Charlyn’s Web

We went to my parent’s house on Christmas Eve for the annual gathering of my Dad’s extended family. I had talked to my brother earlier in the day and he told me that his son had been ill with a stomach bug. He was no longer throwing up and my brother was waiting for my nephew to get up to see if his fever was gone. I thought that if the fever was gone then he wouldn’t be contagious any more.

We had a lovely gathering of family and a pleasant Christmas morning. But on Wednesday, stomachs started to not feel too good. My Dad and oldest brother started feeling it first then HP complained of a stomach ache. We thought HP was making a fuss about it because he didn’t want to go over to my Aunt and Uncle’s house with us. He wanted to stay with his cousin. So we left him there with strict instructions to stay calm and that his Uncles could take turns beating him if they felt it necessary- or if they just felt like it. The rest of us had a nice visit with my Uncle, Aunt and cousins. The cousins had new boyfriends to get acquainted with and it was an enjoyable time. One boyfriend dances and he and TG were having a grand time performing lifts and jumps plus some wrestling thrown in for fun. TG started acting like her tummy was bothering her which is surprising because she is the one with the steel stomach. We packed the girls up and headed back to Mom and Dad’s.

When we got there we found The Boy laid out on the couch- he definitely had the bug. My Dad and oldest brother were still feeling terrible and my other brother knew he was getting it so he packed up my nephew and headed the hour and a half home while he still could make it. Then TG started in and it was a joyous evening for all.

We had planned on heading home on Thursday afternoon but The Col. checked the weather and saw that there was supposed to be snow accumulation along the freeway and I was worried he or I would get the bug which would make the drive awful to say the least, so we threw our stuff in the van and headed out as soon as we could.

We made it home. KJ hadn’t shown signs of the stomach flu but she had had a bug a few weeks ago so I think she was immune. BUT she came home with a bad cough followed by a fever. She still has a runny nose and isn’t feeling up to snuff. The Col. seems to have sneaked by without being hit. I felt a bit puny for a few days, then felt better and now may be catching the cold part.

We decided not to go to church yesterday. KJ was definitely not well enough to go. We decided that the rest of us were walking petri dishes of festering germs and didn’t want to share anymore. It was a good decision as TG is still showing signs of the stomach bug working it’s way through her system and now has the cold too. HP is still not overly energetic either.

I can just see my cousins and their boyfriends getting this and then having to fly on airplanes. Just the discomfort of that plus spreading the lovely little bug to others on the plane and then it’s all over the States. Oy. Not pleasant thoughts. Who would have thought in the beginning the wide stretching reach of a little bug that we thought wasn’t able to infect us anymore? ‘Tis the Season of giving, I guess.