Weekend Review {12/19}

How about a late weekend review to lead into Disney recaps, shall we?

FRIDAY

Friday I worked until lunch time, then went home, packed a bag, and headed towards Raleigh to meet Teh Sister.  Her graduation from Campbell University was to go down on Saturday and rather than spending all my life on Saturday driving too and from BFE, NC, I opted to drive up on Friday night and crash with Teh Sister and BIL.  #notsorry

I decided that Yurtle needed a bath.

I arrived around 4 and Teh Sister wasn't there yet.  She had added me to the reservation so I could check in though, which was nice.  Before I checked in, I made a pitstop at Walmart and then headed to the hotel.  I brought my crap inside and settled in to do some reading and may have dozed off for about 20 minutes (which turned out to be very beneficial).

When Teh Sister arrived around 6, we chatted for a bit, then decided on an italian place nearby with good Yelp reviews.  We didn't have a reservation, because I didn't know we needed one, but we only waited about 30 minutes to be seated.  Our server was awesome, as was the family at the nearby table.

We were entertained by the kids at the next table singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  "You know Donner, and Dasher, and Dancer, and Dixon."  The mom commented to the dad, "Is he says dicks?"  Dad wasn't sure.  Eventually we all figured out he was saying Dixon instead of Blitzen.  Kids are funny sometimes.

After having the garlic knots, Teh Sister made the official decision that we would be returning to the same restaurant for her post-graduation lunch.  We made reservations for the next day when we I paid.  Our server proved her excellence when I asked for a to-go water and she mentioned they only had small cups.  I told her that was better than nothing since we were in a hotel with gross tap water.  She came back with 2 of the giant containers like you get soup in from a Chinese restaurant, filled with water, and with lids in tow!  She even poked a hole in the lid for us so we could get a straw through!  She definitely got an awesome tip.

All day on Friday, my throat was hurting.  I could hear my voice slowly giving out.  I needed water and a lot of it.  I was still determined I wasn't getting sick, definitely not within days of our Disney trip.  Nope, nope, nope. 

After dinner, we headed to Target to pick up a few items.  I ended up picking up a few NCSU shirts because why not?  I also bought a new warm hat which Teh Sister almost shoplifted because she was wearing it the entire time we were in the store.  We kept one lady entertained as we ran into her throughout the store with our banter.  At one point she turned around and said, "I knew it was you two!" with a laugh.  #proudmoment

We did some ShopKicks and then finally we headed towards RDU to pick up Teh BIL.  There was some drama at dinner because we weren't certain if his plane, which had been delayed, had taken off from Salt Lake City.  Eventually, the Delta app updated and we learned that they were actually in the air.  They had taken off so quickly that Teh BIL didn't even get to shoot of a final text message to say they were on the way.  #okthen

We waited from 11pm-0030 in the cell phone waiting area.  When he finally landed, it was 30 degrees and raining.  Splendid.  Once we got him loaded up, we headed back to our hotel in Fuquay-Varina.  It was an interesting hour long slip and slide type ride.  I underestimated the temperature and the rain and the first bridge we came to, I was going faster than I should have been.  Fortunately, it was just a scare since no one was around us and I had been driving in the middle-ish of the bridge.  I definitely slowed my roll after that.  We passed several accidents.  No salt had been laid on the road, so the roads were horrible.  As we made our way down 440, the highway was completely closed off and we had to detour off the exit, do a u-turn, and get back on 440.  I made a pit stop for gas before getting back to the hotel so I wouldn't have to get it on Saturday and thought I'd freeze my patooty off.  I did get to witness Yurtle's first icing of 2016 and I discovered that the way the water freezes on my tires makes them whistle. 

We finally made it back to the hotel and it was all I could do to brush my teeth before crashing in the bed.

SATURDAY

When I woke up Saturday, I felt like death.  After less than 4.5 hours of sleep, an early start was the last thing I wanted.  With no choice, I finally got up, showered, and got ready.  A bit later, we were all ready to go.  Teh Sister had to be at the gym by 09, so we were out of the hotel by 0810.  We did decide to make a pitstop at Starbucks, which was down the street.  Equipped with a peppermint mocha, I felt like I could handle life better.

