death by sushi

i've done it. again. by my own hand, of my own free choice. i even tried to talk my son into joining me.

i ate a big plate of sushi at a chinese buffet.

and i think i got sushi-flu.

i got sick after sushi about a year ago, at a different restaurant. i picked my niece- called bones because she is studying to be a forensic something or other- up for a week-end visit. we went to the "upscale" buffet in rich town. i got an assortment of sushi, so i could never nail down which type of sushi might have been the culprit.

i felt fine when i went to bed. 

i felt fine when i woke up bones and told her to get ready so we could head out for a breakfast at the dive i like to call "big ass bowl of gravy shack" or BABOGS.

i had a slight headache as i got out of the shower.

by the time i had dressed, i was deathly ill. my niece helped me get undressed and settled into bed. she brought me popsicles and ice water. i couldn't hold anything down. i felt like i was dying. my niece was so convinced i was dying that she called my sister, who told her to stay with me, as my husband had left early that morning to go with my son somewhere. my niece she told me later that she was afraid i would be dead when she checked on me. 

i puked and slept alternately all day long. about midnight i had a can of coke over crushed ice (there is a grocery store here that sells crushed ice made with an illegal ice maker: they are only supposed to use it for putting ice under the meat but if you ask for a bag of mixer ice- the code word- and they know you, they will sell you a 10 b. bag of crushed ice for $2. it's a must to make fancy cocktails!)

the next morning i was fine and 6 lbs. lighter to boot. bones and bobo and i went to eat at a country food buffet. i couldn't eat anything. the owner came over to make sure everything was okay. i explained to her that i had just gotten over the flu. she didn't charge me for my lunch, which was untouched. she brought me out a quart of chicken noodle soup to take home right before we left. she also gave bobo a styrofoam container to pack up my plate, since it couldn't be served and was destined for the trash anyway. is it any wonder that i love to go muffin's restaurant? bobo ate it for dinner. i had the soup.

i'm getting that sick feeling now. but i just remembered i made the mistake of drinking a cup of milk after i got home. i don't care what anyone says, fish and milk don't mix. hopefully it will be temporary. but i'm filling my biggest mug with ice water and putting a bucket beside my bed before i go to sleep, just in case.

right now i'm praying like a drunk, "please god, don't make me puke! i swear i'll be good! i'll never have sushi again! please don't make me puke!"

and god, if you're listening, please don't give me a brain bleed. i'm out of bandanas at the moment.

**incidentally, i have a 2' X 3' poster of the photo above. i emailed  the kikkoman company asking if i could buy the poster, as i had seen it in several sushi joints. i got no reply. 2 years later i got a big tube in the mail. it was the sushi poster! turns out i emailed someone in hong kong!