happy holidays! (much belated)

My holidays were just great, thank you very much!

Yeah, it has taken me a week to get around to blogging. Proof positive that it still rates high on my list, I'm doing this but I haven't gotten around to unpacking yet.

Thus you get a glimpse into how my priorities are structured.

Christmas itself was a lot of fun. For me. My sister and brother in law were hella sick. Katie had a super painful sinus infection and Scho had a dry hacking cough. They were real troopers though; they were amazing hosts in spite of their pain.

We did our second annual trip to Sidetracks in Ypsi for the FANTASTIC beer battered pickles. (mmmmmm) And of course we played a little Rock Band. Hell, feeling a little better they let me teach them some yoga on Christmas morning.

Katie really did go above and beyond. On Christmas Eve day we wanted to go into A2 for some Indian food but her head was throbbing, so she allowed me to give her on of my post-op vicodin. By the time we got to the restaurant the pain had gone down a bit, so she acquiesced to a second pill.

She didn't eat very much of the buffet though, complaining of a slight upset stomach. She mentioned that she thought it might be the drugs. Which I can understand, after my abdominal wall reconstruction both vicodin and percoset made me nauseous.

Sis powered through the meal, and we decided to check out the brand spanking new Whole Foods that just opened on the west side of Ann Arbor. We needed to eat something that night, and I wanted to pick up some healthy snacks for my impending travels.

Happily the parking lot was not too full, and we ventured into the world of overpriced healthy stuff. Sweet bounty of all things wholesome and natural, we slowly browsed the aisles of sweet, sweet nutrition packed opulence. And joy of joys, we found Katie's favorite beer in stock in the back of the restaurant! We had been searching for this Bell's seasonal beer in the pink box for the past 24 hours, to no avail. Sold out everywhere else, we celebrated our bounty.

Then we moved towards the prepared foods section to select our dinner. Sis then turned to me and said,

"I think I'm going to throw up"

Well we immediately pinpointed an employee and asked the location of the restrooms. Front of store. With a sense of urgency belying our calm, we started to move past the open buffets.

Then it happened. Katie slowed down, and cupped her mouth with her hands. She held it together for a second, a breath. Then her stomach contracted and liquid shot out from between her fingers, jet propelled in all directions.

At this point she had to drop her hands as she heaved again, albeit just straight down - to minimize the radius of expulsion.

You would think we would have caused a stir. But no. It was over in less than ten seconds. One employee did witness the last relief and handed her his towel. She then was able to make a break for the bathroom. I stood there with the employee for a minute, wondering if I should baby-sit the mess until it got cleaned up. Then I decided my sister was more important and joined her in the front of the store.

We didn't end up buying the beer. Or any dinner. We can however sleep easy now knowing that she will never have a problem with addiction to painkillers.

More about the holidays to come...