oh, what fun

it all started sunday after my parent's arrival. we started the visit off right with dinner at loring pasta bar in dinkytown. it was perfect- the food, the atmosphere, the live tango music and dancers. after that i took my car home, where alisun was unloading the last of her stuff. i decided to go out with her and some of her work friends, so we took my car over to the red dragon. after (probably midnight-ish) we went to grumpy's to do/watch karaoke. bear in mind that i was the driver, so i had only one drink. that was when the monster headache set in. you know the kind of headache where you just want to cry and curl up and not talk to anyone? that's what it was. i was feeling strangely drained and emotional.

because i was driving a bunch of people home, i ended up at their mercy in regards to when we were leaving. so i sat quietly in the booth, afraid that if i spoke i would burst into tears. i didn't get out until between 2-2:30 (which i was really unhappy about, considering i also had to get up to meet my parents in the morning). finally heading to bed between 3:30 and 4, i woke up at 9 not feeling any better. i felt like i had been out drinking all night, which wasn't the case. i met my parents at their hotel and we headed over to the mall of america. we did some shopping, ate at koko island (a tourist trap) did some more shopping, and headed back to the hotel. and by "ate at koko island" i mean they ate, i couldn't really stomach my salad.

the original plan was to rest up at the hotel and then eat dinner at the french meadow, but i wasn't feeling up to it and wanted to go on a night when i would really enjoy it. so when we got to the hotel, we just laid around and ordered snakes on a plane to watch. then we went to the restaurant downstairs for dinner.

it only took one bite of my veggie wrap for my stomach to speak loud and clear "stop! i can't handle you right now!" so i put it down and quietly waited for my parents to finish their meals. i drove myself home, with that same drained and emotional feeling, thinking a good night's sleep was all i needed to get back into the swing of things. my body had other plans, and i woke up at 2:30 running for the bathroom. a crappy night's sleep, indeed.

at 9 am i called my parents and told them they were best off finding their own way here, i wouldn't be able to drive to the hotel. they got a taxi and stopped at walgreens on the way to pick up some imodium, and in the process were warned by many people that people were dying from the flu. thanks for the positive thoughts, people.

the imodium definitely helped the main problem, but i still had a fever, chills, and body/muscle aches. good ol' gastroenteritis. my parents took it upon themselves to go to kowalski's to get some grocery shopping done for me, seeing how i have absolutely no food. when they got back they sat around my apartment, reading and doing their laundry. i slept on and off.

they ended up going to the french meadow by themselves for dinner, which made me a little happier, and they enjoyed it very much. by the end of the day i was feeling better, and i ended up getting a good night's sleep (finally!)

i slept in this morning, and just got word from my parents, who are at the airport waiting to get on their flight to fly to austin to visit amber. turns out my mom woke up this morning at 5 am after having a dream that she was lying on the floor in her office with a stomachache. turns out it wasn't just a dream, and poor ol' dad had to get a taxi, go to the nearest pharmacy, and get her some imodium. lucky for her they got the medicine early enough, so she's feeling better for the flight, though she still doesn't feel great. she made the good point though that i had a tougher time because i was more drained to begin with and it took me a while before i got any medicine.

so all in all, a lousy trip. i was so excited to have these days off to see my parents. i couldn't wait to see the city with them (i still haven't seen much of it), and instead we hung around like a couple of bums. of course my mom also brought up the point that it was kind of like divine intervention, because if i had gotten sick any other time i would have been stuck in the apartment with nothing but water (and alisun wasn't here all day). so it kind of worked out that my parents were here to take care of me.

so i don't know what it is with me getting sick when people visit, but celeste, i'll dry my damn hardest to not get tonsillitis again when you visit.