part deux: Grand Rapids or bust, and beyond

*If you missed the firsts installment of the crazy busy weekend, you can catch up here. 

Saturday, March 14th:

8:08 am - We drove to the station closest to us. Reg parked Tex. We triple checked that he left the fob in the car, sent Tank photos of where Tex was, and drove west. One of the girls suggested that I leave them there - at the closer station. I noted the panic in Reg's face in my rearview mirror. 

Me:  No, it's no problem. I don't want to mess you guys up. We'll go to the other station. 

The station was packed. Reg texted that they just managed to squeeze on. 

8:45  am- I whipped up more soda bread, wanting it fresh for my Grand Rapids friends.

9:00 am - I worked out. Loaded my Stanley thermos with dinner from the crockpot for the road trippers. Showered. Got dressed for the funeral. Tank texted that he hopped on an earlier train, so he'd be home before I left for the funeral.

10:50 am - Curly, Mini, and I attended the funeral mass at the church a stone's throw from our house. 

Tank took Rae to see my folks, filled the minivan with gas, and brought the big cooler in from the garage. 

12:00 pm- after the funeral, Mini asked me to drop her home. She refused to attend the celebration of life lunch, because of her 'puddle' status. I told her she'd feel better surrounded by people and friends who were also grieving. Nope. She insisted that if her friend who spoke about her dad and didn't shed a tear could hold it together, she could not show up in such a state. I dropped her home, and Curly and I drove around the corner to the luncheon. 

12:30 pm - Curly's friend picked up Rae and drove her 25 minutes away to Suzi's house. She claimed volunteer status, but I insisted on paying her. Suzi's older kids would drop Rae home after 3:30 pm. 

1:00 pm - Got home. Changed clothes, loaded the cars, loaded the cooler with 7 layer taco dip, breakfast, GF dinner for me, and soda bread. 

1:30 pm -  hit the road. I listened to the last few hours of my audiobook 'Culpability' on blue tooth. Mini asked for a recap of the first 3/4 of the book. I filled her in. She was invested. 

4:45 pm - Rae called. It was 3:45 at home. 

Rae:  I just got home. The garage door was up, but no one's home. Is it OK if I go to Chick-Fil-A with Suzi's girls? And then come back? I'll put the door down. 

Me:  Yeah, Reg's probably napping. 

5:20 pm - Reg called. 

Reg:  Do you know where the girls are? It took a little longer to get home, because the train was packed. But I called Tommy (a neighbor kid) and had him open the garage door*. But the girls aren't here and I just got home and the door is down. 

*little girls don't know the code, because I can go for my run and they can go outside and shoot hoops, walk, etc. That way they don't re-enter the house while I'm running. Do we hope to trust them one day - soon? Yep. It's not easy living with kids who:  earn trust, break trust, repeat. *sigh* 

Me:  grrrr - It's fine, Reg. Rae will be home any minute. She got home and her ride took her to Chick-Fil-A because you weren't there. I told her you were napping. 

From crockpot to Stanley
pot. Have food, will travel.

5:30 pm - We arrive at the hotel (time change) after an uneventful 3 hour drive. Changed into green party attire, and I fed my people dinner from my Stanley thermos. No one would be surviving on appetizers alone on my watch. 

I knew that Reg's friends were coming back to our house after the parade to hang out in the basement. I'd suggested 8 or 9:00 pm. Um, no. They showed up right after the parade and the 'it'll be about 8 kids' wasn't accurate, but Reg fed the girls dinner, loaded leftovers from the crockpot in the fridge, and came upstairs regularly to check on them. They were watching a movie in the family room. 

Is the fact that Reg forgot to serve the 7 layer taco dip an indication that he may have been a tad overserved? Um, yes. 

Coach called Kay to ask her how science fair went. She was the only one from her school that didn't make it to state. We were SHOCKED that she'd made it to regionals. I wish I had a recording of Mini asking her about her project over Christmas. "So, you're giving preschoolers fruit, telling them it's apple, and then waiting to see if they notice it's pear? Is that science? Or trickery?" 

