The week started out on Sunday night while Elise and I were playing with Maly on our bed after giving her a bath and getting her ready for bed. We were playing as usual when all of the sudden she sat up and in full and and eery Regan MacNeil style, projectile vomited the mashed peas she’d eaten for dinner.
Elise and I were dumbfounded. At first we non-verbally exchanged a golden Beavis and Butthead moment.
“Uhhh. Huh huh. She just, like, spewed all over the bed.”
“Heh. Uhhhhhh. Yeah, yeah. That was cool. Or something.”
And before we could engage in the actual parental exchange that would ordinarily express concern, she vomited again.
This time we took things a little more seriously.
Maly had come down with a stomach virus.
Monday was my first day at my new job and I was tired from the night before and kept thinking about my daughter all day. Thankfully Elise took good care of Maly over the two days following.
My second day at my new job started out with waking up, still worried about Maly’s intestinal well-being shortly followed by leaving for the office to find that someone had stolen the face plate from the stereo in my truck at some point the night prior.
Wednesday was a short-timers’ day as everyone anxiously awaited the start of a holiday weekend. I left work around 2 p.m. and headed home so Elise, Maly and I could head out to Mom’s for Thanksgiving.
We got to Mom’s around 8:30 p.m. and Elise and I ate a late dinner after putting Maly to bed. We stayed up and talked with Mom for a while before going to bed.
I woke up at 5 a.m. Thursday morning to hunt the buck I’ve been hunting all season. As usual, no dice. Still too warm outside.
For Thanksgiving Mom, Elise and I decided that instead of the usual fare, we would stew the doves that Dad shot 3 days prior to his death. That was a great way to honor him and feel that he was with us in a way.
Elise and I stayed up until midnight, watching TV. The following morning would make for our first road trip to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving with Elise’s Dad’s family for the first time with Maly.
The following morning, two hours after having gone to bed, would make for the first time your humble narrator came down with his daughter’s stomach virus.
I was up from 2:17 a.m. until somewhere near 10 a.m. on Friday, visiting the bathroom every 20 minutes. That was a blast, let me tell you. Pun intended.
Elise got sick from either 1) nerves or 2) a very minor version of my West Nile Virus and found herself in the restroom later that morning as well. Needless to say, we didn’t leave Friday morning to make it to Oklahoma for the annual Saturday Thanksgiving with the Boeckmans.
So my Mom took care of Maly most of the day on Friday while Elise and I lay in our respective death beds in the living room. We woke ourselves up to watch a gruelingly boring UT vs. A&M game and then a good Colorado vs. Nebraska game. We watched The Family Man after that and finally went to bed — more like passed out from exhaustion. Elise had ran a steady fever all day and I was physically exhausted and dehydrated. It wasn’t until almost noon on Friday until I could hold down even an ounce of water.
We were able to get a decent nights sleep last night. We spent the better part of today pulling wallpaper from Mom’s bathroom — I’m debating if I’d rather stay up all night puking or strip bathroom wallpaper. Jury’s still out on that one.
We’re all well now, thankfully.