The Capital Monona Terrace with the real Capital in the distance
After leaving my wallet at our lunch break at a McDonalds during
our trip to WI and finding that our toothbrushes were still residing in NY, it
wouldn’t get much worse, right? WRONG, monkey breath.
When I check my email and phone messages at the hotel that night, after contacting the McDonalds about my wallet - they had it, yippee! I find all
sorts of urgent messages from sister and Dad - Mom is in hospital with
flu. Take girls swimming in hotel pool as Jamie has forgotten his bathing suit. Send hom to get Chinese take out dinner. Not even making a pretense of healthy eating on this trip. Fairly uneventful drive the next day through Ohio, Ind, IL and WI, since girls have heads buried in portable DVD players they got as pre-xmas gifts. Feel like bad parents but enjoy lack of whining. FYI NY'ers the rest of the world enjoys gas at about $3.20 a gallon. It’s really cold and snowy once we get past Chicago – about 15 inches - we barely make it up my parents' driveway. We get settled in.
Xmas eve day - get up
at 5am and wrap presents for 3 hours, since tossing them into large trash bags
for the trip is all I could manage. Go out and grocery shop because Dad is not
feeling good and there is no food in the house. Get Xmas dinner started. Visit
mom at hospital. Go to 4pm family service at church where JP and I got married
21 years ago, very nice. Come back, finish dinner. Ham, sweet potatoes, mashed
potatoes, broccoli, rolls, and desert; blueberry cobbler, pumpkin pie, cheesecake
sampler with ice cream or whipped cream. The cheesecake is to replace the one I was supposed to have for my birthday but someone left out of the freezer... in August, it was nasty. I had
sniffles but by the end of dinner have come down with a massive cold. The girls
decide to use sharpies to write their names on the stockings. Mommy loses it
then feels really bad. Santa goes to work even though “he” really, really wants
to sleep for about 15 hours.
Xmas day! Girls get up about 7am. Stocking opening takes a
good half hour as Santa buys at the dollar aisle and forgets how much stuff is
in the back of the closet. For the main event, being largely unsupervised, the
girls rip through their presents in record time. Lian says it is the “best
Christmas EVER.” Piles of swag litter the floor. I go back to bed and sleep for
5 hours. Leftovers for lunch/dinner. Visit mom at hospital.
Wed I take the girls shopping since they have gift cards
burning a hole in their pockets. Target, Old Navy, (grocery interlude) Toys R
Us. I still don't have my wallet and thus driver's license. Drive VERY sedately. After dinner we take them to the light show put on every year by the
Electrical Contractors and Electrical Union,
http://www.fantasyinlights.com/green.html
Thursday and my Dad is having trouble breathing, feeling
really weak. Off to Urgent Care at 9:30am as his Dr. doesn’t have an
appointment. Urgent Care decides to send him to Emergency since his O2 level is
low. Dad is transported in ambulance I dash back to house to get phone charger
as battery is running low and grab a bite to eat. Catch up with Dad in Emergency-
which is really nice, with private rooms. He’s feeling a little better as he’s
on O2 and lying down. Get call from Jamie that hospital wants to discharge my
mom. Many phone calls latter, she is instead waiting to be discharged to a
private room (because she may still be contagious with flu) in a nursing home,
as there is no-one to discharge her to and she can’t get up on her walker in any
case. Dad is admitted to hospital. Get him settled, go and check on mom. Go
back to house, 9pm. Jamie calls me outside- there are two Great Horned Owls in
the trees over the house, calling to each other. Take large dose of Nyquil,
sleep an entire 7 hours. Dad calls at 6:45 am to make sure we feed his cat, but
I am up anyway.
Ho Ho Ho
1 comment:
sounds far too hectic! :)
Post a Comment