cautious optimism
June 23-25, 2006

This weekend was on the hectic side.

I accomplished every single thing on Friday's lengthy to-do list.
And then some. Including rounding up Missy Thing, when she Spouse left the gate ajar, and she decided to take hjerself for a walk.

I have no doubt that she knew exactly what she was doing, when she repeatedly ran right up to the curb, and then stopped. She was trying to give us heart attacks, the little shit.

We caught her by offering a irresistible treat--we opened my car door and invited her to go for a ride. In she hopped, ready to go! I got in, pulled the car from the curb into the driveway, and there we sat till Spouse returned with her leash.

I think my heart is still pounding, actually.

After spending Friday evening with Papa, Spouse and I went out for Italian food, and then on to the grocery store to get the rest of the shopping done. By the time I got home and got everything put away, it was nearly midnight. And after that day, I had no trouble conking out.

His invisible, imaginary roommate.

That was scary.

But by yesterday afternoon, he was looking much better, speaking coherently and energetically, and feeling well enough to indulge in a bit of self-pity.

Because, you see--not one ever comes to see him.

I can't even say how happy that little bit of bitching makes me.

They have him in pressure booties to increase his venous circulation, and his color is way better than it has been. P had his diet changed to soft foods, and now he's eating better. He's up and sitting in a chair for short periods several times a day, and the physical therapist comes and helps him get a little mild movement and exercise every day. He seems to have turned a corner in beating the infection, and the doctors are starting to express a little cautious optimism.

In the afternoon, Niece and I went to the hobby store for beading supplies, and Nephew stretched out in the backyard swing, reading a book in the shade (He is SOOOOO my kid!) while Spouse took a quiet little float in the pool.

When Niece and I got home, the two of us beaded for a while, and we all went swimming again, and then Spouse started his big dinner project--steak, sweet corn, baked potatoes, and garlic bread, all cooked on the big charcoal grill.

The kids helped me get everything set up in in the house, and saved Spouse and me all kinds of steps by running stuff back and forth between kitchen and grill. After dinner, Niece obligingly helped me do the dishes, and Spouse and Nephew caused a few train wrecks playing Microsoft Train Simulator.

They both really wanted to go for a swim after dark, despite the chilliness of air and water. So we went for ice cream to kill a little time, waiting for the sun to go down.

And then the last swim of the day, with the green lens over the light to lend a pretty glow under the water. They both loved it, but Nephew especially. He love to swim, but has extremely fair skin and burns easily. Night swimming seems a particularly brilliant idea to him.

After that last extremely brisk dip, I was more than ready for bed, so I got the kids set up for the night, took Raj out, and crashed.

Since Polish Fest was off, due to Spouse's distaste for attendig in the rain, we woke up slow. We lounged around, had pancakes and sausage for breakfast, and Niece and I did another roung of beading. The guys wrecked some more trains, and eventually we all made it though the shower and into our clothes.

We left about noon and went to visit Grandpa, and then took the kids for Snday dinner. Since it was Sunday, we decided to go to Paul's Omega in Milwaukee. They have the world's best cream of chicken-rice soup on Sundays. We all had a big meal, and Spouse got soup and rolls to take out, for supper. Well, so did Nephew. He's a big fan of the soup there, too.

Then we drove out to "where Jesus lost his sandals", as JR calls it, and dropped the kids off at home. Ahh. Then it was quiet.

We came home, Spouse snoozed a bit in front of the TV, I played a video game and puttered around, and after soup and sandwiches for dinner, I watched Madagascar, and he went to bed. All in all, it was a pretty good weekend, but it was once again an exhausting one.