The Christmas That Wasn't

At least, that's the way this year's Christmas seemed to me.

I left work on Christmas Eve just after noon, as the worker bees were told we could leave if our work was finished. Mine was, thankfully, as I was not certain I could get through the remainder of the day. I was flush, was chilled, very tired and sluggish, and was wondering how I could have contracted my second flu-like illness in six weeks. I managed to turn my usual 12-minute walk from office to car into an 18-minute "marathon" in the wind and cold. I did manage to get myself pointed in the right direction, and the car brought me home safely.

I slipped into bed just before 1:00 p.m., and, except for two restroom visits, I stayed there for 18 hours, until 9:00 a.m. Christmas morning. During the night it seemed to hurt everywhere whenever I moved, and The Missus said I was moaning and groaning whenever she checked on me. So, I missed Mass and the normal festivities at The In-Laws house, where lots of family gather around for food and fun. Handsome Son said it was just not the same without me there.

Thanks, Son!

Sadly, I was not the only person to feel the effects of the Christmas Eve Bug. Miss Texas, up for a visit along with Handsome Son, soon fell prey to the bug, and was delivered back to the manse for some rest & recuperation. During the night, she became a long-range victim of Montezuma's Revenge, and had a thoroughly miserable night. At one point she passed out and Handsome Son was unable to get her to respond at first, so the squad was called. They believed she was dehydrated and offered to transport her to the hospital, but she decided to pass. Two hours later, The Missus and Handsome Son took her to the ER anyway, and there she remained for about three hours. She came back, got sick immediately, and went to bed for about 8 hours, coming down long enough to open her gifts, and returning to bed to try to shake off the bug. This morning she was much better, but still only about 85-90% at best, but was still able to travel back to Texas.

Handsome Son, meanwhile, had started his version of the bug, and was thoroughly miserable as well, but he gutted out the flights back home to Texas.

We asked my wife's parents not to stop by yesterday, as they did not need to get a version of whatever we had.

In addition, I took my car in for work; and now Firestone is about $900.00 better off than I am.

I wanna do-over for Christmas!