TWENTY-TWO

Thursday the girls and I headed to the airport in Keflavik, Iceland and said goodbye to Colby.  He'll be joining us in 2 weeks after he finishes up some stuff in Reykjavik.  Darcy was very angry and defiant after he kissed us goodbye, and it was obvious that she was just scared about the whole transition (especially without Daddy).  This was the kid's 22nd flight in the last 14 months, so they knew the drill.  They watched Angelina the Ballerina for the entire 5 hour flight and didn't make a sound. 

As we were descending into JFK airport in New York City, I started to get really hot, dizzy, nauseous, dehydrated and weak.  It was difficult to breathe and I knew I needed to do something immediately.  The flight attendants were all buckled in their seats in the back waiting to land, so I did the only thing I knew to do:  I stood up as much as I could with a seatbelt on and shouted, "I REALLY need some water;  Does ANYONE have any water?"  Waterbottles started flying toward me and I literally opened them up and poured them all over my head and body.  I tried to breathe slowly through my nose and control my breathing.  We landed and I was still so sick I thought I would need a wheelchair to get through customs and baggage.  I waited until everyone exited the plane and there were 3 women (one a nurse) who helped me get the kids and all our stuff off the plane.  Long story short, after eating a whole package of Fruity Mentos, I didn't need the assistance cart that was called and I managed to get our 7 bags and carseat through customs by myself where Colby's Dad was waiting for me.  He didn't recognize me because I looked like a drowned rat.  Haley (who was pushing Darcy in the stroller that was also loaded down with other stuff), got so excited when she saw her Pappy that she ran toward him and tripped, making Darcy and her stroller fall backwards.  Pappy came up to the scene (where people are having to walk around us) and started telling me about his adventurous trip to the airport and how he almost didn't make it because his car brakes caught on fire.  Needless to say, we made quite the entrance.

That night we drove through the night (to our bodies) and through the mountains to Colby's hometown.  Darcy threw up and I felt so sick and uncomfortable I just wanted to camp out on the side of the road. We're now recovering in PA with Colby's family and will head down to Virginia in a week.  We'll be living in Locust Grove, VA in a furnished home thats available there.  More later...