Thursday Plans Turned Upside Down
October 23, 2014
When Stephen woke me up Thursday morning, he had already started loading my luggage into my car for the 45 minute trip to my sister's house where I planned to spend the next week. I had picked up cinnamon rolls for us the evening before when I worked on my blog at Panera Breads. We had those for breakfast and then I told him I would load the last few things before I went. I was going to wait until about 10:00 when the traffic died down a little.
My mom had been in isolation at the rehab center/nursing home for about ten days because of an infection she was battling. I had only gone over Monday evening and had followed the isolation rules that the staff had in place - which had been somewhat relaxed from earlier. Just before I was going to leave the apartment I got a text from my sister who is currently caring for Mom and she said Mom had called and asked her to text me and tell me not to come to the rehab center because she was feeling lousy and didn't want me exposed any more than I already had been. She has been so concerned that I might catch it before the wedding which is in slightly over two weeks.
Now what? I had done all I could do alone, at Stephen's apartment. I had done almost all of the needed wedding things and the others Stephen could handle. I had a business at home that needed me. I had been out of town 4 times in the last 4 weeks: once I was gone to Keller to help while Mom was in the hospital, and was away from home for 8 days; Ron and I had gone to the island for 2 nights; we had gone to Houston for 2 days to see the audiologist for my Cochlear Implant; and I had already been away for 7 days this time. I had been using Mom's car for these trips and had put almost 4,000 miles on it. I was gone 3 of the last 4 Saturdays, and the grass in my backyard was now knee high following all the rains. If I couldn't see Mom, it was time to go home. The car was loaded, thanks to Stephen. There was gas in the car after my trip out to do errands the previous evening.
While sitting on the couch trying to make a decision about what to do: go or stay, I had a major nose bleed. That bathroom I had cleaned so perfectly the day before got a second major cleaning.
Since Stephen had already gone to work I had to go to the store and leave his keys with him. I ran that errand and just before noon headed south. I thought. That crazy GPS in my phone! Stephen programed it for me just before I left his store and I was so delighted that I was able to follow that little blue lline and my blue arrow was staying right on it. Then I looked more closely and saw it had me on IH-45 to Houston, instead of the highway to Austin. It was sending me to HOUSTON! Thankfully I remembered seeing Loop 12 when we had been on the correct road, so when I came to Loop 12 on the WRONG highway, I got off and took it to the RIGHT highway.
I could not get in touch with Ron since during the flooding rains he endured without my help the previous day, his phone had fallen in the water. I called my daughter-in-law Barbara and asked her to get in touch with him and relay the message. I was heading home. I love to travel, but it is nice to have time to do the laundry in between the trips.
After getting gas for the car at Buc-ee's in New Braunfels I was getting to San Antonio right at rush hour time, but the traffic was not bad at all until I was almost to David's house. When I had left Dallas, I had not known if I would try to make it all the way home, or stop for the night at our son David's house in San Antonio. Having gotten such a late start, I knew it was not wise for me to try to go the whole distance. It was late afternoon before I heard back from David about their plans to be sure if it was alright for me to spend the night with no advance warning.
It turned out he had a meeting and Diana and the kids were at a football game so I was thankful that I had a key to let myself in. I read while I waited for David and then he and I went to supper. As Dave and I were leaving for supper, the neighbor across the street called to him. He asked if she needed help on something. She did. What she needed was for someone to take these beautiful roses. She is a florist and had these left over and didn't want them to go to waste. They looked beautiful on the dining table when Diana and the kids got home. Note to self: if I ever shop for another house, see if there is a flower shop owner living across the street.
As we left for supper, I received a long text on my phone. It was from my sister who was caring for Mom. I was worried about what it would say. To my surprise, it said the nursing director had come to tell them that the most recent tests showed Mom was free of the infection and all isolation could be lifted and all the medications for the infection stopped. That is why Mom felt so lousy that morning - the medications. So if I had stayed, I could have seen her that evening. But since she now just needs to regain her strength after 10 days of a clear liquid diet, Debbie (my sister) can take care of things.
I had picked up cherry cobbler so we got some Blue Bell Ice Cream on the way home from supper and had that for the kids when they got home. I worked on a blog but kept falling asleep typing so I gave up and then as tired as I was, I didn't sleep much that night.
The two pet lizards are growing rapidly! They are so big now. The smaller one (below) had at least doubled in size since I had been there a few weeks ago. This would not be my choice of pet, but they are well loved and well cared for at David's house.
One thing I forgot to mention is that I really have trouble hearing clerks. This is true of ones at the grocery store, the gas station, the banks, and Panera Breads. I don't know what the problem is, but they seem to mostly be young and most are soft spoken. They all had to repeat and repeat things for me.
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