Kay told Coach there were about 50 pairs of shoes in the front hall. Maybe an exaggeration? Coach was a little miffed, but I reminded him that Reg is a huge help and this was the one thing he wanted to do over break. AND - the girls had to attend a 10:00 am scrutiny mass on Sunday at a church 20 minutes away. He took them, filled in as a sponsor, since their sponsors were unavailable. They were dressed appropriately, and not late. We let the basement 'rager' slide.

This bottle opener posted in
 their home made me chuckle. 

6:45 pm - 12:30 am - The Grand Rapids crew laughed, and enjoyed the party. We
watched Curly dance. We chuckled when Tank's best friend's freshman in hs little brother talked for a long time to Curly. Hey, maybe he digs older chicks? 

12:30 am - we Uber'd back to the hotel. Tank fell asleep in his clothes, face down on his bed. Mini hit him with a pillow during the night:  "Stop snoring!" The air mattress Curly brought failed her. Her butt was on the floor. Despite the nonsense, I enjoyed some long stretches of sleep. 

9:00 am - I'd decided that 9:30 am was the latest we could leave. Reg needed to meet Thomas, his ride back to Omaha. Thomas lives in Grand Rapids. I'd met his mom at the party. I needed to drop Mini at ND (slight detour), get home, and drive Reg 25 min south of our house to meet Thomas.

I roused the gang and put my contacts in. 

Confession: I sometimes wear my daily  contacts an additional day. 

My lens ripped in half in my eye. Curly eventually found the hidden half, and helped me get it out but my one-eye'd status slowed us down. Don't worry - I'm no longer reusing lenses. I'm a slow learner. 

11:20 am - dropped Tank off at a bagel place in South Bend, and circled back after I dropped Mini off. He needed food and my 'here's a banana' offering wasn't cutting it.

We'd just finished 'Culpabiliy' and had a mini book club 'how would you rank it?' discussion. Tank was annoyed he'd been subjected to it. Mini gave it a 3 out of 5. I'm maybe 3.5. I was interested in the story, but not the technical stuff - even though I know that was the whole point. Curly listened to music, unaware that a book was playing. She'd rather stream 'Castle' than read. I'm hoping she'll discover a love of reading eventually. I didn't embrace reading till I was a grown-ass adult. 

We got gas. I kept waiting for Reg to leave mass, so he could text me Thomas' ETA. 

12:00 pm - we got home. I scraped together some leftovers for Tank to take home and I told him to use my cc to Uber back to the city. I drove Reg. 

12:32 pm - we arrived 2 minutes before Thomas. (wipes sweat from brow). Kay and Rae were with me for . . .                                            

our next adventure. STAY TUNED. 

******

You can try, but there's literally no chance you'll guess where the girls and I ventured next. Have you read Culpability?  If so, what would you rate it?

the blow by blow of 3/14th weekend: Part 1 - the pivot, the fob, Irish soda bread, airport, & everything in between

Thursday (3/12th leading up to St. Pat's weekend) -  

9:00 pm - Curly decides she's gonna join the party bus for Grand Rapids. I was excited she decided to join us, because her high school friends suck. 

Curly was a big piece of the weekend childcare puzzle. Time to pivot. 

10:00 pm - I went to bed early. My gut kept me up. Reg came home from a friend's, saw me up late, and agreed to drive Rae to school in the morning. I went to sleep at 2 am. 

Guess how much I miss Mr. Helpful? 

Friday - Nana's 84th birthday. Coach flew to Delaware early morning to teach a class.

7:25 am - Reg drove Rae, even though I was up early. I did strength workout, pulled out the soda bread ingredients.

8:44 am - walked with my new friend at the health club. Rae could hang out at her house Saturday for a few hours. 

10:00 am - I baked Irish soda bread, and hopped in the shower. The bread wasn't done when I wanted to go to 11:30 mass with Reg. I texted him "I'll be late."

While I was in the shower, he'd come home from his workout and his 5th visit to the grocery store that week.  Nothing says it's Soda Bread Season like a panic 'Need butter and buttermilk' text.

