Monday, March 11, 2013

Wine, Vomit, and Wintry Ventures

We just sprang ahead an hour, which is a tell-tale sign that Spring is near. I am so eager for it's nearness as this winter has felt darker and colder and snowier than most. One of the biggest contributors to this "dark winter" was the absence of any holidays from work since our honeymoon. I am facing a condition I have faced many times before: Burnout. I NEED a break soon. You know you need a break from work when the elderly residents begin asking if you have a room there.

February began hideously cold. Yuri and I decided to fight the dark wintery spell by going to a B&B close to Selkirk, MB. We wanted to celebrate the equally cold night we met a short two years ago. I was so excited about our romantic getaway, and as we embarked on the drive there I had images of us nestled inside the log cabin, sipping wine and basking in Manitoba's nature. We arrived to our beautiful destination, and settled into our room with it's sloping wooden roof, and golden lamp glow. Our idealistic evening hit it's first snag when we realized that we had forgotten a cork screw to open our wine bottle. After much deliberation over which one of us would venture to ask our hostess for a corkscrew, Yuri bravely went pajama-clad to plead our case, and returned victorious. We sipped our wine and toasted our happiness, and shortly after I realized something was amiss. The room was spinning and waves of nausea were hitting me over and over. In retrospect I appeared to be having a nightmarish allergic reaction to the wine we were drinking. Yuri, bless his heart, had the intuition to grab the A&W paper bag we had in the room and stick it under my chin. I kept repeating, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fiiii..." until I began vomiting into the paper bag. I will spare you the gory details, but I will add that paper bags are unfortunately not made to endure the magnitude of a poor girl's stomach contents. Ultimately this night showed me the depth of love that Yuri and I share *cheesy moment* as he cleaned up the aftermath (with his t-shirt I must add) and lovingly tucked me back into bed with the adage that I "owe" him for this. Which I do.  

Further wintery adventures include fighting a sinus infection valiantly until I ultimately had to resort to antibiotics, my car getting egged in -35 temperatures, and my car breaking down in the middle of busy Route 90. The tow truck couldn't find my car, despite my repeated pleadings that I was close to "Tip Top Tailors". Seriously, how much more clear must I be?

I'm hoping that the rest of March will bring some more sunshine, warmth, happiness, and less challenging opportunities.