Black Friday Indeed

So I've been out for a bit, sorry about that.  I took Little to Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with my parents and some other relatives.  After that the plan was to drive over to Ft Leonard Wood, Mo and spend a few days with Mister, who has been gone since before Halloween.  That didn't quite turn out....   We all ended up catching norovirus and only saw him for a few hours on Saturday, the one day none of us were puking. Little actually started his symptoms in the car on the way to Missouri.  So that was awesome.  Black Friday indeed.

Norovirus is the stomach bug 

Seriously.  I thought I was going to die.  I lost 6.5 pounds.  My spine is sticking out of my back like stegosaurus plates.  It's disgusting.   At one point I was stranded in a hotel room, 15 minutes from being homeless (waiting on reservations to call me back and let me know if I could keep the room), unable to leave the room, with a 2 year old, totally out of food for said 2 year old, unable to hold down water, hadn't eaten in 3 days, without medicine, and without a soul around to help me because Mister was in the field.  *In the field, for those of you not in the military, means exactly that - he was out in the field somewhere and could not come back to civilization to help me.  Although Fort Lost in the Woods hardly counts as civilization.  At one point on day 3, Andrew waddled into the room eating a chicken tender from the night before that he found somewhere...and I was relieved.  How disgusting is that?  That's how dire it was!  I was praising God for letting my child find food on the floor or wherever as if it were manna from Heaven.  I finally forced myself to drive to the commissary to buy Little non floor food and myself a bottle of Pepto later that night and I was so weak that I almost passed out trying to put Andrew into the cart.  I was actually in tears trying to push it down the aisles to find the medicine.  It was the most miserable week ever.  I never get sick.  Ever.  Yes, I have my headaches/migraines and allergies, but those aren't communicable illnesses.  I never catch whatever is going around!  But MAN did this one get me.  I thought I was Coming Home.  Lord was taking me in.  So PSA - I know this virus is in AR, CA, MO, & CO so protect yourself!  It can live on countertops, shopping carts, doorknobs, purses, leather jackets, cell phones, etc - not just person to person contact.  So wash your hands and lysol the crud out of everything you own if you have had it!  Also, you are still contagious for 3-4 days AFTER your symptoms subside.  So please stay home even though I know it is hard and you get stir crazy.  Don't spread this around, it can be deadly to infants, geriatrics, and those with compromised immune systems.  It's only supposed to last 24-48 hours, but for some reason, I couldn't shake it for almost a full week.  Andrew rocked it, though.  The only time I even knew he was sick was when the terrible things were happening and it only lasted 24 hours.  Mister only had it for about 36.

But Thanksgiving was great.  Little got to meet some relatives he hadn't ever seen before, my brother and his wife flew in from Cali, and my Pappaw came in from Tavares, Fl.  There was no bickering, I didn't have to cook anything, and I got to see my friend Dustin whom I haven't seen in 8 years and his equally hilarious wife, Lindee.  They taught me a lovely new phrase, "Every fart's a gamble!"  Classy!  Come to think of it...it's as if they were predicting the future.....

Wrestling his uncle

Marty McFly

Reading a book upside down with Pappaw

I chopped all my hair off - finally got rid of the evidence of my epic fail with boxed color from April 2010.  There's the back.

And there's the front, along with my cousins, my Pappaw, my brother and his wife, and my sister

Learning how to drive with Mammaw

We also got a chance to thank some local Firemen for their participation in the 2012 Fill the Boot campaigns and even stop by one while it was going on.  We stopped by Engine 9 in NLR, of course, and a few of them asked if they could walk with us in March (MDA Muscle Walk 2013)!!!!

This and the picture below are from Engine 1 in Sherwood

And these are with Engine 2, also out of Sherwood at an actual Fill the Boot on Black Friday at Wal-Mart on 107.

Thank you so much to all the firemen in the NLR/Sherwood area!  Ya'll do amazing work and raise so much money for MDA!  Little and the rest of the Palmers and Joneses really appreciate it.

Today's Little's Leaguer is Carson!  Carson is making a muscle for the Little boy who will one day be his cousin.  :)