Why did he switch cars after the grocery drop off - and MORE IMPORTANTLY why did he drive off in the minivan with the Tex fob?

11:35 am - with the bread out of the oven, I managed to get GW around the stranded minivan on the driveway. 

Guess how no fob impacted my 'already late' status?  

1:00 pm - Delivered soda bread for Nana's bday with Reg and Curly. Then I napped for 15 minutes. 

Late afternoon - I made two 7 layer taco dips. One for Grand Rapids. One for Reg to serve at his St. Pat's gathering in our basement. I loaded my crockpot with dinner for Sat night and then delivered plates of soda bread to friends. 

7:15  pm - Picked Mini up from O'Hare. Her spring break was an immersion week, not a mission trip, in New Mexico. (I'd mislabeled it) They spent time with indigenous people on reservations learning about school systems, the challenges they face, etc. 

She would've been compelled to stay with the group and take a bus back to South Bend from O'Hare, exception made for neighbor Mike's funeral. 

8:30 pm - Mini and I stopped by my folks' house on our way home. 

My green and a few
dressy offerings.

9:00 pm - Mini, Curly and I raided my closet for options for the funeral (Mini hadn't packed dressy or green clothes for NW) and for the St. Pat's party. Curly leads a 'sweats only' lifestyle. 

9:30 - 10:45 pm - I watched part of a movie with Mini and Curly.

Have you seen Chef?  Really good, but I still haven't finished it - which might speak to Mini's 'finish it tonight or else' rule. She was an angry elf when Curly and I opted to go to bed mid-movie. 

10:50 pm - plugged in the crockpot. It cooked all night, so I could snag some dinner before our road trip. 

Saturday:  Kay and I had to leave at 7:10 am for science fair. I set my alarm for 7:05. 

6:20 am - Kay's alarm went off forEVAH. She was already downstairs when I went in the girls' room to turn it off. 

Guess who was not happy to be woken up 45 minutes early? 

7:10 am - switched crock pot to warm, and drove Kay. 

7:25 am - Tank texted: "Taking train home, arriving at 11:18." We'd be at the funeral, so no one could pick him up from train.

In a moment of clarity:  We're outnumbered cars to people almost 2:1, so Reg and I could leave a car at the station for Tank. 

7:50 am - I got home. Reg and his friends were in the basement, because Curly, Mini, and Rae were still sleeping. He'd made them waffles and someone brought a coffee cake. Breakfast before the FREEZING downtown parade. 

I couldn't wrap my brain around a parade, but I was racing off to MI for a party, so who am I to throw stones?

Me (hollering down the stairs to the small crowd):  We need to leave in 2 min, so we can drop a car off for Tank.

Reg's group took a train to the parade last year. The trains were already full by the time they got to our station, some didn't stop. They waited forever. This year they wanted me to drive them to a station farther west, so they'd be assured of getting a spot on a train.

8:07 am - I corralled Reg's crew into the minivan. Reg drove Tex. 

Me (to his friends):  Reg knows, but I'm telling you. Reg needs to be home by 3:30 for his sisters. And he can't be overly tipsy. 

The crowd:  Yep, sure thing. 

*****

Conclusion next time - if you're interested. I don't know - maybe I should classify this post as 'seemed like a good idea at the time'. Now that I've written it - it's so long. *sigh* Sorry. Thanks for hanging in there. Can you predict what goes slightly askew? Do your people get angry if you don't finish a movie in one sitting?

You can take the Irish dancer out of class, but can you take the dance out of the dancer? Curly videos

I have a lot to share about the Grand Rapids adventure last weekend, but in the interest of time and because I glossed over St. Patrick's Day - I'm gonna share a few videos of Curly Irish dancing Saturday night with Tank's best friend and his best friend's sisters - one of whom is the roommate of one of my nieces (Marie's daughter). Remember that cray-cray small world/6 degrees of separation story? 

Curly's in the bright green shirt. 

Mini bowed out of performing, saying her performance at the ND show end of Jan. was her swan song. I still have to post about that. Guess who played a joke on her friend and gave the audience a good chuckle?