We made our way to the gym and Teh Sister got us around a majority of the traffic.  She was right on time.  Teh BIL and I continued walking around, looking for where families went in and every usher we came to was unhelpful.  Not only did they not bother to tell us we were or weren't headed in the right direction, most of them just looked at us like we didn't belong there.  When I made the suggestion to go through a door that an usher was standing in front of, he didn't bother to move, so I assumed the door was locked.  In actuality, it wasn't.  I saw several other people pass through.  By the time we came to another usher, I was telling Teh BIL I wasn't sure if we were in the correct place and rather than speak up and tell me we were in the correct place, the nearby usher just stared at us.  Uhhh don't you have just ONE job?  Whatever.

We finally made it in and found Teh Mom.  We also made friends with the family behind us.  I did my first faceswap ever with a complete stranger.  #lifegoals  Eventually, Teh Dad and Teh Stepmom arrived as well.  Finally, the ceremony started.  Teh Sister was in the front row since she was in the business school, woot.  This was good and bad.  It meant that she was early and we didn't have to pay attention for the entire ceremony, but it meant that we had to endure the remaining 350 student's names being called.  This wouldn't have been a problem except that despite asking the audience NOT to cheer for their individual and to wait until the end of the section, they did anyways.  This wouldn't have been a problem, except that I was sick and grouchy and WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST FOLLOW THE DAMN RULES?!?!  Enduring 350+ woos/screams from families in a completely silent gym made me want to explode. 

During all this, the chills started.  My neck and shoulders were hurting so bad that I had to ask Teh Mom to rub them for me so I wouldn't get sick.  I was dying.  After 2 hours, the ceremony finally ended.  We got a few pictures with our grad and then we parted ways.  I rode with Teh Mom to the restaurant where we were having lunch while Teh Sister and BIL gave Teh Dad and Stepmom a ride to their car, stopped by the bookstore to pick up a Campbell shirt for me (since I didn't have one), and then made their way to the restaurant. 

Our restaurant experience this time was totally different.  The bartender was our server and he sucked.  He was barely at our table, I got refills from the table busser, and I had to go to the bar to request our checks and asked them to be separated.  He delivered them 10 minutes later and I was overjoyed to see that the appetizer and dessert that I didn't eat were on my bill.  I didn't give a shit.  I just wanted to pay and leave.  I had planned on leaving a tip because the service was so shitty, and I had to leave a tip since no one had small bills for me to leave the exact amount.  Ugh. 

Once I put my cash down, I was ready to go and I got up to start hugging everyone goodbye.  Teh Mom informed me that they had to wait on their cards to be returned and I was confused.  At which point, they informed me that I had ridden with Teh Mom, not driven myself.  FML.  I felt so bad that I couldn't even remember I hadn't driven.  I was trying to get on the road before I started feeling like complete ass again.

Frustrated, the bartender finally brought their cards back and we were able to leave.  Teh Mom dropped me off at Yurtle, who was patiently waiting for me at the hotel.  I hit the road.  I made a stop at Walgreens for sudafed since my head was starting to hurt and ate 2 pills on my way out the door.  When I got to the car, I noticed that they were 30mg pills instead of 10mg pills.  Oops. 

It took about an hour for everything to become unbearable.  Before I even hit the SC line, I took an exit with a gas station and took a 30 minute nap in the car.  I was so, so, sooo over everything.  When I woke up, I wasn't really feeling better, but at least tolerable.  I got back on the interstate and made it home by 7:30.  The company of Jamie and Claire really helped a lot.

When I got home, Teh German essentially turned me back around after I dropped my stuff in the foyer and told me he was taking me to the doctor.  He had been to the doctor for his sickness on Friday and he was infinitely better and he was hoping the same could happen for me.  We got to the urgent care place 15 minutes before they closed.  I was out in 10 minutes.  They did a strep test (negative) and wrote me a prescription for 2 cough syurps and a z-pak.  I was hesitant on the z-pak because the last time I was on it, I was in high school and it felt like there were crochet needles being jammed through the back of my skull.  I couldn't be sure if it was the z-pak or the stress at work at the time, so I was ok to try it again (ya know, while at Disney World).

