31...and then some

Saturday was my 31st birthday. (Wow. Where did the time go? I remember when 19 seemed old!)

We had a great day that started with Brad and Lucy bringing me breakfast in bed! Sweet things!

Then we headed out to the Big D for the day and for Brad to have an eye doctor's appointment. We were there for 3 hours, but they have this kids waiting room, full of stuffed animals and toys, and Lucy was never bored! Seriously, she was an angel the whole time!

After that, we went to one of the biggest malls around and had (what we will later know was a big mistake) Taco Bell for lunch. Lucy didn't want TB (what we will later know was a huge blessing from the Lord), so she had a cheeseburger from Burger King. (Did I ever think I would say "Bless you, Burger King!"? No.) After that, we walked around some, did some grocery shopping, and just milled around while Lucy slept in her stroller.

For dinner, we headed over to a different mall to meet some friends at PF Changs. It was so fun to be together with them for my birthday! And then afterwards, me, Brad, & Lucy enjoyed a "Great Wall of Chocolate."

We headed home. On the way home, Brad said his stomach was hurting a bit. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a bit. As soon as we got home, he headed to bed. I did some laundry, got on skype, talked to my mom via her phone card (do you realize you can get a phone card and just CALL me? and it's cheap!)

I laid down in bed around 11:30 and wrote in my journal of what a great day it had been, thanking and praising the Lord for his many blessings on me, that day and every day. I noticed that my stomach was a bit queasy, too, but I thought it might just be from all the activity I'd been doing in the previous hour.

I'M GOING TO BE VERY DESCRIPTIVE HERE... NOT GROSS, JUST DESCRIPTIVE. BE WARNED.

When I turned the light off, I laid on my stomach - it's always made my tummy feel better to put pressure on it when it hurts. After a while, I rolled over and realized that I felt, well, like I was gonna puke when I moved. I decided, ok, don't move. At 1:00 am on June 12, I had to move and it all came out! I didn't realize that Brad was already up because he, too, was having some issues. And about 10 minutes after I got up, Brad 'let it all out' too. We realized immediately that it was food poisoning, and started praying fervently that Lucy and our friends didn't get it. We weren't sure if it was from TB or PFC. I went into Lucy's room and she was sound asleep - Praise the Lord!

The next 3 hours were a bit of a throw-up blur for me. Yes, that's very descriptive, but you all know me and that's just how I am. My name does mean "truthful" after all. Brad never regurgitated again, but had other symptoms, uh-hm...

There's nothing quite like being a sick as a dog to make you miss you mom! I was able to text with her throughout the whole ordeal and it was like a lifeline to me! Praise God for her! I appreciate all of you who prayed for us that night!

Then there was yesterday. Brad and I, obviously, stayed home from school. (Our school week runs Sunday-Thursday here) We realized that it was the TB that made us sick. Lucy wasn't sick and neither were our friends who had enjoyed PFC with us. (Now you understand my earlier comments about TB being a mistake - one that we won't be making any time in the future - and about BK being a blessing!)

A friend took Lucy to nursery school and another one brought her home so that we could rest and drink our 7Up. Brad was puny, but certainly on the way to being well. I, on the other hand, was miserable all day! I slept a lot of the day, but when I was up, I had a fever and a MASSIVE headache. It was horrible! Around 5pm, Brad gave me some Advil to help with the pain. I finally showered around 9pm, which always makes you feel a little better. Then at 10, Brad gave me some Tylenol PM and I went to bed.

Praise the Lord, I woke up this morning without a fever or any stomach pains! I've still got a headache, but I can handle that. I decided that one more day home from school would do be more good that trying to sit through class and struggle through the headache pain.

SO, how you can pray today:
1. For my headache to GO AWAY!
2. For me to not be TOO far behind in class when I go back tomorrow.
3. PRAISE God that Lucy never got sick!

I wonder just how many people had a Nachos Bell Grande on Saturday and got sick, too....