Tank grew up Irish dancing and performing and competing - always with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth (back before he bit through it). His shirt tail would be partially untucked. He looked as though he'd spent the night in the pub and had just rolled in, not quite ready to perform. Foreshadow much? He'd often weep right before going on stage after forgetting all of his steps.

Picture me standing side stage:  Brush brush change, brush brush change, cut hop up two three four, etc. - where would he have been if his mother hadn't known a thing or two about dancing? Probably on year round swim team, but who even knows. 

Anyway, Tank legit hid at the party just before the dance portion began. He hightailed it to the backyard where there were heaters and a keg, saying No way to dancing. They paged him using the microphone. Still, no go. His friend did an excellent job of faking it. With his curly red hair and green outfit, who was even looking at his feet? 

***

I fly to SC later today. This coach is very interested in adding Curly to her D II roster for next year. I'm anxious to see the campus and have Curly meet the team, etc. She's not thrilled about the distance, but Coach's brother - the one with nine kids, who's two kids flew here to surprise her for her birthday, live 1 hr 45 min from Aiken. 

In the meantime, we're waiting to see if Saint Mary's (division III, so no money for athletics) of Notre Dame, where I went to school, gets creative and finds some scholarship money to make that option more affordable. 

***

Did you do anything special (like drive 3 hours and stay in a hotel to attend a party out of state) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  Can you fake Irish dance?

Curly misses doing the performance Irish dance team. I saw kids dancing on the morning news this week and the look of exhaustion on their parents' faces when they were interviewed after the performance . . . well, Relatable. 

I do NOT miss it. 

Curly felt nostalgic after the party, so on Tuesday night while Coach and I played Code Names with the little girls, she went into the basement and facetimed her b-ball bestie, who's never seen her dance. As she showed off her moves, Kay and Rae were like IT'S SO LOUD. Coach and I:  That was the background noise to our lives for SO long.

so much: Huge hail, heartbreak, & weather hiccups *(Happy St. Pat's - lost track of my days, Irish dancing video later in the week)

Life was chaos Sunday night, and
while I was fielding calls about
 flights and cars, I was sort of
watching the Oscars. I texted
 Mini a photo of this dress.
My fav of the night.

OMG - life . . . nonstop. Some of it is my own doing. Shock. (Yes, I'm referring to my road trip to attend a St. Pat's party 3 hrs away - no regrets, but TIRED). I'm behind on commenting and responding, but caught up on reading. I've been trying to blog and comment when time allows, not concerning myself with a schedule. As a result, I sometimes feel behind and disconnected, and I've even considered waving the white blog flag, because time tends to pull me in different directions. But I'm here today, and I have things to share

Hail hell no:  What's with the crazy weather lately? We had record breaking sized hail, measuring at 5-6 inches during a storm last week. Yes,  5-6 INCHES. It was loud in my closet which is essentially in the attic, where I was putting away laundry. I wondered if it was dangerous to be in there.  

Photos someone posted of hail
 near our house. Not the
biggest pieces, but still BIG. 

A few years ago, most of our neighbors had their roofs replaced after a tornado, or a hail storm, or all of the above. We intended to wait till we could get a guy we know to do it. Preferred to give our business to someone we knew. That never materialized. A few months ago a roofer came to the door, offering to file a claim. Insurance is covering our roof - HUGE!

After this hail storm:  roofing places bombarded us with phone calls, text messages, and knock on our door. I finally hung a note over our doorbell.  OUR NEW ROOF ARRIVES APRIL 15. DON'T RING OUR BELL. WE'RE ALL SET. 

Translation:  wake up a sleeping baby in my house, and you'll be assessing more than damaged roofs. 

Hard to believe:   I'm the last one to know stuff, esp other people's business. A 'for sale' sign went in our friend/neighbor's yard in fall '24. I saw him at Curly's volleyball game. 

Me:  Mike, where are you guys going? You can't leave the neighborhood. You're our favorite neighbors. 

Mike:  We're getting a divorce.

