My lovely cousin Kristen and I decided that we wanted to go shopping in Charleston since the mall is much better up there and there are many more outlets and stores and shoppes, etc. We planned it all out. We were going to get up super early, go shopping, grab a bite to eat, then make it back to Beckley in enough time to meet Bethany and Stacy at Rio for our Brooks ladies outing later that evening. I expected getting up early to be the most difficult part of my day since I stayed up late the night before, but I woke up surprisingly alert and ready to start my day. So that part was fine and the rest of the day was going to be awesome. Little did I know.... So I took a shower, started drying my hair and then suddenly felt sick. I had stuffed my face with a 12" sub the night before so I thought that had to have been the problem. I was right...because the more I thought of it the more sick I felt which eventually led to the close friendship I made with my toilet. I'll spare the awesome details of that. But anyway, after that was over I felt fine and I still wanted to go. Kristen zoomed up the hill in the Blue Bullet (LOL ) and we were off. We didn't make it too far until I was sick again and had to stop at Go-Mart of all places. Anyone who knows me knows I am the girl with my sleeve wrapped around my hand whenever I open doors and the person who won't drink after anyone no matter what...so getting sick there and in that bathroom was a dream come true for me. Ha! Anyway, Kristen was so kind and considerate that she asked the young man working to lend us a trashbag since we were traveling and I was sick. He did and we were off once again....only to make it to the BP Station (LOL which is like 2 seconds from Go-Mart)...this should have been the turning point in my head to decide to just go back home but I was determined to go to the Town Center and get it done...sooo after he gave us a CLEAR trashbag (who does that?) and a HUGE roll of papertowels, we hopped onto the Interstate and our day was ahead of us...with the worst part thought to be behind us. The whole way to Charleston my stomach was just churning and I felt awful. I cannot even describe how horrible I felt. The way down my window was open blasting in cold air on Kristen while she drove the illegal bullet and tried to make sure I was okay and that her driving skills were top-notch, I am still shocked we weren't pulled over for the expired sticker. Anyway, I tried to stay very still but all the turns and loops in the roads once we got to Charleston got to me and the wonderful clear trashbag came in handy for me. Poor Kristen hahaha . Anyway, I started to feel okay and we concluded that yes we could go to the mall and stay for just a bit but if I started to feel sick again we would just leave and go to Kristen's house in Cross Lanes. (which is like 10-15 minutes out of Charleston) We got to the mall and parked and talked about how sweet the woman taking the parking money was. We walked inside and it immediately hit me again. I was so ticked off! We kindof panicked because I didn't want to be the person who throws up in the middle of the mall and Kristen didn't want to be the girl WITH that person, so we ran up the escalator to the Food Court (which made things so much better for me), and into the bathrooms where we stayed for the next 20-30 minutes. At this point I was honestly feeling VERY sick and bizarre. I was extremely hot, I was shaking uncontrollably and my head was spinning...my chest felt as though it would explode. I started crying and asked Kristen to call everyone at home and have them to pray for me. She didn't hear me so I then proceeded to yell at her from my stall and tell her to hurry and call them and have someone annointed for me. Everyone in the bathroom was so scared of us! They thought we were in a cult. hahahaaaa. After all of this went down, I busted out and told Kristen that I didn't know what to do and that I was scared and I had never felt that way before. I wanted to go to her house and lie down. We only made it to the Food Court and I had to sit down again at the table. There was something about standing up and walking that made things 10 times worse. So Kristen knocks on the window of the Senior Citizen Services office (lol!) on the upper floor and asks them to come to the door. They finally did and she told them that I was very sick and wanted to know about a mall office or nurse of some sort for these kinds of things. A guy, a really nice fellow named Jimmy, came out and talked to me for a while...he could tell I was very sick and asked the woman to call the Nurse's office (it was on the first floor) so they could come check me out and see what was wrong. Well, she came back a few minutes later and told him that they simply just really weren't that concerned and treated the issue how they always do. The next thing I heard are the words I wish I could erase from the whole experience...."Call 911." I can't believe Jimmy said that! Kristen and I were both like Oh my gosh...NOOO!! But before we could put a stop to it, the lady was back in the office and there was no way for us to get in. (the doors have the security code locks) Whenever she came back out she said they should be there anytime and of course, what happens next?? A mall cop, two paramedics and a MASSIVE stretcher come flying down the Food Court towards us. Another 'common knowledge' thing about me is that I absolutely despise being the center of attention. I can't stand it. But here I was, sitting at a table on the 3rd floor of the Town Center, barely able to keep my head up, surrounded by everyone. I was so mad! At this point I am just simply asking God not to let me get sick because I was beginning to feel that way again. I thought the worst was over. I still couldn't get over the stretcher. But at about the same time that thought went through my mind, I heard another commotion behind me and my embarrassment seriously couldn't have gotten worse. A situation like this couldn't be complete without a few firefighters busting onto the scene, right? That's exactly what happened and I wanted to die. I couldn't do anything but just look at them and apologize. They kind of just looked at me and turned and left. lol. They hated my guts. The whole time all of this was going on, Kristen was on the phone trying to explain it all and neither of us could believe how ridiculous our day was. I was sick, mad and trying not to laugh at the same time. I'm serious, this would only happen to me. Right before they packed up their stuff and left, the guy paramedic asked me to stand up because I was very shaky and he wanted to make sure I was alright before they headed out. This just set if off again and immediately after they left I was bound for the restroom again. We FINALLY made it downstairs and to the parking garage but of all times couldn't find the blue bullet. We walked around and I felt like we were in the episode of Seinfeld when they lose their car. We eventually found it, one floor up, and were off. I only got sick once more after that. The poor clear trashbag was skanked out to the max. I was so, so happy to arrive at Kristen's house and lay down for a bit. I can only thank God, and Kristen's rendition of 'My Heart Will Go On' on her keyboard, for touching me, because once we were at her house, I felt 100% better. I actually felt great. Everyone thinks I may have had a touch of food poisoning from the night before and just had to rid my system of it all. I will never, ever eat another turkey sub from Subway. That basically sums up my daytrip to Charleston. I really enjoyed having to go through Lester on the way home because of the chemical spill. Being extremely nervous and scared of the psycho Lester-cop only added to it all. Oh, and I love Kristen more than she knows.