We arrived at Dumps, Portland's premier dumpling restaurant, owned and operated by my awesome brother at around 2 p.m. Mike's friend Marshall met us there and we chowed down on dumplings. While eating lunch, I could feel the inkling of a headache starting. I hoped that eating and drinking would take care of it since I didn't have any pain reliever with me. I normally carry a travel bottle of pills with me, but since Sig loves to go through the diaper bag and "child-proof" doesn't mean a thing to Sig, I'd taken my bottle out.
Sig and Uncle Ryan
Thor and Marshall
After lunch, we headed downtown so Mike could go to the Apple store to buy a new laptop. We parked near Nordstrom so I went inside to use the ladies lounge to change and nurse Thor. Sig and Mike went on to the Apple store. After I was done with Thor, we went shoe shopping. I always find the exact pair of shoes I've been searching for at Portland's downtown Nordstrom. I got my favorite pair of boots there -- my Cole Haan black boots that I got in the "salon" (i.e. expensive) shoe section. They have been worth every penny and gift card I applied to their purchase. I've been searching for a brown slide sandal that is casual, yet refined. All I've been able to find are clunky, heavy, cave-person type foot wear or sandals with jewels stuck all over them. But, once again, downtown Nordstrom came to my rescue. I swear that heavenly light and music came down from above as I picked up the sandal. It was my size and perfect in every way. I left Nordstrom happy, but with an even stronger headache.
After killing some time in Pioneer Courthouse Square we headed back to the eastside for dinner with Mike's extended family to celebrate his cousins' graduations from college and high school. This would also be the first time Mike's grandparents would get to meet Thor. During this ten minute car ride, Sig had a diaper blow out. I did pack several extra sets of clothes for the boys, so we stripped Sig in the parking lot and got him and the car seat cleaned up as well as we could with only baby wipes. Also, I realized that I'm now having a full blown migraine. I'm nauseous, my pain is coming in waves, and all I really want to do is lay down. I nibbled on the sandwich I ordered, but I'm so sick that I can barely choke down anything. It's finally time to leave. We loaded up the car and then the fun began.
Us with the graduates
Thor meeting his great-grandpa for the first time.
Thor and great-grandma
Thor with Aunt Liz and graduate Brittany
First, it's 7 p.m. You'd think that rush would be over, but we had to sit in extremely slow moving traffic all they way to the Oregon border. Thor decided that he did not want to be in his car seat and screams and cries. Not wanting to be shouted out by his younger brother, Sig joined in the cacophony with ear splitting shrieks. Thor's cries, though painful, aren't bothering me as much as Sig's shrieking. We stop at the first rest stop since the restaurant had no place to nurse Thor except the unisex bathroom. I'm physically drained, I still have a splitting headache, nausea, and the whole migrainey works. Mike got me a bottle of water while I nursed Thor in an attempt to calm him down and get him to go to sleep. We loaded everyone back up and got back on the freeway.
Thor's cries are now worse. Sig shrieks even more. All the toys I've brought end up out of reach somewhere on the backseat floor. What does it matter, they weren't working anyway. I'm trying to pinpoint the causes of my migraine. I've come up with broken sleep patterns, travel, warmer than normal day, and that I'm probably dehydrated. We decided to stop at the Castle Rock exit to try to calm down Thor. As we neared the exit, I rub my eyes and a contact falls out. The other contact was filthy so I decided to take it out too. I don't have any contact solution with me. Now I'm sick and blind. We pulled into a parking lot and Mike changes Thor's sweaty clothes. Thor stopped crying as soon as he is out of his car seat. I called my mom in Chehalis. We're thirty minutes away. I let her know that I'm sick and we'll be there soon.
We load up again. Again Thor begins screaming as soon as we're underway. I've given Sig my iPhone and that keeps him entertained enough to stop shrieking. About ten minutes from home, I begin to laugh. Mike looks at me liked I'd lost my mind. Maybe I had, but then he began to laugh too. We were are car full of shrieking, crying, and laughing people. We get to Chehalis and I ran into the house. My mom had a glass of water and ibuprofen waiting for me. I'm immediately sick. I laid down on the sofa with an ice pack on my head and a blanket over the rest of me. I started feeling better. I take the ibuprofen because I'm pretty sure it will stay down now. The kids are happy to be out of the car. My mom reconstituted my shriveled up contact lenses.
A while later, Mike asked when I'll feel like going the next thirty miles to our house. Never crossed my mind. Getting back in the car is way down on my list of things I want to do. We decided that Thor and I will stay the night in Chehalis and Mike will come back in the morning and get us. I climbed upstairs with Thor to see what my old room has to offer me. I found that I left enough behind that I could easily move back in. I discovered that the only thing I didn't have was a hair brush. I put Thor in the bassinet and I crawl into bed. I watched Mike and Sig's progress home on my iPhone. I couldn't fall asleep until I knew they were home safe.
Even though I woke up a couple times in the night with Katy Perry songs stuck in my head, I could tell the headache was letting up. I felt pretty darn good when I got up in the morning. Moral of this story is that I will now always make sure to repack my travel pain relievers and a bottle of contact solution when I have plans to leave the house for more than four hours. And maybe some ear plugs too.
'Dumps' is the most brilliant name for a dumpling cart I have ever heard. And that's that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad you're feeling better! :)