Bad idea

There are many bad ideas. Unprotected sex with drug-using strangers. Getting behind the wheel when drunk. Switching from Mac to Windows.

And then there's what I did this weekend. I've never had an allergy episode as bad as I've had for the past several days - this time, I'm having asthma-like symptoms of not being able to breathe in deeply and feeling light headed. I've also been running a fever off and on.

Also, our son is going through some monster teething pains, so he is perpetually on the edge of crying fits of pain. This makes him unable to sleep for very long, so he's cranky and tired on top of the pain.

So what do we do? We go up to Ruidoso, a little touristy village high up in the mountains, to spend the night in a mountain hotel, meet some people for dinner, and to go to a show. Bad idea. With the altitude change and the air becoming thinner, it suddenly became a lot harder for me to catch my breath. I get the super chills and weak-knees, and collapse on the bed in the hotel room, unable to go to dinner with my wife and son as they went to meet the others at the restaurant. Once she gets to the restaurant, my son starts crying inconsolably, and basically forces her to leave before she can even put in her order. She comes back and finds me with an even higher fever than I'd had before, and I'm swimming with nausea, clutching an ice bucket like a Titanic survivor gripping a life preserver. We decide to pack it up and go home before the show even starts. We bundle up and drive back that night, all three of us miserable or exhausted. Six hours of driving in one day with practically nothing to show for it.

But I'll tell you, nothing's better than your own bed when you're sick. I felt better as soon as I climbed under the covers. I just wish my wife hadn't had to give up seeing the show - we almost never get to go see stuff like that nowadays, and she had been looking forward to it for weeks. We'll go up again some other time - I just hope we all feel better next time.