We got on the road by 7:00 am and started on our 5-hour trek to North Carolina. The car was loaded with movies, games and did I mention movies?
Oh, and one of these.
It was our first road trip since the kids have been fully potty trained and one can never be too careful, right?
We made great time and only had one short pit stop. I was really excited to get there because my sister and her family drove in from Nashville and it was the first time my family has been together since Christmas.
Friday, we stayed at my mom's and visited with some other family that lives nearby. She has an awesome salt water pool so it was a lot of fun for the kids.
Saturday, we got up and headed to the beach. My mom's house is about 20 minutes north of Kitty Hawk and we got an early start to avoid the incoming OBX traffic. We were set up and sitting on the beach by 8:30 am.
I wasn't sure how the kids would be this year with the ocean and sand. Last year, they had a great time but as many of you know, kids' opinions change as frequently as the weather.
Chris was super excited to jump in the waves again this year. His only problem was trying to convince one of the adults to go down with him because the water was nippy! Kendall was still afraid so we stayed near camp and had a great time digging and playing in the sand.
We packed up around noon and headed to our favorite local restaurant, Awful Arthur's.
I'm not too proud to admit that I ate a pound of steamed shrimp by myself. It was soooooo good!
After a quick stop for ice cream, we headed back to my mom's for naptime. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool and was fairly uneventful.
Around 9:30 pm, Chris came into the living room and said his tummy hurt. He ate 2 tacos for dinner so I thought maybe he had some indigestion and I gave him a Children's Pepto. At 10:00, we started heading to bed and that's when all hell broke loose.
Chris vomited EVERYWHERE. At that point, I thought it would be a "one and done" so we got everything cleaned up and put them to bed. I decided to sleep on an air mattress in their room, just in case.
About 30 minutes later, he got sick again. And, proceeded to throw up every hour until 5:00 am.
At 2:30 am, Kendall sat straight up in bed, started crying and vomited all over her blankets. And, she proceeded to get sick every hour until 12:00 pm Sunday afternoon.
I was completely exhausted and was literally up all night - I never went to sleep. Hubby came in from 2-4 am to help but who can sleep when 2 kids are vomiting?
Around 5:00 am, my stomach started feeling a little funny but I thought it was just in my head. Psychosomatic stomach flu.
But, as the morning went on, I started feeling worse and worse. I napped for most of the day with horrible stomach cramps and waves of hot and then chills. You KNOW it's bad when you are praying to vomit. I finally got sick at 6:30 pm.
By Monday, we were "on the mend" but stayed close to home, just to be safe. Thankfully no one else in the house got it. My niece had something similar the Saturday before they left and I'm convinced we caught it from her!
We headed home Tuesday and as always, it's good to be home.
The rest of last week was spent getting back into routine with school and work. Friday night, I missed a call from my friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer in March. She left a voice mail that just said she had something exciting to tell me. I texted her as soon as I woke up yesterday morning but she didn't reply right away. Finally, around 5:30 pm, she posted in her Caring Bridge journal. I couldn't believe what I was reading.
2 weeks ago, she had surgery to remove the tumor. While the chemo did it's job to stop the cancer from spreading, the tumor didn't shrink significantly. While removing the tumor, they also took tissue samples from the lymph nodes.
Friday, she received the biopsy results.
THE CANCER IS GONE!
As in, no cancerous cells in the tumor, the nearby tissue or the lymph nodes. It is truly a miracle.
In March, she was told she would have a year to live if treatment didn't work and to be told the cancer is gone is truly God's work.
I cry every time I think about it.
Truly the highlight of my week. Ah, hell. My year!
4 comments:
Aww, geez, that's incredible news! What a blessing for both your friend and all of those who care about her. Great news. On the other hand, 3 sick people, not so great news! That sounds miserable. Glad it was short lived. We love the OBX, by the way. Spent our vacation last year in Corolla. This year we are going down to Kiawah in SC, but I'm sure we'll be back at the OBX soon enough.
That doesn't sound like much of a vacation! Glad everyone was on the mend quickly though...just in time to go home. ;)
Amazing news about your friend. It does not get any better than that. Ever.
Goose bumps and a squeal of pure praise and joy here! As I read your post, I held my breath as I read that you had missed a call from your friend. Thank God for the miracle of healing!!
PS- What is it about vacation?? Your trip sounds eerily similar to our flu-cation/cruise last year!!
And, that travel potty?? Off to find one NOW!
I remember reading about your friend and the challenges she was going through.
I also remember reading about your DH being laid off and in need of a new job stat.
I thank God that his divine mercy and favor in their lives.
(These days you never know what type of reaction you're going to get when you mention the name of Jesus as the answer to all that concerns us. And I mean ALL. If it's important to you, it's important to God.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGx_Vsq2_Vk
Thanks for sharing your friend's testimony.
May God be Praised.
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