January 19-22, 2024
I woke up at 5:30 a.m. I was going to spend the day with my 4 year old grandson Sam and I was looking forward to it. I made tea and a smoothie and got ready to leave. I attempted to be as quiet as possible in order to not wake up Scott and Delany. I left at 6:30 a.m. and drove to my son Shawn and daughter-in-love Bri’s house. It was a 40 minute drive and all went smoothly. All the morning traffic was headed into Salt Lake City and I was headed out, so traffic was light. I was grateful to have my son’s van to drive and not have a rental car. It was all wheel drive and did great on the snow and ice.
When I arrived, it took a while for Little Bit and their 4 dogs to get comfortable with each other. They have a black lab named Buck, a German shepherd named Sheba, a really big chihuahua named Hazel and a shar-pei/great Dane mix puppy named Oden. Bits kept barking and biting at their dogs showing his true little dog syndrome. Eventually all the dogs calmed down and started getting along. It was great to see everyone. Shortly after I arrived, Bri left to take my 12 year old granddaughter Alex to school and go to work. Shawn was working at home and went downstairs to his office. Sam and I did a puzzle together and played “snakes and ladders”. Then we snuggled on the couch, ate bananas together and watched cartoons while I wrote my blog. When Shawn had a break in work he showed me the miniatures he painted and we chatted for a while. I love having fun conversations with my kids. Sam played with legos and hung out with us downstairs. He’s such a sweet boy. Around 12:30 p.m. we all went together to pick up Alex from school since she had a half day. I talked to Alex on the drive home and enjoyed seeing her. When we got back, Alex did her chores and disappeared downstairs. Shawn went back to his office and I played with Sam some more. Their new puppy Oden kept having accidents in the house, so I let him out every half hour and gave him lots of positive reinforcement when he went outside. He’s going to be a big dog and he is so sweet. He would lay on the back of the couch and put his head on my shoulder looking at me with those innocent eyes. You couldn’t help but fall in love with him. When Bri came home from work, we all hung out and talked, then went out to eat. I had a veggie omelette that was not that great. When we arrived back from the restaurant. Bri and I looked up nearby spa’s. I was thinking it would be fun to treat my daughter-in-loves to a spa day. We couldn’t find any good packages and I decided that things weren’t flowing for a spa day. We made plans for us all to go bowling tomorrow and I drove back to Scott and Delany’s. Scott and Delany were already in bed when I arrived. I took a shower and went to bed at around 10 p.m.
The next morning, I hung out talking with Scott and Delany. We found a brunch place that had different foods that we all liked. I had fresh squeezed oj and a salad. They were really yummy.
When we arrived back at Scott and Delany’s. We got a few things together and took Delany’s car to Shawn and Bri’s. We hung out for a little while and then we all went to the bowling alley except Bri, who wanted to stay home. Sam had a lot of fun bowling. He would jump up and down and cheer every time his ball knocked some pins over. I ate a salad and had a couple of alcoholic drinks while I bowled. It was so much fun playing with my kids and grandkids. My heart was happy and we all had a great time. Scott was really good at bowling and I suggested he join a league. I love bowling even though I’m an average bowler. I was on a bowling league when I was in high school and if there was a bowling alley close to me in Texas I would definitely join a league again. My dad was always on a league and would get a strike every time. I got my love of bowling from him. I miss doing fun stuff with my dad and I miss how he made me laugh. He would get me laughing so hard, I would be rolling on the floor laughing with tears coming out of my eyes. There’s been only one other person in my life that could get me to laugh like that and that is my sister’s first husband. I actually saw him briefly last summer to bring him something his son had left at my sisters and he looked to be doing well.
Ok, I’ve gone off on a tangent. Where was I? Oh yes, bowling with the kids. When we finished bowling we went back to Shawn and Bri’s and played a board game. It was one I hadn’t played before called Ticket to Ride. I lost but had fun playing it. I grew up playing cards and board games and could care less about winning. I just like playing them. I had another alcoholic drink while we played and was started to feel a little tipsy. After the game was over, I rode with Delany and Scott back to their house. Delany went to bed and Scott and I played rummy. I realized that I didn’t have my phone with me. Scott checked with Shawn to see if I had left it there and I had. I figured I would get it tomorrow and Scott gave me his tablet to use so I could listen to an audiobook when I went to bed. I don’t remember much after though Scott told me the next day that I won at rummy.
I woke up in the early morning feeling sick sick from drinking. I didn’t remember going to bed but I woke up with a pounding headache and started vomiting violently. I threw up for hours, bile and blood while also having diarrhea. Sweat was pouring out of me and the pain was so intense at times I didn’t think I would survive. Later in the morning Delany brought me a hangover drink. I took a few sips and immediately threw it up. A couple of hours later when I felt like I could drink something again, I asked her to bring me hot water with fresh lime juice. A few sips of that and my stomach stopped cramping. Though the nausea still lingered, I was able to sleep. I slept restlessly for hours and I would sip more lime water each time I would sort of wake up. At 1 p.m. Scott came to check on me and I had just woken up. He wanted to know if I still wanted to go to Shawn and Bri’s. I said I was feeling better and still wanted to go. I got up and got ready to go. I was still nauseous but functional and I wanted to see everyone again before I flew out the next day.