Originally, they had told me to fill it if it was necessary, but knowing that I wasn't really going to be able to rest and let my body recover and that I was going to be around half the world's population, I went ahead and decided to fill the prescription.  We left urgent care and headed to CVS.  We arrived at 8:04pm, 4 minutes after their pharmacy had closed.  Some Googly searches informed me that all the other pharmacies in the area had also closed at 8 and we were fucked.  As we made our way home, I hatched the plan that we would still leave at 9 on Sunday and when we stopped for lunch we'd find a place with a pharmacy and drop off the scripts first, then pick them up before we got back on the highway.

Once we got home, I tried to do some work that I had put off on Friday afternoon and ran into some technical difficulties which rendered me unable.  I sat with the Germans while they ate dinner until they finally sent me upstairs to take a bath and go to bed.

The bath was a wonderful time.  I had been having chills the entire day and I'm pretty sure that most of the water was as hot as it would go.  I did add some cold water towards the end, but not much.  While I was in the bath, I was informed that there is a 24-hour pharmacy in Summerville, which I quickly passed on to Teh German, who immediately set out at 10pm with my presciptions and HSA card to get them filled for me.  #bestboyfriendever

It was shortly before 10:30pm when I finally decided to get out of the bathtub.  In short order, I was tucked away in bed.  About an hour later, Teh German came home with a bag of drugs for me.  2 cough syrups and the z-pak.  I took the meds and then fell right back asleep.  I do remember waking up in the middle of the night with some serious stomach pains, which I attributed to taking medication on an empty stomach since I hadn't eaten dinner.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning I wasn't feeling greatly improved as Teh German had hoped would be the case.  Nonetheless, I got up and got moving.  Teh German tried to get sassy when we hadn't left by 0905, but I explained to him that I had built in buffer time for all of our plans, knowing how Teh German Time works.

We got on the road around 9:30.  I had planned on arriving in Orlando around 3.  I hadn't accounted for stopping or traffic, oops.  We actually ended up arriving at Disney around 5:30.  We did hit some traffic on 95 and then again when we got to Orlando.  We also stopped 2x, once for gas and again at the FL welcome center so the Germans could have orange juice.

Instead of checking in at the hotel and dropping our stuff off, we went straight to Disney Springs since we had reservations at T-Rex at 6.  We were able to find parking pretty easily since we were so far away from everything, little did I know.  We ended up taking the ferry across to T-Rex instead of walking along the shops.

I had never eaten at T-Rex before, so it was a first time for everyone.  It is actually like a Rainforest Cafe, but dinosaur themed.  Teh German was smitten, as I'd expected.  There was a meteor shower every 15 minutes, which was cool.  Also, the dinosaurs moved which was pretty cool.  In true Disney fashion, Teh German and I shared a meal since we knew that we wouldn't have been able to each eat our own meal. 

With dinner accomplished, we decided to walk through Disney Springs and enjoy some of the shops.  Having been to Disney World and Disneyland this year, there was little left that was tempting for me to purchase.  Yay for such restraint!  When we were tired, we booked it to Baloo to head to the hotel.

I had received an email earlier in the afternoon saying our rooms were ready, so we didn't even have to go to front desk to check in, we could go straight to our rooms.  After we parked and got Baloo unloaded, I found our rooms and we turned in for the night.

________________________________________

Despite how hard I had tried to avoid getting sick, it still caught up with me.  I was super pissed.  I am glad that Teh German forced me to go to the doc, because I can only imagine how miserable I would have been if I didn't have meds (probably as miserable as I was at Teh Sister's graduation).  We had a slammed schedule for our 2 days at Disney and I am glad I got to make the most of it, even if I was doped up on cough syrup and I got a rash.. on my face.. from my z-pak. 

I will be recapping the Disney trip in another post, promise.  I haven't had time to gather all the photopass photos or upload my own photos yet.