Three Generations & a Baby (or toddler as the case may be)...

aka - The trip from hell...

So, choosing to go on a 9 day trip with my mom, son, aunt and grandma seemed like a good idea at the time, however, after 2 ER trips, a total of 32 hours in a car (not counting random trips about town), sleepless nights due to snoring as well as late night bathroom trips which involved lights and running water (in a very small hotel room) and never being able to choose a place to eat, I may have rethought the trip.

I found out that I had to go on a business trip to Louisville, KY, which is only about 2.5 hours away from one of my best friends' mom's house. I thought, "Great! We will leave a few days early and head up to see Sarah." (I haven't seen her since June). I asked my mom to go with me so she could help with Moose while I was working and she agreed. Then she asked if it was ok if Granny came. I said sure, the more the merrier. My mom mentioned it to my aunt (her sister) and she seemed to really want to go, so my mom asked her as well. So now we have 4 adults and a 2 year old in a Honda Pilot.

Sunday morning arrives (the day after Moose's birthday party... what was I thinking?) and we head out... Leaving at 8:00am... oh wait, we have to go by my Granny's house to pick up some medicine to drop off at with my aunt which is sort on the way, but not really. Ok, 9:00am and we are on our way!

Moose did amazing on the trip. I was so proud! We ended up stopping outside of Chatanooga, TN, for the night but we still needed to eat. Out we go again looking for food. "How about Mexican?" My mom asks. "No, I don't like that kind of food... What is that again?" Granny replies. Mama says "It's tacos, mama. You like tacos." Granny "That's not a meal, I want a meal." Ok... what's next? "Oh how about Ryan's Steakhouse?" mom asks. Granny, "No, you know how buffet's do me." Hmm... ok, finally we decide on some other restaurant.

Ah... sleepy time... ZZZzzzzz, ZZzzzz, "What is that?" I thought. Snoring? Seriously? This is a very small hotel room. My mom is tossing and turning. She gets up and rummages though her purse and come back to bed. "I have ear plugs in my purse, but I can only find one." I'll take it, I thought. It has to be of some help. So I take said earplug and put it in my ear. I then shove my other ear in the pillow. It sorta works. That is, until I roll over. I then take the earplug out of one ear and switch it. It was a long night.

The trip to IN was amazing. It was so good to just hang out with Sarah again (I hate that she live in IN, yes I said hate, I'm ok with that) and her parents made it feel like home away from home. This was also the uneventful part of our trip, very relaxing, very nice.

Then we get to Louisville. At this point, Moose is really starting to cough, get fussy, and not want to eat. There are so many things that it could be (travel, teething, allergies, etc...) that we don't think anything of it. That was Thursday. Friday morning my mom woke me up (I was sleeping on the couch in the separate room so as to actually sleep before I had to be at the tradeshow at 8:30am) at 2:00am. "Moose is shivering and she keeps waking up coughing and whimpering". As my brain adjusted to being awake, I said "What do I do?", of course, cause I reverted back 16 and not a responsible mom, as I have stated before, I am not good in an emergency). Mom thought we should take him to the ER. Um... Ok... where exactly is that? We are 14 hours from home and I don't know anything about Louisville. So we ask the hotel desk clerk. She gives us the address, all I can say is thank goodness for GPS'! After about 4 hours in the ER, we find out that it is Hand, Foot & Mouth disease which is a virus and only treatable with motrin and tylenol. Fantastic, can't wait to see that bill.

Back to the hotel. I ran into my boss in the lobby (it's not 7:00am) and she is getting ready for the show. She asks if I am ok and my reaction is to turn into a blubbering fool. She tells me to get some rest and come over when I can. Thank you.... I have really great boss'.

Nap, nap, nap... Wake up at noon and head over to the show. About an hour and a half later, I get a call from my mom. "Honey, we are taking granny to the ER." She had been having dizzy spells, swelling and wasn't feeling right. "Ok, let me know how it goes." So now, my mom and aunt are dealing with a sick 2 year old and a sick mom. Great trip. My aunt spends all afternoon in the ER with her and mom spends the afternoon with a sleeping Moose.

Bleh.... Crappy trip. The tradeshow was less than successful to say the least and my toes are still numb from standing on concrete for about 10 hours in very unsupportive shoes.

The trip home was way less eventful, but did I mention that my boss was ticketed on the way up to the show because it is apparently illegal in GA to not move over to the other lane if a cop has some one pulled over. Oh, yea, then their car broke down and stranded them in Louisville for an extra day.

Fun times... I get to do it all again in Feb, only this time to Vegas!