I've Been Sick. Real Sick.

I'm still sick. It sucks. I even tried to go into work today and I got sent home. It's supposed to be my last day today. Oops. Looks like I'll be coming in next week sometime to wrap everything up.

The last few weeks have been so hectic that I feel like I've been living in a bubble. August has definitely been a blur. True to my last post, I was unable to get phone reception or an internet connection while in Door County on vacation. So from Thursday night until Tuesday morning, I had no way of getting a hold of anyone. What could I do?

Overall, the vacay was good. My family and I went to the outdoor drive-in to watch Cars (great movie!) and Pirates of the Carribean 2 (not so good..) on Thursday night, then we rented bikes on Friday and hit the trails for about four hours at Peninsula State Park. We went to a fish fry that night and experienced the fastest service ever, then we played some games (yay for Scrabble!). Saturday morning we rented kayaks (the first time for all of us!) and then we went swimming and cooked steak, potatoes, and carrots on the grill for dinner that night. Then we got ice cream in town and watched the sunset. On Sunday morning, we went out for brunch and then met up with Laura and her family. A few weeks ago, Laura asked me if I wanted to spend Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with her family in Door County and it just so happened that we were taking a little vacay up there that weekend. So perfect!

With Laura's family, I went swimming on Sunday night and on Monday morning, we got up to go to Washington Island (one of the islands off the Door County peninsula). We took the ferry and then did a little tour of the island once we got over there. It was really fun! That afternoon, we took the ferry back (the ride was really wonderful once it got nice out) and we went to dinner in Egg Harbor. Then, we went to a show at the American Folklore Theatre called Belgians in Heaven. It was SO GOOD! Such a witty, punny, hilarious comedy. It was really great. We had such a terrific time and I had a wonderful time with Laura and her family.

I ended up driving back on Tuesday morning at 6am, so I was absolutely exhausted and, of course, it happened to be the week of our big event. We had gotten most of our work done the week before, so our days required more running around and perfecting things than anything else. Friday was the beginning of the 4th Annual Howard Community Event and we had our Movie in the Park at which we showed Madagascar. Turnout was about 500 people. The next day, we had our 12th Annual Kiddie Karnival, a magic show, Comedy City, Saturday Morning Band, and the Bud vs Miller Showdown. Unfortunately, we had competition - the Brown County Fair, the Oconto County Fair, a Brewer's game, and the first home Packer game. We got a lot of families for the Karnival, but hardly anyone for Comedy City, the band, or the showdown. Oh well. My thought? At least it's over. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love this event - it's tons of fun and it's really exciting to see all the members of the community out enjoying themselves. BUT, it's an exhausting planning process and I'm always glad when it's over. Both Friday and Saturday were about 15 hour work days. Yikes! (Oh, and I just got a new camera, but the computer is not cooperating with me, so I can't seem to get the pics up on this website. Soon, though. Hopefully.)

To celebrate the completion of the event, we (Niki, Emily, Chris, significant others, and I - all work peeps) got together at Niki's new home (it's beautiful, by the way!) for a little party on Sunday night. Well, Niki's neice, Ella, had just gotten sick with a virus that had her puking and pooping all the time; she gave that to her parents who had also just gotten over the sickness last weekend. Jason, Ella's dad and Niki's brother, had been up all Saturday night puking every 30 minutes. Niki made some funny comments about how she couldn't afford to get sick because she had another busy week ahead of her. We laughed and that was it.

Well, fast forward to Monday afternoon after we said goodbye to Emily (she has to go back to school), Niki says, "Oh, Kelly, I feel a little lightheaded and hot." I didn't really think anything of it because I didn't feel bad, so I just brushed it off. Niki left for a prescheduled doctor's appointment and then I started to feel a little lightheaded and hot. Weird. I continued to be a bit nauseated into the evening, but I didn't really think anything was wrong until I woke up at 4am on Tuesday morning to puke. Well, if you know me, you know that I HATE to throw up, so I held it in and hoped it would go away. Again, I woke up every 30 minutes ready to vomit, but I couldn't let myself. I hate it too much. By the time it was 6:30am, I knew I wasn't going to work, so I called Niki (somehow knowing that she was going to be sick, also) and left a message that I wasn't coming in. She called me back right away and said, "Kelly, I have been puking nonstop since last night at 6pm!" Oooh. That sucks. I felt so bad for her. Throughout the day, I found out that not only were Niki and I sick, but Niki's mom came down with the same illness and Niki's husband, Tommy, came home sick from work yesterday morning! Everyone's sick! Be careful!

So that's the story of my life over the past few weeks of August. I can't believe I am going back to Seattle in two weeks! So soon!

Till then, I am going to Milwaukee tomorrow to move my brother into his Marquette dorm room. On Friday morning, I am going to Minneapolis until Wednesday. Then on Thursday, my mom and I are going rafting for the day. On Friday, I will probably go into work for the last time. Then it's Labor Day, and the next Wednesday, I fly back to Seattle! Crazy!

Well, ciao for now, my peeps.