Thursday, February 16, 2012

A Request and a Traveller's Tale


I want to start out my blog with a selfish request - if you are the praying kind, please send a few prayers my way. I'm just really struggling with not feeling well and managing my household, my jobs, and my children. It's causing me to be snappish and short with my family, and I'm having trouble controlling it on my own. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now, on to my post - my Dad called back in January to tell me that an invitation to my Mom's Surprise 50th birthday party was in the mail. He just wanted to make sure I didn't spill the beans (my Dad has such confidence in my reading comprehension skills, eh? just kiddin', Dad). But that immediately started the wheels churning. What if I actually DID show up? I called my brother, Troy, who was in charge of accepting RSVPs and asked him, on a whim, if he would be able to pick me up if I flew in on the day of the party. At that point I still didn't think it would actually happen, but it was fun to romanticize about it. I didn't speak to him about it for several more weeks, but I did broach the subject with James and cursorily looked at the cost of plane tickets. Finally, as the 21 day purchase window (where airfares are generally at their cheapest) loomed, with James' okay, I did it. I purchased the plane ticket! I decided to bring Elle with me, since she's still free as a lap traveller. Troy and his wife Becky agreed to pick me up at the airport on Friday, and all that was left to do was wait. It was SO hard, too, because I talk to my Mom quite frequently on the phone and it's tempting to just let little things slip, like why I knew what the weather was supposed to be like that weekend, and why she hadn't received her birthday cards in the mail yet. But we managed, and with a bit of trepidation (plane rides with infants/toddlers might qualify as a special representative of hell on earth) Elle, James, and I woke up at 3:50 so that we could make it to the airport in time for our 5:30 am flight on Friday, the 10th (party day). The plane ride to Minneapolis was not fun at all. I don't care to relive that episode ever again. But we arrived safe and sound at the Minneapolis airport and, for the first hour of our layover, at least, Elle charmed her fellow passengers as she played politely on the floor (see the pic above). And then I noticed the tell-tale stain rising above her waistband. I'm thinking "oh no she didn't" while knowing that yes indeed she did. She had a MASSIVE F5 level poop blowout. It was everywhere, and she stunk to high heaven. I managed the diaper change in the airport restroom as best I could (and of course airport restrooms are very busy and the changing table is not hidden in a stall but is right out in the open where everyone can see and smell it. It was so bad, I just kept apologizing to anyone who walked in. I was mortified, but really, what are you going to do? Luckily I had my carry on with me, as I didn't check any luggage, so I was able to change her from her beautiful party outfit into a sleeper. I'm not one of those uber-prepared moms who keep a change of clothes in her diaper bag. I emptied out her ziploc bag of toys and replaced it with the poop-covered clothes, prayed to God that the seal would keep the noxious fumes from overwhelming the plane, and we were back. You know how it us with a blow-out, though, the smell still kind of lingers until they get a complete bath. God took mercy on my fellow travelers though, by ensuring that the seat next to us on the commuter flight to Central Wisconsin was empty (our only empty seat out of four flights).

2 comments:

Mom said...

I am so sorry you are sick, didn't mean to share that with you. We will be (and always are) praying for you all to get healthy and stay there. The blow out story is so funny, at least for us since we didn't get to be there, shucks! We loved every minute of having you and Elle here with us, it made my bday extra special.

The Fifes said...

We are definitely praying for you Melissa! Wish we lived closeby so I could have your kids come over to play with us to help give you some time to rest. So awesome you were able to make it to your mom's party.