Chapter 2 Death, Disease and Discovery

Where in the world is Mary Anna? That is a good question. Right now, the answer is the Shore. But here is what I've been up to.

So the day before I was set to come home after a rough year at school, I had to pack my world's worth of belongings. I have a lot of stuff and it is a pain to pack. Half of it went into respective attics and the other half was stuffed into every available crevice in my car. But that night when I went to bed, I suffered from night sweats, then chills, then woke up soaked in sweat. It was very odd. I brushed it off and went home but my first night home I found I couldn't regulate my body temperature. I would get chills, then hot, then chills again. Finally I took my temp. and sure enough I had a fever. So I tried to sleep it off. Two days of bedrest and bordom, my throat had started hurting, my gums were swelling and I couldn't eat. So i went to the doctor and she took my blood for mono tests and gave me penicillian and told me I had gingivitis. Now, I brush my teeth don't get me wrong but this sudden flare of gingivitis was the pits. The catch? I was scheduled to go camping with the fam on Sunday (this was Fri) to Louisa, VA for a week.

I went camping anyway. I shouldn't had because I developed tounge and mouth sores, my gums swelled so much I thought my teeth would pop out and I couldn't swallow. My neck was sore and my lymph nodes were swollen like I had huge neck mucles like a steriod infested wrestler. Our first two days in Louisa were nothing but rain so there I was couped up in a tin box with my parents, dog, and I couldn't eat or swallow and pretty much wanted to curl into a ball and die.

On day two in the afternoon we got stir crazy and drove into town. Louisa looks like a big Shore basically. We called my doctor and she listened to me bitch and moan and she basically said I had hoof and mouth disease. WTF? Seriously? Oh, and there is nothing to be done but let it go away on its own. My sore throat was gone but other than that the roof of my mouth was swollen and my tounge had sores on it and my gums were bright red and swollen. And nothing could be done. We went into CVS got me peroxide and throat spray and went on our merry way.

Well good, I don't have herpes. Not that there was any chance I would have herpes, but my doctor worried about that. Until my mother (I shit you not) said "She hasn't had a date in years!" Well no, i haven't had a date in years but I've certainly found some action. ;-)

Anyway, my hoof and mouth shit eventually cleared up with the help of peroxide. As a result my teeth are much whiter. On the third day of vacation the sun came out and we spent the whole day by the lake. I laid out in the sun and let it hit my face and arms and legs and just had a wonderful day. Until I got sunburned. Not that all over red almost cancer sunburn. No. I was wearing sunglasses. I got the ghetto fab sunglass tan on the face HARDCORE right down to the design imprint on the side of the arms of the glasses. So I looked like a raccoon, with dwindeling hoof and mouth disease, and my parents decided to call me Ricky Racoon for the rest of the trip.

The rest of the trip was fine. I eventually got to eat more and more as my mouth healed. It wasn't gingivitis, it was an infection from the sore throat. Who would have thought? At the campground despite the massive drunken hillbillies, we met some British folks who were very nice. On our last night at the campground we went to the Saturday pig roast...which was sooo Southern. It was great though. I 200 lb hog on the fire, country music blaring, rednecks pouring in with their tattoos and screaming kids and holding their choice of beer. But amongst all this good ol country atmosphere, the Rodabaugh's decided to hang out with the English folks. Who came to the southern bbq with a bottle of wine. HAHAHA It was fantastic. Deep down south with a bottle of wine. It was the most oxymoron thing ever and I loved it.

That night we built a campfire with our English couple (who were up in age I might add) and the gentleman introduced me to the wonderful world of GUINESS. This fine dark Irish beer is my new best friend. He gave me a pint and a half and i drank every sip. It was a good ending to a great vacation.

Despite almost dying and getting a disease which went away I made a lot of discoveries as well. When you are out in the world without your laptop and you friends and your cell phone doesn't ring that much...you learn a lot about yourself. I'm still trying to figure out all the things I learned about myself but I know it was a lot. I thought about God a lot. I'm going to restudy Spanish for Nicaragua next year. I finished two books which were pretty good. I revaluated my relationships with certain people in my head at least. I decided some future steps I need to take. I planned some RA stuff. I decided Guiness is in one of my top fav. beers catagory. Oh, and I figured out I have sampled about 17 beers in my lifetime. I'm going to work on the God thing and the relationships thing. I'm deciding who I am as a person and all that jazz. it is intersting but it is a work in progress as well.

Well now I'm going to convince the rest of the world I did not fall off the face of the earth. It certainly seemed liked I did. I just went away for a whole week without warning and I loved every minute of it. I wondered if anyone cared I was gone or wondered where I was of if I died or something. haha No I did not die, came close, but did not die.

I'm alive and well and looking forward to the next chapter to share with you. Until next adventure....cheerio.