A Christmas to Remember- Part I

It's funny the way things work out. The night before we were set to leave on our eight-hour trek to Beulah, North Dakota, I shared with my husband how excited I was to visit my family and to see developments in my parents' home construction/remodel. I also recall watching Hunter eating breakfast that morning, marveling that he had not been sick in quite some time. I should have knocked (slammed my fist) on wood.

The morning of our trip, Hunter refused to eat and then put up a fight with almost everything we were attempting to do. Wouldn't get dressed. Wouldn't get off the couch. Wouldn't stop yelling. You get the picture. Now, I know my son. He has a lot of anxiety, which gets heightened when he is excited about something. I chalked his behavior up to anxiety and excitement. However, about an hour into our trip, Hunter's face became very pale and he started crying....and then throwing up. We pulled over on the side of the interstate (not safe, I know) and cleaned him up. We stopped at the next gas station to buy some essentials and determined that we would keep driving until he threw up again. Yes, we thought he might be throwing up from excitement. It's happened before. But about fifteen minutes later, he was sick again...and again...and again. Because we were so jam packed into the car, we had to start getting creative with what Hunter could throw up in. Barnes and Noble bag. Stocking cap #1. Stocking cap #2. Again, you probably get the picture. I really didn't think we'd ever make it home. After driving for 3 1/2 hours, we made it home. Hunter continued getting sick until 10 p.m. that evening. The poor little guy was so devastated about not seeing his Papa and Grandma and Cousin Hudson, but at one point, even he said, "I just want to be at my house."

We did make one more stop before heading home. We stopped at the Game Stop to purchase "Indiana Jones" for the DS. We wanted to cheer Hunter up a bit and wanted him to have something to do as he laid in bed "waiting" to be sick. It did the trick in terms of entertainment but as you know, he continued to be ill throughout the day and night.

So what were we confronted with besides having a sick child, you ask? Christmas dinner.... I hadn't anticipated cooking anything. And, the storm of the century was headed our way. After I bathed Hunter and put him to bed, I raced to Lunds, the only place I had even a slight chance of finding a prime rib. As I drove and as I shopped, I had to do a lot of self-talk. I'm not really great in crowds. To share some of my many flaws- I have no patience, I am quick-tempered, I am severely claustrophobic. I did keep everything in check as I shopped, though. I even chatted cheerfully with the lady in front of me as I stood in a line that weaved through the store. She told me that in her forty years of shopping at Lunds, she had never seen the store quite like it was that day. Must have been procrastination coupled with the brewing snowstorm.

When I arrived home, I sent Mitch out for the things I had forgotten to buy. He also made his way around the Twin Cities area looking for "Super Mario Brothers" for the Wii. When he got home, he said the same thing I had said two hours before: "I'm not going out there again!"

(to be continued)