Andrea here! hey all.
So I went to Milwaukee on Tuesday. My mom had an annual appointment with her usual doctor (who she kept even though we both moved out of state) and I had tickets to see Les Miserables with my brother and his wife. (I bought the tickets as a birthday gift to my sister-in-law since it's her favorite musical.)
We were planning on leaving Wednesday and returning on Friday.
I kept an eye on the weather situation and decided to leave on Tuesday instead of Wednesday because snow was predicted on Wednesday and I didn't want to get caught driving in snow. Tuesday was scheduled to be nice. So I rescheduled the hotel and a few appointments, and got ready for the trip.
From the moment I got in the car, EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong, went wrong.
First part of the trip was fairly okay, although I was bummed because I left a few things at home that I wanted to take with me. However, when I was just about halfway there... a massive ice/rain/wind storm hit. It was hailing pea sized hail pellets, raining hard, and turning everything to slush. The tires of my car would get stuck in the slush and pull me one way, while the strong wind pushed me the other. my car was pulled and pushed more than a few times. So I had to start driving slowly.
Of course, on top of it all, I hit construction. All the exits I wanted to take because my gas tank was nearly empty were closed. I was practically driving on vapors in the hail and rain. Finally I found an exit and was able to get off and get some gas. When I got back on the road, I passed like 13 car accidents, most of them were one car accidents caused by people driving too fast for conditions. One had smashed into a barricade, spun around and smashed the other side of her car, one fell into a deep ditch and over turned, one fell down the ditch, into the woods and hit some trees, there was one who hit another car... it was a mess. (In all there were 70 total accidents with 2 fatalities.)
yet, as I drove there were people speeding passed me at 70+ mph. Passing all those accidents not phasing them in the least. The semi drivers were the worst. So it was a very stressful trip.
When I got to the hotel, my mom and I checked in and thought we were settling in, when one of my pups vomited, then got bad diarrhea. That worried us because this pup has a condition known as Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE) which, while it is easy to treat, can be very dangerous, if not deadly for dogs. However, I felt it could also be because of the stress of the trip so I decided to wait and see what happened. He was fine the rest of the night so I started to relax a bit.
The next day I took my dogs to see the vet. I have a local vet, and a Milwaukee vet for when I'm in town visiting my baby nephews or something. they got the vaccinations they were due for, and it was time to go shopping.
Traffic was horrendous. More than a few times morons would cut me off, almost hit me, ride my tail so that if I'd have hit the breaks, they'd have hit me... and after all was said and done, we got nothing accomplished. My mom wanted to find a new coat but couldn't find one... I needed to get some new pantyhose and completely forgot. I did buy a new bra, and had a slight breakdown in the store because I had to buy one cup size up. I haven't been gaining weight so I didn't know why I had to buy a bigger bra... and I started bawling.
a few hours later... my aunt flow paid a visit. Of course now I'd have to deal with that, so much for going swimming in the indoor pool at the hotel. grr. (though that explained why I had a breakdown over a bra in the store.) My mom and I stopped for some McDonald's since we were starving. I got a large soda because I was thirsty. I then proceeded to spill the soda all down my shirt and my pants. The whole large cup's worth. (of course I started crying again.)
My mom went to her doctor's appointment, only to find out... she wasn't scheduled. She had made the appointment, but they forgot to put it into their computer. So instead of a full exam... the squeezed her in for a brief exam and she now has to come back in 3 months for a full physical. So it was a complete waste of time
Then, I bought myself a box of giant Pixy Sticks from Sam's club. when I got them back to the hotel I realized you can't open them without Scissors or something. Which of course I didn't have... so no flavored sugar for me.
the next day my dog started vomiting uncontrollably and I knew his HGE was back. So I took him to the vet, did the proper tests, found out I was right and got him treated. Now I was panicked. My mom was going to babysit my baby nephew while my brother, sister-in-law and I were at Les Mis. What if my pup got severely sick and needed to go to the Emergency Vet? She couldn't handle the two dogs, one who was sick, AND the baby.
