Living with UC? Tell us about your experience. Take our survey here.

House Guests and Tastings

Last weekend we had our first house guests at my new townhouse. My fiancé and I welcomed her sister and brother-law in from Texas, as they are helping us with some wedding planning. I have never had to cater to house guests before, and it was on my mind for quite some time.

Here is what I was thinking

1. Bathrooms

Yea, we have two bathrooms, but will they be occupied at the same time? My fiancé and I got this townhouse for a few reasons. One, we really like the location and price, but more importantly, it had two full bathrooms. Now that we would have people staying with us, I potentially could have no access to the bathroom.

2. Would they understand?

A lot of times, I make a lot of noise (gas) when in the bathroom. My fiancé is already used to it. I thought about using all the tricks I have in the bag, such as running our loud fan in the bathroom and flushing the toilet as I use it. But, my nerves were still shot.

I was so worked up

Because I was so worked up and nervous, my stomach was acting up all week prior to the weekend. I wasn’t thinking rationally. My fiancé then told me: “Paul, remember my sister is a nurse.” “Of course she will understand.” That still didn’t make me feel better.

That weekend, I drove home from work, praying that they were still out doing errands before returning to the house. They were! I was able to get in and out of the bathroom with no problem. We then took a long train ride down to the city, to go to a tasting. I thought our private tasting would be in an industrial kitchen (because of our caterer), but I was mistaken.

Our tasting was in an apartment that was rented out by the caterer. It was a small studio, with a nice kitchen, dinner table, and full bathroom. Of course, the bathroom was in the same room as the dining room and again I found my self a nervous wreck. I could just see the scene from "Along Came Polly!”

I ended up so nervous that I had to excuse myself a number of times to use the bathroom. At this point, I was so uncomfortable, I had to relieve myself. I don’t know what they thought, but as I returned to the table, nothing was said.

Although it ended up okay, I am glad to not have guests any time soon

When we returned home, I felt better that they seemed to not notice. Maybe I was being too hard on myself. But I always seem to get this way. The next day, we went to a local battlefield because my future sister and brother in law wanted to be touristy. I did not like being out on the battlefield without a bathroom in sight. I became so upset that I just excused myself and walked home. I met the rest of my party back at the house. The rest of the weekend went by great, but I am so glad that this weekend, and for the foreseeable future, we have no houseguests.

By providing your email address, you are agreeing to our privacy policy.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The InflammatoryBowelDisease.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

Join the conversation

Please read our rules before commenting.

Community Poll

How open are you about being diagnosed with IBD?