At Bri and Shawn’s house, I got my phone and checked my messages. I thought Christopher would be wondering what happened to me, but I only had one good morning message and nothing else. I was glad he hadn’t been worried about why I hadn’t responded. The kids (I keep calling them kids even though they are adults 😂) and I played a board game that was called Hues and Clues it was a fun game but by the end of it, I was ready to lay down again. Shawn went to the store to get me some aspirin and a game expansion. When he got back, the kids played another board game called Catanthat I had played before and really liked but I wasn’t up for playing it. I chewed up one aspirin and laid on the couch wrapped up in blankets while listening to the kids play the game and talk amongst themselves. It was wonderful listening to them interact and it warmed my heart that my kids all got along so well. While I listened, I practiced not identifying with my body and its drama. I am not my body, I am not my thoughts, I am not my emotions. I am the observer of it all. My spirit is never sick or tired or aged. It is the same now as it was when I was a child. I’ve been listening to Michael Singer the author of the Untethered Soul lately and he talks about this a lot. I was grateful for this opportunity to practice being the observer and relaxing into my spirit self. The Holy Spirit lives within me and is me. Once I stepped into my spirit, I immediately was filled with joy and gratitude. I was grateful for my body’s amazing ability to heal itself when my human self chose to poison it with alcohol. I was grateful to get to spend time with my children and grand children. I basked in gratitude and purred inside as I laid there allowing my body to rest and heal and loving life’s experiences.
When the game was over. I said goodbye to Shawn and Bri, I’d already said goodbye to Sam earlier when he went to bed. Alex hid out and I did not see her. I rode with Delany and Scott back to their house and we all went to bed shortly after we arrived.
The next morning I woke up at 6 a.m. I was still feeling nauseous but otherwise I felt ok. Delany got up to get ready for work and we chatted while she got ready. Then Scott got up to get ready for work and left shortly after Delany. I spent the morning doing laundry, washing my clothes and the bedding I had used. I cleaned the kitchen and straightened up. I like to leave things really nice for people when they let me stay at their house or use their stuff. I went for a walk around the block with Little Bit. I took pictures of plants to get identified on iNaturalist and enjoyed looking at the different houses. I was loving the weather, 44 degrees in a dry climate feels way warmer than 44 degrees in Texas and I was plenty warm in a light jacket. I hadn’t been able to eat other than a banana that I had to force down and thankfully it stayed down. I’d been sipping on lime water, apple juice and cherry juice all morning, my main goal was to stay hydrated with electrolytes. Lemons and limes and fruit juices are great for that, they have vitamins C along with many other vitamins and minerals, plus the citric acid is very alkalizing but most importantly they have sodium. Sodium is hydrating but on the other hand salt is very dehydrating. There’s a big difference between Na (sodium) and table salt NaCl (sodium chloride). If someone is dying of thirst and they drink salt water it will kill them. If they drink fruit juice it will save them. All fruit has electrolytes and sodium, some more than others. Coconut water being the most hydrating of all, which I drank a liter of yesterday at Bri and Shawn’s. People that eat a lot of fruit have really soft skin because fruit hydrates at a cellular level. I spent years studying this stuff and taking courses after I changed my diet and my health improved so greatly. I wanted to know why, so I did the research and learned an incredible amount about food that is not common knowledge but it should be in my opinion.
So anyway, now that I’ve shared my spiel on the amazingness of fruit, where was I? After my walk, I laid down on the couch and listened to an interview of a man sharing his near death experience while I petted my grand puppies Sage and Envy and also Little Bit. I’ve listened to many near death experiences before and they all experience close to the same thing. They see their body from above and experience pure unconditional love. While listening, I realized that the same thing happened to the man I saw burn to death a few months ago. His screams had been haunting me but suddenly I knew he had left his body long before his screaming had stopped and he his suffering was not as bad as I had imagined it to be. It was a huge release and I felt my heart heal from the suffering I had been feeling. I had prayed for clarity on how to process that tragic accident and release the new fears I had created from that experience. I knew answers would come and they did. ❤️
Scott came home on his lunch break to take me to the airport. We said our goodbyes and I thanked him for all ways he accommodated me during my visit. Things went smoothly at the airport, check in was easy, there was no line going through security and everyone was friendly. The 3 hour flight though, was turbulent and with already feeling nauseous, it was intense. I kept my eyes closed and reminded myself to relax and to not identify with the drama in my body. I managed to sleep during some of the flight and that made it go by faster. When we landed, we had to wait a long time before we could taxi up to our gate. Then at the gate we had to wait a long time before they let us get off. I was really glad to finally get off of the plane. I checked on Little Bit in his carrier and he had thrown up a little, probably from all of the turbulence. I was grateful it was only a small amount in the corner of his carrier and I could clean it up later.
My friend Sarah picked me up and had brought me some chocolate rooibos tea. I drank some of it and it tasted so good; but my stomach started cramping up and I couldn’t finish it. We had good conversations on the drive to her boyfriend’s house where my truck was parked. I thanked Sarah for the ride and she gave me some raw food dishes she had made and frozen. I look forward to eating them, her food creations are always really yummy. My stomach was still cramping up from the chocolate and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to drive home. I called Christopher on my trucks hands-free-system when I headed out. I wanted to talk to someone to help distract me from my cramping stomach and to keep me awake since it was getting late and I was tired. We didn’t talk long so I called my mom. She didn’t answer, so I called my sister. She was also tired and didn’t talk long. So I called my boys one after the other, we had good conversations and I easily made it home.
When I arrived home and got out of the truck, I felt cold and exhausted. My stomach had stopped cramping but I still had that alcohol related nauseous feeling. I greeted Angel and Christopher and gave them a hug. It was great to see them. I took a bath that Christopher had ready for me but I couldn’t stop shivering. I went straight to bed and Angel slept on the trundle bed next to me. We fell asleep around 10:30 p.m. listening to a Nancy Drew audiobook.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria