There are very few things I hate more in this world than stomach viruses. However, there IS one thing that can top the misery of a plain stomach virus and that is one while you’re on vacation.

Our last night at the beach, Edie woke me up around 2:00 a.m. crying in her bed. I immediately knew what had happened from the smell that filled our room. I said a quick “thank you” to God that we weren’t sharing a bed, and then went running to the bathroom for towels.

I’m always surprised how well I handle her throwing up, and if I can name only one example of my “motherly” instincts kicking in, it is in these circumstances. In the moment, you know it’s totally gross and by all logic you should be gagging right along with your kid, but that all gets forgotten because your top concern is consoling the child who doesn’t understand what is happening-or in this case, keeps happening.

The rest of the night was spent waking every half hour or so for her to puke into another towel, console her, and put her back to bed. It was a very long night for all of us, including my mother, but man, was I glad she was there. Her “motherly” instincts were kicking in too by washing towels and linens, leaving me free to cuddle the patient.

The drive home was pretty miserable having had no sleep and Edie still not finished puking up everything but her toenails, but we were women without a country, or in this case, a condo, so there was nothing left to do but get in the car and drive home.

It took her about forty-eight hours to fully recover, which really was perfect timing because that was when she decided to pass the baton on to me. I have yet to really shake it completely.

This past week has been the pits, or as Edie likes to call it, the “arm pits”. She actually thinks that’s what this horrible virus is called. I, however, have another name for it, and it’s not near as cute.

I know you are going to feel terribly sorry for me when I say this, but ever since Ken and I have returned from our two week vacation in Italy, we have had very little time alone with each other. It has either been traveling for work, building a deck, or just the munchkin’ eating up all of our time lately. Well, this week we had the opportunity for Edie to spend the night with some friends that graciously decided to take her at the last minute when Ken’s friend, Daddy Warbucks, invited us for another fabulous dinner at his fancy restaurant.

I don’t use the term “graciously” very lightly. First I called about an hour before I needed to drop her off and basically said, “Hey, by any chance can you cancel any plans that you have and let my kid come over because what I have the opportunity to do is way more fun!?”

Well, not only did they go for that then as Edie and I walked into their house, she proceeded to puke French fry bits and apple juice all down her chest. On a side note, this is a true testament to how well the anti-nausea medication is working because I am telling you right now as the regurgitated apple juice dripped off my hand, I would have been convulsing and running towards the toilet myself had it not been for that medicine.

Now, a more compassionate mother would have probably seen this as fate’s way of cancelling her plans for the evening, but not me. I calmed Edie down, cleaned her up, and then gave my sweet girl hugs and kisses for the night and was off to jump into my carriage before it officially turned back into a pumpkin. (Of course, I did weigh my options for several minutes and then made this decision at the insistence of my sweet friends-I am really not THAT selfish.)

Ken and I made a night of it. First we had dinner, followed by a show featuring singer/songwriter Drew Holcomb and his lovely wife, Ellie. As we were walking out of the restaurant, Ken was feeling extra saucy and throws out the idea of going to see a late movie. You should just know right now, this is very unlike us. I was actually kind of shocked-first that my husband would voluntarily invite me to a movie seeing as how this treat is only saved for special date nights such as an anniversary or my birthday, and second that it was already after ten! I mean, we are parents for crying out loud, are we allowed to stay out past ten?! We decided to throw caution to the wind.

We had a great time just getting to spend some time with each other, and of course, making out in the movie theater was a nice change from the couch-I’m totally kidding! We don’t do that anymore–we are married for crying out loud! And you will be happy to know, Edie has been puke free ever since her incident.