Christmas 2007

I wonder what's inside!? This pretty much sums up the ridiculousness of my family. We stopped pretending that we are normal a long time ago.

Ooops...

I was supposed to take a teaspoon of cough syrup not a tablespoon. I didn't think cough syrup was supposed to be that much fun.

Goals for tomorrow:

1. Get out of bed.

2. Get to the airport.

3. Make it to Houston. alive.

4. Find car.

5. Drive home.

6. Get back in bed.

"You're medically boring."

Thank you, Dr. Waddell. This was his conclusion after reading my medical history chart. Then he checked me over and concluded that I have a sinus infection, the flu, and bronchitis. But let's start this story from the beginning.

A clue that I may not be feeling well is when I can't eat all that I ordered from Taco Bell. When there are leftovers around me, you know something is wrong. So on Sunday I wasn't feeling well. We (my family and I) were supposed to leave for Texas on Christmas day. But on that day I can't get out of bed, I have a temperature over 102 and can barely breathe. So my mom sets a massive bottle of Tylenol on my dresser and tells me to catch the next flight to Texas. They leave. Tylenol only made the fever go away. After 2 days of feeling like a bus hit me. twice. I decide to make a doctor's appointment. Random selection of doctor. After many phone calls (no one wants new patients) I find a doctor and have to get directions which goes like this:

"Are you coming from the Boulevard or the Shore?"
"What's the Boulevard?"
"Umm...Virginia Beach Boulevard"
"Oh, I dunno. I'm in a house...in a neighborhood.... Cypress Point. I think.... There's a golf course. Ummm"
"What's the name of your street?"
"Uh....good question...let me go check the mail. Actually I'll just mapquest this."
"Good idea."

So I get in a car that I've never driven to a part of town I've never been as I'm coughing up a lung and it's pouring down rain and 30 degrees. Dr. Wadell was cool. He walks in and we start talking and I realize that he's Australian. So I wanted to say something, but what would I say? "So...you're Australian." That'd be like him saying..."so you're sick." Maybe I could ask what part of Australia he's from. But I don't know anything about Australia. Keep your mouth shut, Melissa. I had to keep telling myself this over and over. We chatted for over an hour, partly because he had a good sense of humor, but mostly because I was his only patient the day after Christmas. All of a sudden, I realize that he's not Australian. Not even a little bit. He checks me out and determines that I am need of several medications:

1. Z Pack. BOR-ING. Ok, Dr. Wad-DULL, don't be so obvious.
2. some kind of nasal spray from outer space. This stuff is ridiculous. It's like snorting Vaporub. He told me that people get addicted to it and gave me a lecture for about 15 minutes. I really don't want to go to rehab for nasal spray. How embarrassing.
3. Cough syrup. No no no. I don't do cough syrup, Dr. Waddell. When he assures me that this cough syrup is laced with Vicodin, then I knew he was the greatest doctor on the planet.

After setting off the car alarm at Walgreens(while I'm in the car) I told the pharmacist that I would wait for my prescriptions so I don't have to come back here and get lost again. I spent over $100 on prescriptions, soup, and vitamin water.

So I get home to play with the medication. The cough syrup looks like what I kept coughing up. NASTY! But I pour it in a shot glass to psych myself up and chant VICODIN! VICODIN! and chase it with Vitamin water. WOOOHOOO!!! I was ready to PAR-TAY!

Needless to say, I'm feeling alot better today. Not totally well, but much better.

Are we still in high school??

I just have to ask. Due to all the latest drama I need to know....are we adults living in adult world? or is this high school part 2?

by the way, my mom sent me a text a few days ago that said:

"ideas for christmas gifts. HSM2?"

YES!!! I love it. I love HSM and even more HSM2, but I don't want to be in high school again. ever.

Killarney

Ummm...not sure what to say about this town. It was cute. Maybe my favorite town. Not alot going on, but very quiet and quaint. We took a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry, walked around the town a little, and hung out at the cutest hostel ever made called the Sugan.

