Rough Week.

This week was pretty rough. I did not want to tarnish my posts about my family's visit, so I decided not to include that somewhere on our marathon weekend of eating and sight seeing, four of us got food poisoning. Luckily, it did not kick in until they had flown home to Minnesota and Brian's birthday dinner had come and gone.

I woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday with a killer stomach ache. And that damn stomach ache stuck around all week, causing me to take my second sick day ever from work. I went home a few hours early on Monday because I was just feeling horrible. I slept most of the night, but woke up feeling just as bad, if not worse on Tuesday morning. Because I am so anxious about taking days off of work (why, I don't know), I actually commuted an hour to work that morning, sat in my classroom for 20 minutes, and then decided I needed a sick day and commuted an hour back home. I am an idiot. The majority of the week ginger ale, saltines, toast, bananas, and Pepto were my best friends. What made us sick is still a mystery, but I hope whatever it was never wrecks me again.

By Friday my stomach was finally feeling close to normal, so we celebrated Friday night by ordering in Thai and watching some Friends. Of course, I was asleep on the couch by 10:00 pm. I am quite the party animal.

Saturday morning I received a phone call from an old friend with some horrible news. On Friday night, one of our close friends from high school passed away from a brain aneurysm. When I first heard the news I was in shock. I walked around my neighborhood with my mouth open as I heard the basic details, trying to image the fun-loving guy I knew growing up no longer with us. I immediately called my close girl friends to break the news, getting more upset with each phone call. By the time I got back home, I was really upset. Mostly, I was upset about the world losing Brandon. He was an amazing person full of energy, love, and kindness. I have so many fond memories of him from junior high, high school, and our summers home from college. It made me so sad to think about what his family, girlfriend, and closest friends are going through. I also was upset just thinking about how something so horrible can happen so quickly to anyone, at any time. The news made me want to scoop up all of my loved ones, hug them, and tell them how much I love them. I had planned to head into the city that afternoon to go shopping, but gladly accepted a play date in the park with Brian and Emily instead. The comfort of spending time with them was exactly what I needed.

Brian and I walked a few steps behind Emily as she scooted her way down the sidewalk. She slowly got the hang of it, but was always leaning a little too much to the left. But she rocked it, knee pads and all. She is just too cute.

We had a great time running around and playing at the park.

Brian climbed structures, hid, and ran around as the scary monster as Emily and I crouched and hid. And each time he found us, Emily's laughter could be heard throughout the playground.

It was just a blast.

Emily also had a blast on the swings. I had to step away as Brian's pushed her higher and higher, almost reaching the top of the swing set. Call me nervous Nancy.

We finished the day with Chinese food, Tangled (best movie ever!), and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies with vanilla frozen yogurt.

Sunday, I did get that shopping in, picking up some fun finds for my upcoming trip to Florida. I also had an afternoon coffee date with Meghan. She is starting a new blog and asked for some tips, and we had fun setting up her page while gossiping over dark chocolate.

Please send your thoughts and prayers to Brandon's family and loved ones. He is on life support now waiting to donate his organs to save lives. He was an amazing person and will be truly missed.