Monday, December 1, 2014

further to the topic of packing.

for what it's worth...the only photographic evidence of our trip
While we're on the topic of packing, this seems to be a good time for me to share with you our recent trip to Mexico.

You might recall that last year for our honeymoon, we packed in one suitcase. This year, we were so excited to a) go back to Mexico and 2) each have our own suitcase. Since we are doing a bit of traveling in the next few months, we decided to splurge and get new suitcases. Bill got a grey one and I got a purple paisely-ish one. We said on more than one occasion how excited we were to use our suitcases.

The week of the trip rolled around and we both started gathering our packing essentials. I had so many visions of a repeat of our honeymoon with beautiful sunsets, romantic dinners and mimosas by the pool. Forget that the entire family was going to be there, we were headed to our second honeymoon!!! I pulled out all of my favorite maxi dresses, my beautiful new gold sandals, my brightly colored accessories, the flat iron, my best makeup and my brand new swim suits. (Of course, I did not bring a beach tote, a sun hat or sunscreen, but that is neither here nor there...) Bill on the other hand just pulled out more than one pair of pants for this trip and was ready to go.

It's safe to say that we were so excited about our new suitcases - and being able to take more than one - that it didn't occur to us this trip would be less than perfect. But let me tell you the following things about our trip and you can decide for yourself.

1. I had been fighting an infection the two weeks before the trip, so I was on an antibiotic that made me feel less than great. If it was a side effect, I had it.
2. Our flight from RDU to Houston was delayed because of a frozen lavatory. Yes. The bathroom was frozen.
3. We missed our connection in Houston because of this. We were supposed to fly first class too!
4. After raising cain, the airline did rebook us on the next flight - FOUR hours later (and on business class wtf) and give us meal vouchers.
5. Sunday and Monday and Tues. partial were great. We enjoyed the sun, the pool bar, the golf course, the spa.
6. Tuesday at lunch was my last meal. It was room service pizza and it was delicious.
7. I spent the next two days being very unlady like. I guess when you speed date, you don't get to experience EVERYTHING before marriage. Safe to say we've experienced it now. I was also very rude as I just could not muster the energy for any family meal.
8. Thursday morning Bill made me go to the hotel hospital.
9. The Mexican doctor hooked me up to an IV for severe dehydration and infection.
10. After 2 hours on the IV getting fluids and antibiotics, I was feeling good!
11. I felt so good, I went to lunch by the pool.
12. My body didn't know how to respond to the back and forth temperatures, so after about 15 minutes, I got the chills, panicked and got sick all over again. I told Bill I thought I was going to die.
13. The sweet Mexican doctor had to come back to our room - with his doctor bag! - and check my vitals. He waited while my body starting regulating and told me I wasn't allowed to leave the room until after 8p and if I did then, it should be only for a small walk. He also assured me I wasn't going to die in Mexico.
14. I drank 3 bottles of Mexican pedialyte and it.is.disgusting. Although, this may be just Pedialyte in general and not anything to do with it being Mexican.
15. So is gatorade after about the 5th bottle.
16. I was able to fly home without too many visits to the loo.
20. We got off the plane and I announced I wanted to eat some mashed potatoes. I hadn't eaten anything since Tues. except 4 french fries, half a tiny bagel, and two saltine crackers.
21. The antibiotics caused major acid reflux and after being unable to sleep and doing research on an acid reflux friendly diet, I learned that mashed potatoes are not part of it. Neither is mac and cheese (which I also had an hankering for)
22. Sunday morning, after taking shots of apple cider vinegar, I was able to eat two eggs and a bland salad. Praise!
23. Thanksgiving rolled around and I was able to eat everything in sight.
24. It has been almost 2 weeks since I got sick and I am finally feeling normal again.
25. I didn't have to wash very many clothes from my suitcase since pretty much nothing got worn. Talk about over packing!!

Thankfully I am alive and getting well-er (also huge shout out to my hubby who gave up most of his vacation to take care of me), so clearly this means I - WE - deserve to go on another vacation so we can actually enjoy it! And clearly I will need to buy all new outfits because the ones I packed for this recent trip, while unworn, are now tainted with the memories of being sick in Mexico. Sorry I'm not sorry about that.

another adventure of stupid packing


For the past several years, my extended family has gone apple picking together.  I haven't ever been for various reasons but this year, I decided it was time. My cousins have super cute kids and with the addition of Lexie, adopted from China earlier this year, I just couldn't miss out on another year of apple picking with the fam! The plan was half the fam would stay at my parents' house and the other half would stay at Uncle Luke's house (about an hour from the orchard).

The whole week before, I tried to do my due diligence and ask the appropriate questions. I mean, it's probably good to remember that I am the girl who my parents took strawberry picking and I was unable to find any berries anywhere in the fields (that were apparently full of berries). So, clearly I had some questions. They were harmless questions such as what should I wear? Where will we pick apples? What kind will we pick? What will we snack on? How long does it last? And most importantly, is it considered manual labor?

I guess mom got tired of all my questions because she told me that people who had so many questions maybe shouldn't go apple picking since they seemed to be so burdened about the whole thing.

Well, since that made a whole lot of sense, I decided I would just stop asking questions and just go with the flow. You know...because I real good at going with the flow.

And because I do what my mama says, I also packed well for this trip (or so I thought). I thought since surely no one had given me any type of warning about apple picking, that it must not be that hard, or that hot, so I could feel confident that looking cute was the best option. So I packed a skirt, a cute top and my fave gold flip flops. Mama may have been mad at me for my questions but no way was she gonna be mad at me for not looking cute!!

Well. It turns out apple picking IS considered manual labor. Turns out you may or may not have to walk over 2 miles throughout the orchard. And while there are a lot of apples laying around, most of the good apples are high atop the trees. Turns out that all of these things are only exacerbated by the heat that is unusual for the time of year. Luckily for me, Eli loaned me a great t shirt so I didn't have to risk messing up my cute shirt. However, I was on my own with the skirt and the sandals.

Needless to say, I wasn't exactly the most comfortable apple picker to pick apples. It's probably also important to point out that earlier that morning mom AND Bill had suggested I bring a change of cloths to Uncle Luke's house (where we were all gathering for supper afterward) so I wouldn't have to sit in my apple picking outfit all night. But since I always know best, I said I didn't need to do that. I mean, I wasn't going to get that hot or dirty. So, while everyone (and by everyone, I mean the entire extended family on this apple picking trip) enjoyed a delicious dinner in clean cloths, I enjoyed mine in a hot and sweaty skirt, shirt and unmentionables.

And then I wallered around on the furniture because I wasn't going to miss out on cousin snuggling time just because I was dirty!

At least I got the first shower when everyone staying at my parents' house got back. And some good insight into what apple picking actually is for all my future apple picking excursions! No more questions from this girl. But only when it comes to apple picking.