It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times

I knew I was in trouble when I woke up in the small hours of the morning inside a bucking aircraft headed for JFK somewhere over the Midwest. My gut was in an uproar and the movement of the aircraft was giving me motion sickness. I stumbled to the toilet and sat down. The next thing I knew I was back in my seat waking up from a long nap. Only I wasn't in my seat, I was still on toilet but slumped into the back wall. The antibiotics I had been taking had destroyed all the good bacterium in my gut and my intestines where trying to evacuate everything I had ever eaten in my lifetime. And it kept doing so until yesterday.

I don't want to go into anymore details but I will say that I now completely understand the phrase gut wrenching pain. I am on the road to recovery thanks to time and a doctor friend who sent me a more potent brand of probiotics than you can get over the counter. I am also about ten pounds lighter. Seven pounds of that ten I lost the first seven days but this is not a diet I would recommend to anyone.

Now, you would think that this put a big crimp in my Maine vacation but, all in all, it was enjoyable. I did do two things I should not have; I ate lobster twice. I found out when I got home that eating the lobster wasn't the big mistake, the butter that went with it was. When your gut is compromised fats are the hardest thing for it to break down. I can verify that this is true and that it is also very painful.

One of the highlights of my trip was meeting fellow blogger, Ronni Bennett, of Time Goes By. She was kind enough to meet me at the Hilton near the Portland airport on my way home. We had planned a half-an-hour meeting but ended up talking together for an hour-and-a-half. It would have been longer but I was worried about missing my plane.

One thing about meeting people who's blogs you read is that you usually have an idea in your head about what they are like. I had the advantage since Ronni has photos of herself at the top of her blog but she only knew me from my writings. She was amazed by my short hair. What she didn't know is that I have a tendency to cut my hair very short whenever I feel some kind of change is coming in my life. It may be a emotional change or a physical change (like a trip) but it is always a sign that I am ready for something new.

So, that's it for now. I plan on spending the weekend catching up on other people's blogs and if everything continues as is, will be back Monday. Have a good weekend.