A Rather Rough Weekend

What a weekend! It all started Thursday at the doctor when it was discovered that this bump that spread on my arm was indeed not a bug bite but poison ivy. That is beginning to clear up now but is certainly still there. After the doctor, Sam and I went to Lowe's and Wal-Mart to get Carrie's Mother's Day present, a bench for the front yard and the recent DVD release, "P.S. I Love You."

Friday: I worked a double at the restaurant (for those who don't know, a double means working both lunch and dinner on the same day), training in the morning, taking 3 tests between shifts, and foodrunning/expo at dinner. I had an hour of lull time so I went to Joseph Beth...this was enjoyable as I glanced through a book about changes in baseball parks over the years and then some Kentucky books that highlighted history, scenes, etc. from my native western Kentucky area.

Saturday: got up early to meet with some guys and talked about life...that was good. Went home and prepared for the highlight of the weekend: The Amazing Race--Nicholasville UMC Young Adult Edition. The race was set to last from 1pm till around 4pm. My team was jacked and raring to go. One of the early stops was at the seminary library where the clue was found in a particular book. I dug the clue out, ran outside to meet the guys at the van...they picked me up as I began reading the clue: "Go to High Bridge!" Halfway to High Bridge I remember an important thing about riding in vehicles and a certain health condition I have (Meniere's). Since I was not driving, motion sickness began to set in and it was too late to ask to drive. After we obtained the necessary clue from High Bridge, we started to head back to Wilmore. "Kenny, stop the car I'm gonna have to hurl!" By the time I got out of the car and felt like I had to upchuck, I felt the onset of a vertigo episode...NOT GOOD! I get out my phone as my fingers begin locking up from dehydration and tried to call Carrie, whose phone had been working off and on that day...guess if it was an "on" or "off" moment...tried the other #'s on her team...still No Answer. Since we were ahead of her team, one of my team mates (Matt Johnson) was able to flag her down...they get me back into the car and to a nearby house of one of the participants. I laid down and got some Gatorade to get rehydrated but still was in no condition to finish the race so I was taken back to the church (the start and finish line) so I could take a nap to sleep off the dizziness/vertigo symptoms. By the way, my team won!!!

Sunday: Mother's Day. Off to a great start! After Church we're having a cookout with the neighbors (Brandon & Angie Roach), who hosted a party for Mother's Day and it was also a birthday for his wife. We used my grill, which happened to run out of propane very early in the process. Brandon (neighbor) is also out so went to get replacements at the local ACE Hardware. He gets back and the grilling is a success, despite high winds and rain. I had a burger and 2 hot dogs for lunch and begin feeling some food allergy symptoms strangely similar to my reaction to chicken and turkey. "Oh S---! I forgot to ask Brandon if the hot dogs had poultry in them." Most people (even doctors) think it's not a real allergy, it's in my head, or whatever but do not know the serious pain my body goes through after eating poultry or fish (I can eat shell fish all day long and not be bothered, but salmon, catfish, tuna, et al. causes the same reaction as poultry). It's a pain in the lower esophagus/stomach area that must be like contractions of some sort because it's extremely painful for about 10 seconds and then is fine. These pains come and go for a period of anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The pains began about 2:30 pm and were ferocious around 3:00 but after some Pepto, lots of water, and time they are mostly gone now (4:30 pm).

I can only hope tomorrow and the following days bring more pleasant experiences than those I had this weekend.

P.S. I've been mulling over some theological topics for blogs that will be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead: more on Philippians (perhaps a blog entry per chapter), purgatory, and who knows, maybe some theology will come out of these health problems I've been having.