The night of Christmas Eve, Lil' S2 started complaining that his tummy hurt, which immediately put us on alert, given it was exactly what Lil' S1 told us before he spent half the night vomiting. Unfortunately, little brother followed suit and then some. He threw up more times, over a longer span, and since we weren't at home, cleanup was worse. Somehow, we managed to contain most of it to the hard floor and the toilet, but we were helpless to prevent it from getting all over his clothes. I wanted him to wear just underwear the entire night, but he kept insisting on being fully dressed (I've mentioned before how fastidious he is), and neither S or I felt like arguing with him or watching him throw a tantrum all night on top of being sick.
We went through his entire stay of clothes by the end of the night, and there was no washing machine in the unit. S found one in the building, but we didn't have any detergent. So, I did damage control in the sink using hand soap, and then S put them through a wash cycle of hot water only -- not perfect, but better than nothing.
I barely slept at all that night. I was on edge that Lil' S2 was going to vomit in the bed, and then we would have a real mess on our hands. Thankfully, he never did. Unthankfully, around 3:00 am, I started having some stomach issues of my own. Gradually, it turned into a full-blown case of the runs. I also threw up a few times, but mainly my issues were at the other end. I spent much of Christmas morning, what can accurately, if disgustingly, be described as booty-peeing. To make matters worse, we were low on toilet paper, and what we did have was that cheap one-ply garbage. (Somebody bought some soft stuff the next day, for which I was very grateful.) Lest I rub myself raw and use up the entire supply of TP in the process, I started hosing my butt off in the shower after each session. It was annoying because I had to dry off my legs each time, but it was the least-worst option. At that moment, I really wished bidets were popular in the US.
Things calmed down after a few hours, but I spent the rest of the morning too uncomfortable and enervated to get out of bed. I couldn't even get up to watch the kids open gifts. Just like his brother a few days prior, however, Lil' S2 felt fine in the morning. It gave me hope that it was a short-lived bug, and I would feel better soon. Indeed that turned out to be the case. After a long nap, I woke up and felt halfway decent (halfway being a key modifier). I didn't feel like eating anything ever again, but at least I could move around and do things, so I salvaged some of the trip. S's dad also got sick and threw up all night. Somehow all the women avoided it.
In the afternoon, I went down to the pool with S's sister, her mom, and the boys. I didn't feel like getting in the water, but at least I could act as lifeguard for Lil' S1. (S's sister went in with Lil' S2.) He can swim well-enough. If you throw him into the middle of the deep end of a normal pool, he can get to a wall without much trouble, which is my standard for being able to swim "well-enough." He sure doesn't look good doing it though. He kinda doggy-paddles along, until he needs a speed burst, and then he dunks underwater and does a modified breast stroke. If you watch him for the first time, you'd be forgiven for thinking he's drowning. But he's definitely not. I've seen him go the length of the pool without help using this weird technique.
Later in the day, S's cousin and his mom came to visit, and a group of us went to the beach. So, at least I got one beach visit in on my trip to the beach. It was nice, but super windy. It was warm enough to go in the water, and I wish I had felt good enough to do so, as I love taking a dip in the ocean. There also was a little oceanside bar, and it looked like a fantastic place to get a drink. But at that moment alcohol was just about the last thing I felt like consuming.
At night we watched the movie Shazam!, which was reasonably entertaining. (It certainly beat CNN turned up to 120 decibels, which is what S's dad had on before that.) This trip we also watched E.T., which is a better movie than I remembered. We all got a kick out of how dated the parenting is. The kids are basically just allowed to go anywhere they want without supervision. In an early scene, there is a burning cigarette in an ashtray next to a bunch of teenagers playing games. And at one point the mom leaves her four-year-old daughter (played notably and adorably by Drew Barrymore) in the house by herself, while she goes to pick up her drunk son at school. Today, Steven Spielberg would probably get arrested just for depicting this in a movie. Different times.
When we got back to Tampa, we went out to dinner with one of S's old friends in a swanky part of the city called Hyde Park. The restaurant was delicious, but I ate way too much, and my stomach wasn't back to being 100% (wisely no alcohol, though). It was billed as a tapas-style joint, but the plates were much bigger than those of typical tapas bars, so we had way too much food. S's friend's husband is a white guy married to an Indian-American woman, so I gave him the secret handshake when we met. He's also a sailor, like, he lives part-time on a sailboat, so I was asking him a bunch of questions about sailing I've always wondered. (Is your anchor like an old-school looking anchor like you see on Popeye's arm?) They're a cool couple, and when they aren't on the boat, they live in the same complex as S's parents, so probably we will see more of them on future visits.
Speaking of which, I don't know many times a year we will visit. I can't imagine we will go as frequently as we did to South Carolina. The drive there is brutal, and we agreed next time we will fly, which is so much less time-consuming, but so much more expensive. What will probably end up happening is S and the kids will go without me a couple times a year (in fact, she's already planning a trip for their midwinter break next month), and then we'll all go at Christmas time.
The other thing is that it gets claustrophobic to stay there too long. The good thing about driving is that it's easy to leave whenever we want. On this trip, we left a few days earlier than we originally planned just because we were getting burnt out with staying in a small living quarters with so many people. Also the frame of the bed we were sleeping in broke, so sleeping arrangements would have been tough. We left on the 29th, even though we were originally planning on staying through the New Year. I think S's mom was kinda bummed, but... sorry not sorry. We were all eager to get back home.
The drive back went much more smoothly, as we timed it so that we were unlikely to hit normal traffic, and we got lucky and there were no major accidents or other unforeseen backup-inducing events. We stopped at this place called South of the Border, which is just south of the North Carolina-South Carolina border. It's this really campy, really cheap complex that's a cross between an amusement park and a rest area. We went into one of their arcades, and it was super rundown and would have looked outdated when was I a kid. I have to hand it to them though. They have a legitimately expansive reptile exhibit -- tons of snakes and lizards and gators and the like. It was a fine way to break up the day and spend some time outside of the car. The kids liked it. Lil' S2, in particular, was getting stir crazy, so it was a good break.
We made it to Rocky Mount, NC, which is a pretty good haul (over ten hours), before getting a hotel for the night. We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, which is one those restaurants I see everywhere, but hadn't ever actually eaten at before this. (Still on my list of places like this: Waffle House and Zaxby's. This isn't a checklist, by the way. I don't particularly care if I ever go to these places or not. It's just an observation. Although, I've heard Zaxby's is pretty good for fast food.) Because we covered so much ground in day one, the drive back to DC the next morning felt like a breeze. Again, though a combination of prudent planning and good fortune, we avoided all major traffic jams. We made it back none too soon, as Lil' S2 started getting really cranky the last half hour ("I JUST WANT YOU TO STOP THE CAR AND LET ME OUT!!!"), and a full-blown Chernobyl-style meltdown was narrowly averted.
We had a few days off before work/school started again, which was nice. We even got to go to a party at some friends' on New Year's Eve. It was very kid-centric, so we watched last year's ball drop on YouTube at 9:00 pm, and then most everybody, including us, left shortly after that. S and I went to bed at the same time (a rarity) at 11:54 pm. I know this, because I asked her if she wanted to stay up six more minutes to ring in the New Year. "Not really," she said. So, we turned out the lights and went to bed. I heard some fireworks in the distance shortly thereafter, so technically I was awake to ring in 2020.
I didn't make any formal New Year's resolutions -- I never do -- but I would like to eat less sugar, a lot less. It's not just chocolates and cookies and ice cream and the like -- although that's definitely a big part of it -- it's also sugar in other things like granola and peanut butter and jelly and muffins and all that stuff that isn't quite junk food, but also isn't really good for you either. I don't need to go cold turkey, just cut way back.
Alright, one more little anecdote before I end this epic three-part post. (By way, I probably won't post anything for at least a few weeks, as I spent time writing blog entries, instead of doing other things, so I still have some catching up to do from the break.)
On the 2nd, I took the kids back to school, and everybody was saying "Welcome back!" and things of that nature, and Lil' S1 suddenly got a panicked look on his face, and bashfully asked me, "Daddy, am I still in second grade?"
It was very cute.
Until next time...
We went through his entire stay of clothes by the end of the night, and there was no washing machine in the unit. S found one in the building, but we didn't have any detergent. So, I did damage control in the sink using hand soap, and then S put them through a wash cycle of hot water only -- not perfect, but better than nothing.
I barely slept at all that night. I was on edge that Lil' S2 was going to vomit in the bed, and then we would have a real mess on our hands. Thankfully, he never did. Unthankfully, around 3:00 am, I started having some stomach issues of my own. Gradually, it turned into a full-blown case of the runs. I also threw up a few times, but mainly my issues were at the other end. I spent much of Christmas morning, what can accurately, if disgustingly, be described as booty-peeing. To make matters worse, we were low on toilet paper, and what we did have was that cheap one-ply garbage. (Somebody bought some soft stuff the next day, for which I was very grateful.) Lest I rub myself raw and use up the entire supply of TP in the process, I started hosing my butt off in the shower after each session. It was annoying because I had to dry off my legs each time, but it was the least-worst option. At that moment, I really wished bidets were popular in the US.
Things calmed down after a few hours, but I spent the rest of the morning too uncomfortable and enervated to get out of bed. I couldn't even get up to watch the kids open gifts. Just like his brother a few days prior, however, Lil' S2 felt fine in the morning. It gave me hope that it was a short-lived bug, and I would feel better soon. Indeed that turned out to be the case. After a long nap, I woke up and felt halfway decent (halfway being a key modifier). I didn't feel like eating anything ever again, but at least I could move around and do things, so I salvaged some of the trip. S's dad also got sick and threw up all night. Somehow all the women avoided it.
In the afternoon, I went down to the pool with S's sister, her mom, and the boys. I didn't feel like getting in the water, but at least I could act as lifeguard for Lil' S1. (S's sister went in with Lil' S2.) He can swim well-enough. If you throw him into the middle of the deep end of a normal pool, he can get to a wall without much trouble, which is my standard for being able to swim "well-enough." He sure doesn't look good doing it though. He kinda doggy-paddles along, until he needs a speed burst, and then he dunks underwater and does a modified breast stroke. If you watch him for the first time, you'd be forgiven for thinking he's drowning. But he's definitely not. I've seen him go the length of the pool without help using this weird technique.
Later in the day, S's cousin and his mom came to visit, and a group of us went to the beach. So, at least I got one beach visit in on my trip to the beach. It was nice, but super windy. It was warm enough to go in the water, and I wish I had felt good enough to do so, as I love taking a dip in the ocean. There also was a little oceanside bar, and it looked like a fantastic place to get a drink. But at that moment alcohol was just about the last thing I felt like consuming.
At night we watched the movie Shazam!, which was reasonably entertaining. (It certainly beat CNN turned up to 120 decibels, which is what S's dad had on before that.) This trip we also watched E.T., which is a better movie than I remembered. We all got a kick out of how dated the parenting is. The kids are basically just allowed to go anywhere they want without supervision. In an early scene, there is a burning cigarette in an ashtray next to a bunch of teenagers playing games. And at one point the mom leaves her four-year-old daughter (played notably and adorably by Drew Barrymore) in the house by herself, while she goes to pick up her drunk son at school. Today, Steven Spielberg would probably get arrested just for depicting this in a movie. Different times.
When we got back to Tampa, we went out to dinner with one of S's old friends in a swanky part of the city called Hyde Park. The restaurant was delicious, but I ate way too much, and my stomach wasn't back to being 100% (wisely no alcohol, though). It was billed as a tapas-style joint, but the plates were much bigger than those of typical tapas bars, so we had way too much food. S's friend's husband is a white guy married to an Indian-American woman, so I gave him the secret handshake when we met. He's also a sailor, like, he lives part-time on a sailboat, so I was asking him a bunch of questions about sailing I've always wondered. (Is your anchor like an old-school looking anchor like you see on Popeye's arm?) They're a cool couple, and when they aren't on the boat, they live in the same complex as S's parents, so probably we will see more of them on future visits.
Speaking of which, I don't know many times a year we will visit. I can't imagine we will go as frequently as we did to South Carolina. The drive there is brutal, and we agreed next time we will fly, which is so much less time-consuming, but so much more expensive. What will probably end up happening is S and the kids will go without me a couple times a year (in fact, she's already planning a trip for their midwinter break next month), and then we'll all go at Christmas time.
The other thing is that it gets claustrophobic to stay there too long. The good thing about driving is that it's easy to leave whenever we want. On this trip, we left a few days earlier than we originally planned just because we were getting burnt out with staying in a small living quarters with so many people. Also the frame of the bed we were sleeping in broke, so sleeping arrangements would have been tough. We left on the 29th, even though we were originally planning on staying through the New Year. I think S's mom was kinda bummed, but... sorry not sorry. We were all eager to get back home.
The drive back went much more smoothly, as we timed it so that we were unlikely to hit normal traffic, and we got lucky and there were no major accidents or other unforeseen backup-inducing events. We stopped at this place called South of the Border, which is just south of the North Carolina-South Carolina border. It's this really campy, really cheap complex that's a cross between an amusement park and a rest area. We went into one of their arcades, and it was super rundown and would have looked outdated when was I a kid. I have to hand it to them though. They have a legitimately expansive reptile exhibit -- tons of snakes and lizards and gators and the like. It was a fine way to break up the day and spend some time outside of the car. The kids liked it. Lil' S2, in particular, was getting stir crazy, so it was a good break.
We made it to Rocky Mount, NC, which is a pretty good haul (over ten hours), before getting a hotel for the night. We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, which is one those restaurants I see everywhere, but hadn't ever actually eaten at before this. (Still on my list of places like this: Waffle House and Zaxby's. This isn't a checklist, by the way. I don't particularly care if I ever go to these places or not. It's just an observation. Although, I've heard Zaxby's is pretty good for fast food.) Because we covered so much ground in day one, the drive back to DC the next morning felt like a breeze. Again, though a combination of prudent planning and good fortune, we avoided all major traffic jams. We made it back none too soon, as Lil' S2 started getting really cranky the last half hour ("I JUST WANT YOU TO STOP THE CAR AND LET ME OUT!!!"), and a full-blown Chernobyl-style meltdown was narrowly averted.
We had a few days off before work/school started again, which was nice. We even got to go to a party at some friends' on New Year's Eve. It was very kid-centric, so we watched last year's ball drop on YouTube at 9:00 pm, and then most everybody, including us, left shortly after that. S and I went to bed at the same time (a rarity) at 11:54 pm. I know this, because I asked her if she wanted to stay up six more minutes to ring in the New Year. "Not really," she said. So, we turned out the lights and went to bed. I heard some fireworks in the distance shortly thereafter, so technically I was awake to ring in 2020.
I didn't make any formal New Year's resolutions -- I never do -- but I would like to eat less sugar, a lot less. It's not just chocolates and cookies and ice cream and the like -- although that's definitely a big part of it -- it's also sugar in other things like granola and peanut butter and jelly and muffins and all that stuff that isn't quite junk food, but also isn't really good for you either. I don't need to go cold turkey, just cut way back.
Alright, one more little anecdote before I end this epic three-part post. (By way, I probably won't post anything for at least a few weeks, as I spent time writing blog entries, instead of doing other things, so I still have some catching up to do from the break.)
On the 2nd, I took the kids back to school, and everybody was saying "Welcome back!" and things of that nature, and Lil' S1 suddenly got a panicked look on his face, and bashfully asked me, "Daddy, am I still in second grade?"
It was very cute.
Until next time...
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