Back in Town
Hello lovelies! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was spent driving across the country.
Ahhhh…..I love coming home.
Our trip to Georgia was wonderful. Grace got to work on filming with her friends and I got to visit people that I adore. Win/win.
Sadly, we picked up a bug somewhere (I am convinced we got it at the Georgia Aquarium) and the trip was a bit rough on Levi. He was the sickest and it was hard to drag him around when he really didn’t feel well. But we managed OK and will have some great memories. It’s the unexpected problems that make a trip memorable, right?
I was feeling fine until the last night. We drove from Tennessee to Texas on Saturday and I started feeling the rumblings in Little Rock, Arkansas. I wanted to just skip the hotel and drive all the way home, but I couldn’t do it. My stomach was making all of the decisions.
Now, usually I am pretty patient with the kids. But there are those times when I just can’t be nice. Saturday night was one of those times. It was 1:30 in the morning; I’d been driving for 13 hours; I had been desperately trying to stay awake at the wheel…slapping myself and plucking hairs out of my head for the last half hour while everyone else slept; I felt like I was going to be sick any second and pulled into the first hotel I saw. I went in, paid for a room, came back out to the car and all I wanted was for them to follow a simple request. “Carry this and follow me.” But of course, they are children and they veer from the instructions and for the first time all week I was going to blow my top. I just said, “No one speak, just do exactly what I say. Carry this and FOLLOW ME!”
Don’t you hate it when you know you are hurting your child’s feelings, but you can’t seem to get control of yourself? It happens to the best of us, my friends.
I told them I was feeling bad and I was sorry for being impatient, but this was a time they just needed to just do what I say and nothing more.
We made it to the room, got everyone settled into slumber just in time for my stomach to take over. I spent the rest of the night in the bathroom.
I did manage to drive the last four hours home on Sunday. I pulled into the driveway and rolled into bed while everyone else hugged and told their stories of the week.
This morning I am feeling better. I’m so glad to be home with my family and out of the car that the illness doesn’t even matter. I will be in my pajamas today taking it easy and letting someone else do the driving for a while.
The only thing better than the excitement of leaving for vacation is the thrill of being home again.
Being ill away from home is THE worst. Welcome home, friend. Glad to hear you had a positively memorable trip and are on the mend. Rest well and God bless!
P.S. I got a plate for my bike! Post forthcoming! (BTW: Did you see my “Mail Kalikimaka” post?)
OH I am so sorry you ended up with the flu! How dreadful!! But I know how wonderful it is to be back home…. 🙂 Take care of yourself and get plenty of rest! Glad to hear you had a wonderful time.
Didn’t this happen to you another time you drove across the country? Uggh!
Becky B.
Thanks for all of the well wishes. We are fine….just travel weary today. 🙂 Becky, I did get sick at Blissdom and drove home while I was sick (but it wasn’t stomach stuff). I had forgotten about that until you mentioned it. Yikes! I may need to take a hint! 🙂 Lisa~
Nothing worse than being sick when you are away from home, let alone driving such long distances, take some time out to rest and recover!
Lots of Love
I STILL remember being sick on a road trip when I was a kid, it was so miserable. I’m pretty sure I made the rest of the family miserable as well. Glad you’re all recovering.
Lisa,
Sorry to hear that you got sick on your trip; hope you are feeling better now.
I can relate to the ‘kids’ thing. Jeff & I are raising our two teenage (ages 15 & 16) grandchildren & most of the time I can just go with the flow, but every once in awhile, I end up blowing a gasket, then of course, I always end up feeling like a dirty dog, & with my head hung low, go back & apologize & try to explain why I lost it, even though whatever the reason is, is not an excuse. I’m glad I’m not the only one it happens to… :-/
Bleugh!
I think we all feel the same – just aint no place like your own bed (or bathroom!) when you’re feeling yuck…
Glad you’re home… 13 hours drive – that would take me from one end of our country to the absolute other end! How I’d love to visit more of yours and drive and drive and drive…. Great stuff 🙂
Ouch! So sorry you all were ill. Glad you made it home okay. 🙂
Oh NO! I’m so sorry you were sick. I can relate to so much of this. It’s tough when you’re in a hurry and can’t take time to be careful of feelings – but kids can surprise us with wonderful sympathy, too. I’m glad to read that you’re feeling better now!
Lisa, Been there and done that! Steve and I got food poisoning while on vacation and we didn’t leave our room for two days. The drive home was not pleasant. I am sorry you had to deal with this but I am glad you are feeling better.
xo,
Sherry
Well, I hate that you were sick in my hometown! I would have LOVED to have met you in person….but not enough to get a stomach bug a week and a half before this baby is due. Hope everyone is over the yucks now.
Hello Lisa,
I just found your blog and love it! Great post! We are in Texas as well. Howdy Neighbor!
I just found your blog! I love it!
I know the feeling of not being nice when you’re sick and being sick while you’re away from home. I was a nanny for several years and got the stomach bug while I was at work a couple of times. The time I got it on a trip, I had taken a spur of the moment trip to CA by myself. It was something I’d been wanting to do and had gotten an unexpected long weekend to do it on. I spent most of that trip in my hotel room (bathroom) wanting to die! Thankfully my last day there I was better and got to do a couple of the things I’d planned to do the day before, but it seemed kind of a waste of money to do so little! When I was a nanny, I remember getting sick in the afternoon right before I had to pick the kids up from school. There was no time for parents to get home and get the kids themselves. I remember yelling at everyone to just be quiet every time they made a peep. One of them fell asleep on the way home and would normally have complained that I woke her up and made her walk in the house herself. I let her know in no uncertain terms that I was not about to do that. She realized I was not messing around and just went ahead and did what I said. They knew that I was really sick and just barely holding it together. I sort of vaguely remember laying down on their floor while they changed out of their uniforms and passing out until their dad got home. Kids generally understand when you are sick and give you a little grace. They tried to take care of me, sweet kids!