Last December, I blacked out in the bathroom, bumped my head on something (to this day I can’t remember what I hit) and had to be rushed to the emergency room to get a CAT scan. I was trembling, my vision was impaired, and I was very much incoherent. A few weeks later, I blacked out again, though fortunately, I managed to pick myself up off the floor and return to bed.

On Thursday night, deja vu reared its ugly head. En route to the hotel bathroom, I clumsily grabbed a bottle of water after feeling dizzy and dehydrated. Everything else is a blur. All I remember is my friend finding me under the sink, screaming at me to get up.

I initially balked at the idea of calling my mom, because she overreacts about everything. But, since this is the third time I’ve blacked out in less than a year, I had no choice but to tell her. She told me my blood sugar levels were probably too low because I’m not eating enough. Six hours later, she called me back to say that come Thanksgiving break, perhaps I should see her cardiologists and let him run some test. She then informed me that I had a heart murmur as a child. The mom is a nurse, so I just let her fill me in on all the gory possibilities.

I didn’t tell her until about an hour ago that I had chest pains Friday morning. Don’t offer additional reasons to worry to a known worrier, y’know?

Call me crazy, but I don’t think blacking out three times in less than a year can be attributed to missing a daily dose of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and French toast.

Not to be outdone, my Friday night was even more interesting. After leaving Love (formerly Dream), that same friend and I were robbed at gunpoint. They took my wallet, which had my Texas driver’s license, all my cash and credit cards, my digital camera, everything on me minus my phone (Big mouth Mike needs his phone).

I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but I wasn’t afraid of the gun at first sight. I’ve seen one in my own home before, and well, I can easily be robbed back in Houston. My initial reaction was more along the lines of, “F*&^!!!!” squared.

Not having any id or money makes life fun when you have to pay incidentals to a hotel and rent-a-car company. I was also humbled when I needed to ask my friends for money to eat.

I invite a friend to homecoming and I black out on them the first night they come. On top of that, I refuse to pay $40 for secure parking and instead opt to park on an obscure street, with the end result being our getting robbed at gun point. Aren’t I a spectacular host?

I actually did manage to still have some of the best fun of my life, though I wish things didn’t turn out the way they did. I don’t know how I would have reacted if all of this had taken place with someone else. Without going into specifics, I’m very fortunate to have such good people in my life, but that's another blog entry.