You could've blown me over. When our kids were younger, we hung out with them. They have 3 girls. Oldest is Mini's age. Curly's between the younger two. She played volleyball with them. Our kids were on swim team together in the summers. Mike and Mary  -  the most fun, laid back, and hilarious friends. They hosted the best Halloween parties for adults and their costumes were always genius. They invited us over to have drinks on their deck during covid (some of you might recall - we got a concerning text from Ed about Lad and we bolted minutes after we arrived). Back in 2018 maybe, we invited 3 couples to an ND game before we had a kid there. We all drove in GW. Tailgating with Mike and Mary and the other couples was a blast. 

It became clear during the rest of that '24 volleyball season that Mike had a problem. He was inebriated at the games. He'd been told by doctors that he had to stop drinking. He tried rehab briefly. His liver failed and he passed away a few weeks ago. 

The 3 daughters spoke at the service on Saturday with the oldest sharing how addiction is a disease, and that they'd miss their dad so much, but the way he died doesn't change who he was or what a great dad he was. 

She really nailed it. My heart aches for them. It's still so hard to believe.

When things settle down, I'll drop off food for them. I wish they were still in their house down the street. I miss Mike waving as I drove by him while he was walking his dog.  

Oh the weather ALL OVER is frightful:  Fortunately the weather to and from Grand Rapids was fine. Yes, I went. More on that adventure later. 

Coach sent this pic on his flight
 to Delaware. "There's a person under
this blanket in the seat next to me."

Coach missed Mike's funeral, because he was teaching in Delaware. He texted me Sunday that loads of flights to Chicago were being cancelled. In my haze of a busy weekend, I'd not seen a forecast. I was clueless. He sat on the plane for 6 hours hoping they'd take off. When I went to bed, he wasn't sure he'd get home. 

Meanwhile, Reg was on his way back to Omaha after spring break. A kid 'Thomas' was driving him. He was a few hours away from campus. 

He texted me:  MOM WE WERE IN A BAD CAR ACCIDENT JUST NOW.

Thankfully he called one second later. Things weren't as bad as the text sounded. Praise the lord. Thank goodness I don't have a heart condition, but hmm - maybe I do now? No one was hurt. The authorities shut down the interstate in Iowa. Snow, blowing, slippery roads. The trifecta of bad driving weather. 

I called Tank who jumped into action and connected me with other Creighton students driving back, hoping they might be able to pick up Reg and Thomas. We decided everyone should stay in nearby hotels, and a few guys would pick up the 2 stranded guys Monday morning. Then a few more Creighton kids drove up in a Jeep, picked up Reg and Thomas, drove 35 mph on back roads, making it back to campus late Sunday night. 

I'm so grateful no one was hurt. 

This text exchange is from Monday night,
as I was drafting this. Ed flew to
Houston today for work. Ugh.

Another kid in the Tank-generated group chat was stuck in traffic about an hour ahead of Reg. He'd been sitting behind a bad accident for two hours. We suspect there was loss of life. 

I woke up in the middle of the night, surprised to see Coach asleep in the bed next to me. It would've felt more 'Trains Planes and Automobiles'-ish if  . . . 

Me:  Where are your hands?

Him: Between two pillows . . . 

Me:  THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS. 

But I thought I should let him sleep vs waking him up to recreate a beloved movie scene. Turns out he got home at 2 am. 

***

Crazy weather in your neck of the woods? Do you get roofers coming out of the woodwork after a storm?

5 Ef-Ups Friday

I'm here, on a Friday, with more things I've ef-'d up:

1. Damn gluten. 

Remember my hard time swallowing? Metallic taste? My GI ordered blood work. My numbers - NOT good. My gluten is like 2x normal (me reading lab results before a doc has met with me, but google 'splained it). 

I'm so careful - or so I thought. We eat at restaurants on occasion, so- crap shoot? I mix my own trail-mix adjacent snack:  almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and low sugar dark chocolate. 

Before buying them at Costco, I was getting pumpkin seeds in a clear container at the grocery store. Just noticed:  'manufactured in a facility . . . wheat'. Since ditching those seeds, my swallowing / sleeping has improved. The bad taste - not so much. Stay tuned 

Remember this
'gas appliance' sticker?
My kids stuck it on
 my back unbeknownst to me
when the dryer was delivered
 days before Christmas 2020. 

