boy, am I behind!

Sorry for the big time lag, but things happened fast, then slow. First the fast. One evening, on the weekend, I think, mom is telling me that she has unpacked and we're discussing whether dad can take care of Uncle Everett by himself, then the very next day she tells m that she's only waiting on me! I guess she and dad  had talked and he was fine and wanted her to go, and in fact was tickled pink (he likes to say that) that she was going. So I packed up my stuff. Actually, what I couldn't throw into my suitcase I stuffed into plastic grocery bags and threw into my car and we left the next day.

Here's the slow part. We left in the daytime, thinking we'd do what I had done before, drive for a little in the day, then all night. We got off about 4 pm or so and went through Payson, Show Low and Heber. It really was a beautiful drive. The north country is incredibly beautiful right now. I have no regrets about driving in the daytime and seeing it. But after we left it it got, well, bleh. We got to Albequerque and I actually told mom I wanted to stop for the night. 

My brother told me that La  Quinta allows pets, so I told mom I was stopping at a La Quinta, even tho she was telling me about a place she and Sue had stayed. I was holding my ground. Look at that - the first motel we came to. So we checked in and got a ground floor room (my request - I have a dog) and got all set for some sleep. Well mom slept. Ozzy thought this hotel thing was pretty cool cause all he had to do was ask me and he got a walk and a sniff at some new greenery. sigh. Like three  or four times that night. How am I to know which one would be THE one that I would say no to and it would be a disaster?

So we got up just at check out time and started again and I must say, New Mexico along I-40 is UUUUUUUUUUgly. Texas isn't much better. I could tell the instant we got into Oklahoma. The sky was bluer, the air was cleaner, the trees were greener, and the cows had smiles on their faces. 

We got in and kinda crashed, and I just kept crashing. I'm still not quite over it. I sleep at night, get up and talk to mom for a bit, but when I lay down on my own narcotic couch, I'm out for five or 6 hours, then watch a kittle TV and go to sleep again. I have gone out to get groceries (and got caught in a DOWNPOUR - got soaked to the bone - it was great), and Target, but get just exhausted. It means the next day is gone.

The stress test is back on, by the way. I also just got a call from my doctor. I turned in the cd from the er to her, which they couldn't open, but they had them fax the info. The nurse said I had cholelithiasis and they were referring me to a surgeon. I had her spell it for me. Mom and I broke out our computers, one on each side of the dining room table, looking it up on the internet. Not too long afterward, the nurse called back and said that the doctor wanted her to let me know that cholelithiasis was gallstones and I said that I knew cause I looked it up on the internet already. She was surprised and said good for me, and that they weren't going to refer me to a surgeon until I had problems again. Whew - dodged a bullet that time. They're also going to let me have the cd back, so I can play with it now,

Ozzy was glad to have his kitty back and Sheba was glad to be home. Josh and Alex came by to see us when we got home, and brought Sheba. It was so good to see them again. I really missed them both so much. I don't know how many times Alex was at my house, but I know they took good care of it. After Josh and Alex went home Sheba came trotting out and said hi and things are back to normal now. I have Guitar Hero again, including the new Aerosmith version, which I have beat on medium. I like the cool red and white guitar, so I use it now instead of my creaky old one. I think, again, I'm going to have to do more in hard cause most of the songs I've done in Aerosmith are 5 stars.

Heather just called mom to see if she was home and to check up on her. It was good to hear her voice, even through mom's phone, and isn't it just like Heather to be the one to step up like I asked, even though mom is in OK. I keep saying Heather is the heart of the family.

Anyway, that's about it. I talked to Annie, who happened to call on a "bad" day, and I think she really nailed it. She said "of course you're having a hard time - you spent two days driving in the daytime." I never even thought about it. I couldn't figure out why the second day was so much harder than the first, but the majority of both were daytime. I hadn't taken into account that two months later the days were a lot longer and therefore light for that much longer. But, hopefully I'll mend and we'll get to do some of the stuff we have planned. Ahhh, home again, home again.