Night Life

Our vacation home renter's guide came with a list of Santa Fe's hottest night spots but Jason, the vacation home owner, warned us that there were many great things about Santa Fe and that the night life wasn't one of them. However one evening Jo and I left Evan and Vivian in Carol's care and we did manage to stay out till midnight. And we ended the evening at the Emergency Room of the Christus St. Vincent Hospital.

It all started quiet harmlessly. After finishing dinner at the vacation home, everyone had a hankering for dessert. Jo and I are in the middle of the Crossfit Challenge and have been off sugar since that first week of January. But hey - what's a vacation without some indulging. Carol and Vivian wanted apple pie a la mode. Jo and I wanted something with chocolate. So we went to the Whole Food's. And we ogled at the cake section and couldn't decide - so we got a slice of chocolate cheesecake, a slice of chocolate decadence cake, and a chocolat grande petit four (the name may be an oxymoron but it was oh so delish!). And half an apple pie and a quart of Haagen Daz vanilla bean. To go.

When we returned home Jo tried the chocolate cheesecake and then had a spoon of Vivian's apple pie and ice cream and decided she preferred that. About half an hour and a large bowl of dessert later she started itching her palms. Then her lips got tingly. She downed a couple of Benadryls and went back to watching Cars on TV with Vivian. After all this wasn't the first time she displayed allergy symptoms after eating eggs or something with eggs in it.

But in a few minutes things didn't improve and in fact started getting decidedly worse. Carol made a decision and told us to head for the hospital. We jumped in the rental minivan and sped off  through the darkness and snow to wherever the Garmin led us to. Along the way Jo's voice got hoarse and I started imagining having to pull over and perform a tracheotomy with the minivan key.

It didn't come to that. We made it to Christus. The ER nurses and doctor were very nice and helpful. After several blood tests and an IV of steroids things got better. With helpful advice (don't eat eggs, drive carefully, wear a helmet while skiing) they eventually sent us on our way and we were back home by midnight. Par-tey.