This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
BPG had been out already for a week when I arrived. Parties, cocktails and people had all been planned with friends of friends and mutual friends. It was an eclectic mix of people staying for the festivities. A smart and classy Christmas Eve in a jolly restaurant with cocktails at the Marbella Club, then Christmas Day with friends in a hill top house just built for partying – there must have been nearly 30 of us and even Santa paid a visit.
When we returned home around 8pm we watched the usual Christmas TV. Strictly and midwives! But I was starting to feel sniffles 🙁 It was suggested I took a whisky Mac to bed with me. I don’t know what time I woke feeling ill but it was probably around midnight. From then on it became a nightmare 🙁 I don’t know how many times I got up to be ill – I lost count 🙁 Being ill in someone else’s house is horrible! For a start, I was worried about waking everyone. I don’t know if it is possible to retch quietly? Although the whole house was marble and seemed to echo dreadfully it was, thankfully, about half a mile between each bedroom!
I was so violently ill it was exhausting. Nausea and diarrhoea – what do you do? I had 2 basins, a loo and a bidet and think I used them all. At one stage I threw up outside my bedroom window. I lay there dozing between each bout. When I felt sick again I would try and do my yoga breathing to convince myself it would pass. But of course it didn’t and I would have to make another frantic dash to the bathroom (luckily en-suite). Eventually I reached (or should I say retched) until that point where there is only bile (apologies if this is too much info). I was just exhausted with so very little sleep. Despite having a maid, I cleared up all the mess – far too embarrassed to leave it!
I felt so wretched – nothing to do with Christmas Day indulgence because I had been very restrained. It felt like the start of flu with the full body aches and pains. At one stage all I wanted to do was get home – I was Googling flights and working out in my fuddled mind how to get home – I wanted my own bed – I wanted my mum 🙁
The next day we had 30 for lunch. I could barely get out of bed, apart from the overwhelming tiredness I ached all over. I stayed in bed all morning feeling bad I wasn’t able to help out but, in truth, all the cooking and preparations had taken place in the preceding days. As people, arrived at 2pm I dragged myself to the shower, noticing my cheery Xmas pj’s soaking in the bath! Well I put in an appearance but I was hardly the life and soul. I drank water all day and finally had 2 slices of gammon at 6pm. So much for overindulging at Xmas.
I did have a super super time but the sniffles develop into a full blown cold with the most horrendous cough. I sound like I have a 40 a day habit. But what is worse is that with the cough come the “oops” moments! I turn to BPG for advice – she says pads! So much for the adverts saying you can do anything in these discreet items – I feel like I am walking like John Wayne. But it cannot be worse than walking around the supermarket (luckily in dark trousers and a long coat) coughing and peeing for all I’m worth and feeling like a very very old lady! 2017 can only get better – I’m padded out and prepared…