Piper and I show our butts the world, Papo and Gerry come to the island, and Katie and Danny head back the the U.S.

I shall make this blog post a much more lighthearted one, no more talk of near death sicknesses, and my life epiphanies. My sister Hannah asked me to "please quit posting emo blog posts," she also said if she wasn't mentioned in the first two sentences she was going to be mad. Here ya go, Hannah, ya psycho. My staph infection is MUCH better. Once again thanks for all your kind thoughts. Internally I feel completely fine, I haven't had a fever or anything in weeks, I'm not dizzy, no nausea or anything, so that's awesome. My only lingering symptom is the fact I am now 1/4 snake and I shed skin wherever I go. I called the doctor a week ago and said my feet had now begun shedding...

..and the doctor told me to come in for another check up. In his office he said that I had a serious case of "scalded skin syndrome" and that it worried him it was spreading so much, and he put me on a second round of antibiotics and advised that I should also get a shot of penicillin. THAT was an experience, woooo, baby! I walked into the nurses office and she sat me down and I held out my arm and the nurse said, "Oh no, sweetie, we can only put 2cc of medicine in through your arm, this is a much bigger dose of antibiotics, so it needs to be put in your bottom." I had never gotten a shot in my butt before so I said okay and I laid down on the bed on my stomach and pulled my pants all the way down, the nurse proceeded to shoot the needle right into my HIP. I was just laying there mooning her for no reason whatsoever with the door wide open because "the doctor and the nurse are the only people in the office and there's no need to shut the door" so there I am naked on the table with no shame. The entire time I was just thinking I could have totally just pulled my shirt up slightly to get that shot, the nurse probably thought I was a creep for stripping down so much. So word to the wise, if you're ever getting an injection in your butt, just pull your pants down a little, or pull your shirt up, no need to expose all. I started crying during the shot because it was a combination of my being menstrual (yep, gonna play that card 'cause I'm a girl, and I can) getting a huge shot, and being sick of being sick. My friend Katie constantly teases me because I told her I'm not a sensitive person. Growing up people always said "you're crying so I know this is serious 'cause you're not usually a crier." and it's true! Growing up with five big brothers, if you cry, you're weak, and you're made fun of relentlessly, so you learn to grow thick skin. Thanks, bros. But here I feel like I've been crying constantly while I'm sick, and Katie doesn't believe me... so anyways, I'm in the nurses office crying, and she sees that I'm crying and she hands me a cotton ball to wipe my tears with which was perfect because that made me laugh and my friends Cecily and Matt said it would have been perfect had I of eaten the cotton ball like in "Elf." I'll keep that suggestion around for next time. I came home from the doctors office just exhausted. It had been such a long and trying day. I'd been googling my disease online all morning and looking at images and freaking myself out, hence the hasty trip to the doctors, but our car wouldn't start and I luckily was able to borrow Matt and Cecily's car to go, and I couldn't get a hold of Cari or Casey on skype, they were both on campus and the internet on campus had conveniently gone out that day. It was just a mess. After I got home and had been sitting for a while when I went to stand up my butt was SO sore, like I'd just done the stair master for an hour, which I guess is another common side effect of getting a booty injection. Love it. I walk around like a 90 year old lady right now with a combo of a sore butt and rare flesh feet, I need a hoveround wheelchair like those old people who drive them all the way to the Grand Canyon. The best is when I'm playing with Piper and she's 50 feet or so from me and I say, "i'm gonna get you" which is when you'd normally run and grab the child, however at my pace, I waddle over to her and by the time I get there she's bored with the game and onto something else, it's hilarious. Easter this year felt so weird not being at my parents house, but we had a bunch of our friends over to help ease the pain. I mastered my moms mustard sauce for ham, and by mastered I mean I made it and then Cari doctored it (get it, 'cause she's gonna be a doctor?) until it tasted good. I thought it would be funny to act like bunnies in pictures with Katie and Cari, but clearly I got way more into it than they did.

Our meal was delicious, we brought some plates down to our security guards and they were quite impressed, they expect food from us all the time now. They're constantly asking "what's for dinner tonight?" Easter in St. Maarten is a four day thing. Friday - Monday most stores are closed, and people are partying on the beach, hanging with their families, barbecuing, it's fun. So on Easter Monday (which is totally a thing) we had a primary activity at church for all the little kids. Instead of dying eggs which gets quite messy, Cecily spent much time hand-shaping egg cookies that the kids decorated, and then we had an Easter egg hunt in the parking lot and side lawn of the church, and an egg spoon race. A couple of Caribbean factors that play into the egg hunt was the heat, and the chocolate in the eggs melted, it was so funny. Definitely not used to that in April being from Minnesota!