2. "The dryer is tired, or it's too cold for it to work right." ~ me, Dec. '25. I blame December. 

File this under lies I tell myself when I'm too busy to address anything

The dryer was broken, for months? Or several weeks. I attributed it to extreme temps. It was taking forever to dry the clothes in Dec/Jan. Coach uses a ladder to  to reach the vent on the second floor. I insisted there was too much lint. Denial. 

Coach finally suggested we get it serviced. $300 later, it's fixed. 

3. Sprayed by puke, but still smiling. 

Thursday scene from my laundry room. A doll got puke-sprayed when the 9 month old I babysit for projectiled. She has reflux or something and sometimes she blows chunks (prior to eating solids, it was liquid). 

Sprayed, but smiling.

Later, I laughed at the smiling doll on the laundry room floor on the pillow that was also soiled. 

4. DMV hell. Did I tell you my dad gave us his '04 Rendez Vous, with 150K miles on it? I went to the DMV to switch the title into my name.

Me (calling DMV):  I've tried to do this online several times (almost apologetically, because I felt like I was wasting his time - assuming I could do it online). 

Guy: Yeah, I know. It's confusing, because it looks like you can do it online - but you can't. 

Huh, maybe someone should fix that. 

I scheduled an appt. Drove there on a Saturday . . . my mom's name was on the title too. I'd failed to ger her signature. I had to come back another time. 

I drove home while listening to The Age of Innocence, deciding that the one hour round trip wasn't a total waste.  Reg shared this DMV video and I died. Highly recommend.

5.  Ouch! (no pictures of this one - you're welcome)

 Twice recently, a ripped contact lens tore completely in two when I tried to remove it. I got a piece of it. The other chunk hid in the side of my eye. No amount of side-eyeing could force that thing out. 

Scraping around for a lens remnant falls into the die-from-squeamishness fear that I suffer from. Eventually I managed to get it out without having to go to the ER. 

*****

What have you ef'd up recently? 

school options and tidbits

The school conundrum:

In the fall, I picked a woman's brain about school options for Kay. Co-ops sounded good, but that's only 1 day a week. The other 4 days are homeschool days. 

Why is homeschooling in someone else's home not a thing? 

She mentioned Jan - lives far away, but schools other people's 'troubled' kids. 

Jan's name came up again in late January when conversing with my new friend, who is so lovely. Her daughter went to college with Jan's daughter. I emailed Jan, describing Kay's issues. While we were at ND for Mini's parents' weekend, Jan emailed me:  I THINK KAY MIGHT BE A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR MY GROUP. 

Coach and I met with Jan on Tuesday. It was a hike. On the drive I told Coach 'this is silly because we don't even know how much tuition is and we'd have to find Kay transportation.'  He agreed, but - No stone unturned, etc. 

Kay and I made these GF date bars on
 Friday after school. This reminds
me why I don't keep GF
 sweets in the house. 

Jan blew us away. Impressive and inspirational. She was homeschooling her own 9 kids (youngest is a junior in hs and she attends Jan's 'school') when she noted a neighbor family struggling with destructive issues. After 3 visits to their house, saying she'd homeschool their kids - they agreed. 

For the last 15 years, she's teaches kids who've suffered crisis, displacement, or trauma along with her kids. She doesn't accept payment. WHAT? This is her ministry. She feels called. She never advertises. God sends her kids that need her. 

We agreed to pray about it, and next she'd like to meet with Kay. 

There is another family that drives from a town just north of us. Carpool possibility?  I have an outside the box thought on how to get her there. It's a stretch, but my mind's stretchy like that. 

It feels like an atmosphere that promotes personal growth with individualized attention, as in 'meet her where she's at' academically. Kay's immature and this setup feels like the right pace, like a stepping stone to get caught up on life. Also, no homework. That'll allow for her to join a swim team or something in the evenings, and to read  - maybe read more with me.  

This has weighed on us for months. I'll keep you posted. 

