are generally interesting with only minor gore. Nice change of pace from my non-fiction kick I had been on.

    And I'm afraid to say no one is sick - Murphy's Law and all.

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  16. Ok, Beth, I need to tell you the only thing to kill this bug is BLEACH. Lysol won't cut it. Wipe down your doorknobs, light switches, you name it--with bleach. I wipe my stethoscope religiously with bleach wipes after seeing pukers in the clinic. I can handle anything. Except throwing up.

    BTW, I've read all those books and yes, all good.

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  17. Once again, I feel you...we have had that awful bug in our house for the last eight days...it has been awful...6 people in our house (me, hubby and 4 kiddos) and 4 of us have had it...just when I think we are over it all, some one else starts puking! I just keep trying to think the last two will get it and we will be all done in the next week. Can't wait to escape for a run tomorrow...will make me a better nurse!

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  18. UGH!!! Sorry that your family had such a miserable holiday weekend!!! I hope that you stay healthy - give me a cold or even the flu any day over a nasty stomach bug!!!

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  19. I read The Art of a Racing in the Rain in one sitting...having had to say goodbye to 3 dogs to old age/illness I found the story beautiful. Don't know why I waited so long to read it.

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  20. I would actually rather have 12 hrs of puking and misery then 2 weeks of a bad cold. I hate colds! Hate the coughing, sore throat, runny nose, etc etc. I can handle puking pretty well, I'd just rather have something over with quickly!

    Glad everyone is feeling better!

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    1. I completely agree. For me, colds always last 14 miserable days. I'd much rather get it over with.

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  21. I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain!! Right now I'm reading David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell and am loving it. I'm also reading Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore for my book club and it's a really fun read as well.

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  22. We had a similar event happen in our home a few years ago and we only had one bathroom at the time. Let's just say there are multiple uses for 5 gallon buckets and garbage bags and leave it at that.
    I run almost every day and I want to throat-punch people ... especially Costco shoppers on a Saturday. I don't know why I keep going back. Does that make me a bad person?

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  23. I'd take a cold anyday. I have a pathetic habit of having a bit of a cry when I puke so at least I can tough out a cold. Good book was Chrissie Wellingtons auto biography, couldn't put it down. Hope you avoid the bug...

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  24. I have a bad head and chest cold right now, like super mouth breather kind. I haven't been on a run or ride since the day before thanksgiving and I have 18 this weekend. I have zero energy but I think the best thing for me would be to go out and pound the pavement to see if I can clear some of this gunk.

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  25. Everyone with a dog should read the Art of Racing in the Rain! Some other good books I've read the past year are Beautiful Ruins, Crazy Rich Asians (fun and entertaining), The Paris Wife, Where'd Ya Go Bernadette (funny & witty), The Art of Fielding, Same Kind of Different as Me (true story so good), Madame Tussaud, and of course 50 Shades of Grey! Sorry to hear about the sickness, can't believe you didn't get it too!

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  26. We were in Boulder at the folks' house for Thanksgiving, and my husband and I were violently ill beginning that night at about midnight. My folks and the kids, so far, are fine. Our initial reaction was food poisoning, too, until we realized the numbers. Puking is the WORST.

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  27. I had something similar to that. It's no fun!! I spent 4 days in the bathroom. Hope everyone feels better soon!

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  28. I gotta hand it to you. You deserve a medal for taking care of your family during all that. I cannot handle any of that both ends stuff, my stomach is weaker than a bottle of vodka in the ocean, and I probably wouldn't have been able to go for a run either, because lets just be honest here, I would NOT have come back. Hope everyone is feeling better.

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  29. Oh no!!
    I did read somewhere that the majority of the "24 hour flu" incidents we experience are actually food poisoning, not a virus. Maybe your stomach just has the right bacteria to fight off what theirs couldn't? Anyway, hope it has all passed now!
    I can't believe it has been a year since Lucky went to the big hunting grounds. Hugs.

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  30. I just got over a cold that lasted over a week, but I still rather have that than even 6 hours of the flu. Ick!

    As for books, I just finished the Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts and it was like Twilight for adults. I'll admit I loved it and passed it on to my sister who isn't a huge reader but also liked Twilight.

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  31. I'd rather have a stomach bug. I can't stand being semi sick for weeks. Give me a day and get it over with!
    I just finished "Still Alice", it is about a woman with early onset Alzheimer's disease and is written from her point of view. Pretty interesting book if you know anyone with Alzheimer's disease.

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  32. I will absolutely take the cold, as I also have a fear of puke. Both my kids got a bug a couple weeks ago. My daughter just puked once and then randomly a few times later in the week when she gagged. My son was SO sick He was throwing up for hours. It was awful. :(

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  33. love that e card. I just ran this morning after wanting to throw punches 360

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