Today I'll share with you our OTBN celebration, which, for reasons I'll need to explain, actually happened one day later than the official February 28th date.
You see, a little over a week ago, I had the singularly bad luck of coming down with a case of the chicken pox. At age 39. And no, I never caught it as a kid.
This is a vile disease to get at any age. But if you have the unique misfortune of contracting it as an adult, what's most shocking about the chicken pox is how painful it can be. I graduated from Ibuprofen to Tylenol to Tylenol with Codeine and then to Vicodin in a matter of just three days. And I don't even like to take painkillers. At least, I didn't until this pox made me see the light.
And I've always had a great knack for timing too. You see, last week, Laura and I were supposed to relocate, temporarily, to Hawaii for a four month break. Yep. Last week. But getting on a plane in a state of peak pox contagion would have been unthinkable (and, not to mention, bad for my karma for a million generations hence). So, we rescheduled our flights for two weeks later. I'll probably look horribly pock-marked and scarier than ever, but by then I'll no longer be a health threat to my fellow passengers. But please, no jokes about restarting the leper colony on Molokai.
Unfortunately, when OTBN rolled around this past Saturday, I wasn't healthy enough to really enjoy a glass of wine. So, instead of pouring wine, Laura doled out more pain meds for me to take. And we waited.
Fortunately, the next day--Sunday--was a bit of a different story. For the first time I felt better than the day before, not worse. So Laura and I celebrated by reheating some take-out Chinese food and opening our OTBN wine just a day behind schedule: a half-bottle of Sauternes that Laura got me for Christmas.
As for how much this wine costs, Laura won't even tell me. Fortunately, Laura is more generous to me than I am to myself.
And what did we drink to? We drank to the traveling we've been lucky enough to do lately, including a recent one-month trip we took to New Zealand (more on that tomorrow), as well as a recent trip we made with a team of eye doctors to do eye exams in Guatemala.
We also toasted our upcoming trip to Hawaii, and to the sabbaticals we are both taking from the work world right now that will enable us to live in Hawaii until the end of June.
And we toasted to the glories of Vicodin and the fact that I'm at last starting to feel a little bit better.
Last but not least, let me make a final toast to you--my growing number of readers here at Casual Kitchen. I'm grateful to have you, and it's been an absolute pleasure writing for you for the past two-plus years!
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7 comments:
Arg! The pox! Dangit. Feel better, Dan, and have a great trip to Hawaii.
Dan, I'm so glad to hear you're on the mend. It sounds AWFUL. Chicken pox is notorious for its bad timing too. I got it in 4th grade and it spanned spring vacation almost to the minute. It was bad but I know it can't compare with what you've been going through.
Have a wonderful 4 months in Hawaii!
Better chicken than small, I suppose, even if you must suffer through it as an adult.
We opened a bottle of red wine--I can't remember the name of it, something with a penguin. It was... okay. Had been hanging around since Thanksgiving so I thought it was time to drink it. Used the leftovers today to simmer some dried fruit, which was very nice!
the pox deliberately targets vacations and special occasions. I got it at 27 the morning after my wedding... and I thought the stress was what was making me so tired leading up to the big event!
That had to be horrendous at 39. So sorry you had to go through that.
I toast to your two years. I did not open a bottle... and I know it makes me a bad foodie, but I don't actually like wine very much. And trust me, I've tasted MANY. I cook with wine, both whites and reds, of a myriad variety. Just not into drinking them.
Good for you guys for going to Guatemala. And I'm headed over to your NZ post right now.
Thanks for the good wishes everyone.
I must admit I feel a bit better hearing that Chicken pox specifically targets vacations. I thought it was just me. :)
Thanks as always for reading.
DK
Glad you are feeling better! Enjoy the wine and the trip! We will definitely be visiting you! :-)
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