Immediately after the Easter church activity we rushed home to drop off some friends and then I took Andi and Tanner to meet up with two of their friends for a hang out and Katie and I went to Phillipsburg (the capitol on the Dutch side) to meet up with my friends Gerry and Papo who were here for the day on a cruise through the Caribbean. Gerry and Papo live in New York but come to Minnesota every fall to visit Gerry's mother. They came into Caribou Coffee two years ago and I was working and I totally loved them. We spent a ton of time talking, they were caught off guard by my "Minnesota nice" personality since they'd come from New York and were used to no eye contact when you entered an establishment, let alone a full on conversation. They came in three days in a row over Thanksgiving weekend, and the next year they came in again! It was awesome. The year after that I had switched jobs and gone back to Starbucks where I'd worked before Caribou but I'd switched because of more flexible hours while I was in school. I remember one day at Starbucks I saw them come in and I got so excited. They'd gone to Caribou and asked where I was and my friends at Caribou told them and the next day they came in, it was so cool. I told them I'd be moving to St. Maarten the next month and they said they were coming in April on a cruise so we exchanged emails and set up a lunch date. Katie and I met them at the Hard Rock cafe on the boardwalk and it was so nice to catch up and have friends here. Papo is originally from Puerto Rico so he told us all about island life and told me which dives I should go on and offered a bunch of insider advice. I sure love those two and look forward to seeing them in MN again this fall!

My best friend on the island, Katie, and her husband Danny just moved back to the states today since this was his last semester and they're on to clinical rotations in the U.S. I dropped them off at the airport and Katie and I promised we wouldn't cry but I got a little teary right as they walked off. I'll miss them like crazy, so many good laughs and fun memories. I told them to try their hardest to get placed in Michigan and get a two bedroom house so I can drive up and visit them. Thursday night we went out to eat at a steakhouse called Rare to celebrate Danny passing his last comp test at AUC, then we had them over for dinner Friday night since they had a sad empty apartment, and Saturday morning they came for breakfast and I dropped them off. Here's some pics from the week. I went to their apartment and saw their "To Do List" on the fridge that said, "Leave SXM forever, and say goodbye to Michelle" So sad, but I'll see them again soon.

Katie had a goal to get really tan before she moved back to the states, because how embarrassing to come from the Caribbean being really pale, so we spent a lot of time by the pool these last couple of weeks. Piper is a champ, she totally just chills on the stairs in the pool and has conversations with Katie and I, she'll stay out there for hours before she requests that she wants to go home. But lots of time outside means lots of sunscreen, we load on the SPF 100.

I'm so glad that Piper actually enjoys swimming, it'd be rough living here with a toddler that hates water. We sure enjoy our cooling off in the pool.

Funny Piper story of the week: I have learned that there are inherent thoughts mothers have, that a nanny just does not. Example 1: Packing diapers everywhere you go. I just haven't gotten into the habit of "thinking like a mom" yet. Its definitely coming, but its not quite all there. So Sunday we got to church and I had forgotten to pack diapers. Sure enough, within the first hour Piper had made a mess in her diaper. Piper isn't the kind of baby who will let it slide to be dirty, if her hands are dirty she will incessantly tell you that she needs to wash her hands, and she'll tell you when she's done a dirty deed in her diaper. So Andi goes to change her and we decide to just risk it and put her little bloomer panties on and hope for the best. So I take Piper with me to Primary which is where all of the younger children are and they sing and have kid lessons. So with ten minutes left in the meeting I hear an older girl, Keisha, exclaim "somebody pissed themslves! There's piss everywhere!" I looked around and noticed that Piper had hid behind the whiteboard in shame for what she'd just done. I got up immediately and went to assess the damage and it definitely pee, and definitely from Piper. Keisha said, "Piper! Piper pissed herself!" I was so embarrassed and tried to keep the situation on a down low, so I grabbed a wet soapy paper towel and cleaned it up as fast as I can. Piper wobbled (because her pants were wet and uncomfortable so she was walking funny) out from behind the whiteboard and started to cry. Normally you'd pick her up and console her, but she was all wet with pee! Gross! So I held her up arms length away from me and brought her to her Cari to soothe her. We decided to just take the panties off and let her roam around even more naked than before. In the last hour of church she apparently tripped on a cord and fell on her stomach and her dress went up and she exposed her butt to all the world. So at the end of this week Piper and I had both unnecessarily mooned people. Runs in the family I suppose. This week we're praying Cari survives AND does well on her finals, and are so looking forward to her three week break to just relax and show her the island she has yet to explore. It's gonna be a good couple of weeks! Miss & love you all!