Other tidbits:

• Dad came home Sunday afternoon. I think? No communication from my shitsters. I was at the hospital Sunday morning when the doc said he could go once the oxygen was delivered to his house. 
• A  D2 coach reached out to Curly Saturday. School in SC. The coach wants to zoom early this week to show Curly their style of play. The plot thickens.
• Reg arrived home Friday, and as always is ready and willing to help me. 
• We watched the 2nd half of Life of Pi, Sunday night after Coach got home. He taught a class in NC for the weekend. 
• I'm hoping to sneak away to go to a party at Tank's college buddy's family's house in Grand Rapids, MI on Saturday. Um, Coach is away teaching again. Kay has science fair and one fam member is supposed to volunteer. Reg wants to do the parade, but then can be home to watch Kay and Rae. Mini's returning from a mission trip (all her friends went to Cabo) on Friday and she wants to go to road trip to the party with Tank and I. It's complicated, but I'm nothing if not a 'where there's a will there's a way' type. 

*****

Any tidbits to share? Do you have people ready and willing to help you - at work, at home? Do you think I can pull off a disappearing act on Saturday and make the road trip party thing happen? 

Hoping Dad's hospital stay is brief

HOSPITAL:  Yesterday my brother Pat called. "Ann's driving dad to the hospital." I believe Dad had a CT scan (or whatever) earlier in the day- might have pneumonia. My sisters have created a separate sib group chat without me, so I don't get messages in real time and I don't get all the details, particularly about doctor appointments, etc. Ann is a nurse and she manages all of their medical issues.  

After I finished babysitting, I sat with my mom and her caregiver, who was at their house until 6:00 pm. Marie drove down from Milwaukee to stay with my mom overnight. My brother, Mike told me Marie would be there around 6. Went straight to the hospital, knowing I'd be with Nana, but didn't communicate the change of plans. She arrived at 8:00. I said hello. She didn't respond. Then I said hello again, and she snapped "I said hello. You just can't hear." What now? Then she hid in the bedroom. When I left, I called "Bye Marie." Crickets. 

It's unfortunate that my sisters are gonna act like ass hats, but why should today be different than any other day. 

I'm hoping to see my dad this evening. Coach flies to NC this afternoon to teach a class. He'll be gone all weekend, so that's not great timing. 

When my mom facetimed him before I left, Dad sounded great - good spirits, explaining to my mom that they'd done blood work and that they were just getting him set up in a room. 

Dad:  Can you see me? 

Nana:  Yes, you look more handsome than usual.

Dad:  (laughing) I doubt that.

Nana:  I know, but I just wanted you to feel good. 

Dad:  I gotta go - this nurse is trying to work on me.

Nana:  Well, don't let her work on you too much.

Dad:  It's a HE. 

Nana chuckled:  OH!

Nana seemed much better after their chat. "He sounded good." I agreed. I assured her he just needs to stay there to get the right medicine. The caregiver told me that he had been really tired, but hadn't really been coughing. 

She also told me that Kay and Rae joined she and my mom for a walk on Friday. The girls went there after school until Lad could get them after work while we were in South Bend. The caregiver told me that my sisters sort of grunted and seemed a little 'off' when she told them that the girls had walked with them. Of course. 

Lad said when he picked them up from Nana's house, Dad said "Lad, these are good girls." Lad told Coach, I think Da's getting soft. Ha. 

I'm hopeful, and dare I say confident, that Dad'll bounce back. He'll be 86 in May. His body is failing, but his mind is sharp-ish. Nana has Alzheimer's and I noticed in the last few weeks another decline. Her body is not showing signs of slowing down. 

DELETE ANGST:  While at Nana's, I tried to delete photos from my phone. My cell is suffering with an overflowing memory. I deleted some contacts this am, thinking I was deleting the conversations. *sigh* I wave the white flag. I really do not know how to use devices - especially if it involves deleting stuff. Ugh. 

*****

This is a photo that I stumbled on when I was deleting stuff. That red donkey toy that the kids in the daycare ride on looks like he's sitting on the couch watching TV. I think someone moved him to the couch to vacuum.

 How do you store your photos?