Inside the Sugan.

On the side of the road. Stuff like this is everwhere in Ireland. Random remains of castles.

We had lunch here.

Blarney....not baloney

What they don't tell you about the Blarney Stone is that in order to get to it you have to put your life in danger and climb a 30000 year old castle that is falling apart. It was pretty scary at some points. Being the clumsiest person alive, I'm very thankful that I didn't fall. And yes, people have fallen and died. But it's all worth it to kiss the stone and receive the gift of eloquence. Which I obviously didn't need to do.

I'm glad I didn't fall.
Yeah, try walking on that.

All for this stone. It looks like I'm crying, but I'm really laughing. I think. Maybe I was crying.

View from the top.

You think you know...but you have no idea.

Let's just say that we had a little plumbing issue early this morning. New carpet will be in order for tomorrow for just about 1/2 of the apartment. As I was standing in 3 inches of water this morning, I was wondering what is God trying to teach me? (Actually, let's be honest. I was thinking 'what is God doing to me?') So I did what I always do in a stressful situation. Called my school for a sub. Went to CVS and overloaded on peanut hershey kisses and diet dr. pepper. Life is a little better now.

The craic was mighty!!

That means that I had a good time in Ireland. Craic= good times, fun. So you could ask "where's the good craic?" and they would tell you. And yes it's pronounced like "crack". I was only there for 7 days but I saw most of the country. There's alot to tell so I'm going to try to go in sequential order.

Arrived in Dublin. Took the bus to Cork. Hid my camera and tried to act like I wasn't a tourist. Sorry no pictures to display at this point. However, I did encounter a little culture shock. At the airport I was walking through baggage claim and there was an Irish lady pushing a cart and shouting "RUDE!" and pointed at each person she was passing. I tried desperately to get out of her way, but of course I jumped right in her path of craziness and she pointed and shouted "RUDE!" at me. I'm thinking, wow, are all the Irish like this? Luckily, I got out of Crazy Town and several nice people helped me find my way to the bus station and even one lady let me use her phone when I couldn't figure out how to use my phone card to call my sister.

So I get on the bus and it's pretty nice. We stopped along the way for a restroom/food break at a place that would be equivalent to a gas station but no gas. As I am leaving the restroom, I run into another Irish lady. She stops me and says, "teeelets." ummm, okay. So I smile and say hi. And she looks very confused and says, "do you know where?" Umm. "Excuse me?" "Teeelets?" "I'm not sure." She looks very angry at this point. "Teelets??!!" "I'm sorry, I really don't know what you are asking. Are you asking for the restroom? Toilets?" "NO! TEELETS!!" Oh, my gosh. I'm obviously not from here. Doesn't my obnoxious American accent tell you anything? However, this doesn't seem to deter her from getting louder. "Well, if you are looking for the toilets, it's right there." I point to the massive sign that says "Toilets". She says, "are you sure?" "YES. Very sure." So toilets is what you say instead of restroom. But it's pronounced Teelets. We definitely speak the same language. This is going to be harder than I thought.


Imagine all the stereotypes you have about the Irish and what Ireland is like and that is what it is. The men look like rugby players, they curse ALOT, they say inappropriate things ALOT, there are A LOT of pubs, everyone looks the same, Feck is their favorite word (yes, that is how they pronounce it), there are lots of red heads, old men walk with canes and little Jack Russell dogs, all beer comes in a pint, it's rainy and/or cloudy most of the time, there are random old castles on the side of the road everywhere, potatoes are served with every meal.

This is Katie. She is the youngest of the kids and she is obsessed with pink. She also came into my room and told me that it was messy and proceeded to pack my suitcase for me. Her favorite game is "what's this". She asked her mom what color I was, hoping that I would be pink. As you can see from the picture, she's a little diva.

Here are some pics of Cork.

To be continued......