The WORST weekend ever!! {which turned into a really long post}

FORWARD: Heidi wrote this blog but I need to add that I was planning on going to the General Conference Priesthood Session but was too busy almost barfing my guts out at Whole Foods. This actually made me really sad, I had not missed a session since 2001 and I was proud of that. Bummer.

Let's be realistic here. It wasn't the WORST weekend ever, {I'm sure the weekend after I was diagnosed with Cancer, or the weekend my Grandma died or many other weekends were worse} but none the less it was still pretty crappy.

Team Shelton had planned for a couple of months to go to New Orleans and Walk for Farm Animals for one of our favorite charities, Farm Sanctuary. In addition plans were made to shop, eat and shop and eat! Oh how our plans were foiled!

I left school four hours early so that we could get a good head start. It's so nice living so close to one of the coolest cities in the country. We were planning on getting to NOLA at around 5pm, just in time to eat some good eats and enjoy some jazz on the Mississippi.


The interesting thing about driving across Louisiana is that most of the Southern part of the state is actually a swamp {in fact it is the largest swamp in the United States}.

The bad thing about driving a cross Louisiana is that if you get stopped for any reason there is no where to go {the highway is actually a causeway}. This is a fun fact that we soon found out as we were stuck in the Atchafalaya Basin for hours, while EMS tried to clear up a car fire. Great way to start the vaycay.


We finally got to NOLA late, and took the dogs to the Bark Park on Lake Pontchartrain, grabbed some dinner at Whole Foods {yeah, that's Cajun for yah!} and went to the hotel. At this point in the trip Dan was not feeling to well, he was having tremendous pain in his jaw. He took a percocet, and it didn't even cut the edge off his pain. I checked his TMJ {because he insisted it wasn't his tooth} and everything seemed OK, but he continued to get worse and he tossed and turned all night waking up about every four hours.

The next morning we got up early to go on our walk. This was honestly the best part of the whole trip. We enjoyed great company, great food, and we were able to walk the art district of New Orleans while shedding some light on Vegetarianism and Animal Welfare. Last October we walked in Austin, TX and this time around it was just as great and as successful as last year.

{Henry is not hiding by the way, he slept most of the walk}

After the walk Henry and I went with the group to the local Vegan Cafe and had a great lunch. Dan stayed out with the dogs, but when I emerged 1/2 hour later, Dan was pale and looking worse. His jaw was swelling. We took the dogs back to the hotel, with hopes that Dan would be feeling better. A few hours later, with no luck, Dan was off to the Quick Clinic. Another few hours later {with me trying to entertain two dogs and a baby in a hotel room} Dan returned with more percocet and a broad spectrum antibiotic.

Dan was in so much pain, and like I said before the percocet was not doing anything for him, so he decided to take two. Bad idea. This made him SOOOOO sick. He was nauseated, and still in the same amount of pain. He again had a horrible night at the hotel.

{And if you are wondering why we didn't pack up and go home it's because 1. we were hoping Dan would start feeling better and 2. we had already paid for two nights in the hotel}.

The next morning we decided to head home, but not without driving through the French Quarter in hopes of snatching up some oh so delicious Beignets from Cafe du Monde. No such luck. I guess everyone else and their dogs were there, the line spanned two blocks and Dan was in no shape waiting hours for some fried dough. {I'll blame the crowd on the Saints game-who dat!}

It took us about two hours longer to get home, because we had to keep stopping because Dan was so nauseated and in so much pain. So to sum it up we went to New Orleans to eat at Whole Foods and to take the dogs to the dog park {at least they had a good time!}

So what's up with Dan?
He is still in a lot of pain. He can't eat. He is still nauseated. And he found out today that he has a severe infection; which the doctor cut his gums opened and squeezed the pus out AND he gets to go into surgery on Friday to get the rest of the infection cleaned out along with a root canal! That's the crappy Shelton teeth for ya!

And what's up with Henry?
Well, he picked out what Turkey we will be adopting this year for Thanksgiving.
And that makes everyone happy!