So my brother suggested we not go. Um, yeah... I spent $400 freakin bucks on those tickets. So he suggested just me and my sister-in-law go and give away his ticket. It was starting to get all complicated and everyone was stressed out. my mom didn't know what to do, my brother and sister-in-law didn't want to go cause if something happened to my dog while I was gone because my mom couldn't get to a vet, they knew I'd never get over it. So everyone was trying to figure out what to or not to do... and I got to the point I wanted to just throw in the towel.
First the bad trip up... then I didn't get anything I needed when shopping, then my dog got sick, then I got PMS and ended up not being able to go swimming, then my dog got sick again, now the show was hanging up in the air.
well, then my brother called. He was taking my nephew down the slide when the rubber of his shoe got stuck and he twisted his leg. They rushed my baby nephew to the hospital. they couldn't find any break or fracture, but he refused to put his leg down and when they tried to get him to stand up he'd cry "uppies Uppies Uppies". So if he's not better by Monday they have to give him a cast just in case there is a hairline fracture that wasn't seen on the x-rays.
So my sister-in-law's mother (who is a nurse) ended up babysitting him. So we were once again able to go to the show and didn't have to worry about how my mom would handle a sick dog and the baby. On the way there, we hit construction. Only thing was... there was no signs that told us there was going to be construction, so we ended up taking a detour and not knowing how exactly we were going to get back around. As it was, because they took the baby to the hospital, we were cutting it REALLY close and had to skip dinner. On the way, my mom called and stated my dog was vomiting again, and had to go to the E.R. Vet. Since there was nothing I could do but sit and wait like she was, she told me to go to the show and she'd let me know what was happening.
So we got to the theater, and I realized I forgot my special parking permit that allowed us free parking. Fan freakin tastic. When we got into the theater, the lights were starting to dim off and on to let us know we had minutes to get to our seat. Didn't even have time to get a drink. If we weren't in our seats by the start of the show, we wouldn't be allowed in till the scene change.
Once seated, I was checking my phone (which I had on vibrate) every five minutes for a text update on my dog. While it was very good, I couldn't wait for intermission so I could call and get an update. Not to mention, my brother and his wife were worried about the baby. My brother felt so bad that the baby got hurt while they were going down the slide, even though it was an accident that could have happened to anyone. So all of us had our minds on other things.
When intermission hit, absolutely no word. My mom said she was still waiting herself. During the second half of the show, my mom texted and said she was on her way back to the hotel with the dogs. My sister-in-law's mom said the baby was sleeping. So we were able to enjoy the second half a little more relaxed. the second half went really well. When it was over I bought a bracelet, t-shirt and program and then called my mom to ask what the final results were. My dog was having another bout of HGE, and ended up needing a second treatment since the first didn't work, but seemed better now that the treatment was over. However... it was not advisable to travel. He needed a day of rest, so we had to extend our stay by an extra day.
I got home, completely exhausted and pretty much fell asleep the second I got home. The next day, things didn't seem to go all that bad, mostly because we stayed in almost all day. I visited my nephews... my one nephew still wasn't putting weight on his leg... but he was in good spirits.
It was freezing and rained EVERYDAY we were there.
So this morning I go to pick up my birds from the vet. (they were being boarded and needed their annual exams and wing/beak/nail trims). I went to pay... I had no money. My check cashing card was rejected. I forgot all about having to pay for my dog's vaccinations and the following emergency visit... that I went over what I had in the bank. (thank GOD for over draft protection.)
And now, after having spent 2 weeks with a bad upper respiratory infection... I have a really bad sore throat... which means I may be getting sick again... probably caught the cold my baby nephew is sick with.
oh, lets not forget I missed Good Friday Mass and blessing of the food because we couldn't make it back in town on time due to having to stay an extra day since my puppy was sick.
it was the perfect end to a less than perfect vacation. so now I need a vacation from my vacation.
on the up note... my dog seems to be in much better health today, the sun is shining, and I made it home safely. And Les Mis was pretty good in hindsight. But Cheese Whiz.
