BUG OFF!

It's been three full weeks now that we've had the BUG in our family... yes, the digestive track virus got us good! I think it has finally gone through all of us and has gone away, but I'm not completely sure, since this thing is a doozey! You'd think we never wash our hands and drink after each other at every meal... (Okay, that might describe us on some days, but not for the last three weeks... we've been so careful since the bug hit!)

We've successfully passed it to Leon's parents and sister's family, too, while we were down in New Orleans for vacation. I feel so bad about that! I really thought we were done before we went down there. Emily and George had gotten it and were better. But then it reared it's ugly head again just as we got settled in at Leon's parents' home, hitting Leon and Trey. And then it got to me the day Leon and I stole away for a two-night rendezvous in the Garden District. Our Commander's Palace and K Paul's meals, meant to be the highlight of the trip, became more of a test in what my tummy could take. Although the trip ended up being less than romantic because of the BUG, Leon's surprise purchases of the book I had wanted to get (The Shack - see last post), and a suite with a jacuzzi tub actually made the illness much more bearable for me than being at home taking care of the kiddos while camping out near the toilet.

The craziness of this thing is that it lingers. I won't give too much detail, but suffice it to say that I'm still having to watch what I eat, 10 days into this thing! And it has made for some interesting conversations in our home, too, that somehow seem perfectly acceptable: "That was just a cough, mom, I didn't throw up." "How was your poop today, back to normal yet?"

Then just when I thought we were out of the woods, Timothy got it on Saturday. Today he seems to be just fine today, so I'm really praying this is the end... There are no more members of Team Verriere left to attack. So, BUG OFF, BUG!

On an ironic positive note: surviving a sicknesses like this is a badge of honor for moms... it's kind of like a right of passage to have to clean up all the bodily fluids you can imagine from your family members. So to all those moms out there who have survived a stomach bug that tore through your family, you go girls! You held your nose, clenched your teeth, and you did it! Stand proud!.... and then pray it doesn't hit again anytime soon!