Ding Dong January is Gone!!

Whew... January is done and over with! To much going on in this two person household. The first weekend we were in Washington D.C. That was the best part of the month. Note: I am little behind trying to get those blogs and pics out... coming to a computer near you! Anyway, that was the most fun Brint and I have had in a long time. However, during this time my poor dad had to fly in from California because his brother, my uncle Bill, passed away suddenly. Mind you my dad's other brother passed earlier in '08. So before we left for D.C. we had to caravan my dad to Blue Ridge, Georgia where our family is. Why did we have to drive with my dad up there?? The poor man gets lost in a paper sack. Never mind the fact that he is a retired letter carrier, and radar/air traffic controller in the Air Force. So logic would tell you he should have the BEST sense of direction... Uhhh NO! Poor guy, good thing we love him.

So we got him safely delivered to Georgia, then it was time for our trip (again read the upcoming blogs). Fun, fun, fun!! Till we got back, thankfully Brint and I talked dad into getting a GPS in his rental car, and he was able to make it over the mountains in his mock-speed of 80mph. Ahhh, don't miss those days of getting car sick with dad's "NASCAR" style of driving! He did, however, bring home some bronchitis for himself. So off to the Sisters of Mercy we went. So the stress was on to get my 68y.o. diabetic, bronchitis, pneumonia-prone dad all better in two days, so I can put him on a plane back to California. With a lot of prayer, NyQuil, narcotics, and Vicks Vaporub I was able to get his peakid face on a plane. Ok, the month is going to get better!

The next week was normal... well I did come down with a little sickness, and was bummed that I missed church. Brint and I were able to watch the Presidential Inauguration from start to finish. It was very cool to watch the process, the history, etc. However, the coolest was to see all the places we had been to the week before. The President, Vice President, and their wives stood on the same steps I had my picture taken on the back side of the capital. Also, to watch them drive and walk down Pennsylvania Ave, where we walked a week before. Brint and I followed along the parade route with our little map. It was fun and exciting!!

Late that night my mom calls and tells me that my 94y.o. little grandma in Georgia is in the hospital clinging to life. They will be flying out of Calif. the next morning (Wed.) Now remember my dad was here only a week ago, I bet their flights weren't cheep. So now worry, worry, stress, stress about grandma, and my parents flying out. The only plus to this is my parents will stay with us after being in GA a couple of days. From what our family there said she was on death's door. However, when my parents got there she was sitting up in her hospital bed eating grits. Shocked is not the right word for what they were feeling. Later that night she was asking my parents when can she go home and have a Coke. I think our family there jumped the gun a little. Woops!

So my parents said "don't take any time off of work just come on Sat and stay the night". So we drove back to Georgia (a 3hr drive). The BEST part was seeing my parents. Especially my mom since I hadn't seen her since September. By then my grandma was at home. Got to visit with her, and other family. She still looked very tired. By Sunday morning my parents get a call at 5am (which I heard through the hotel wall) that they were going to take her back to the hospital, because of chest pains. Here comes the roller coaster ride. They had her in a regular room, and she was drifting in and out of consciousness. As the morning wound on it did seem that she was drifting, she even spoke of seeing family in the room that had passed. Also, as the morning wound on, more and more family showed. Cousins, and their kids. More cousins, and their kids, and just to fill the room, hallways, and waiting room to capacity, more cousins and their kids came. During what was suppose to be a time of sadness, it was quite humorous to me... you have to find a little humor somewhere. My mom, and I felt like we were in the middle of a three ring circus. The mobs of people in one tiny little room. A couple of cousins over reacting and causing a seen, like a true Irish family would.

The hands and arms all over that poor 94 y.o. woman laying in that hospital bed. Everyone moving this leg, and that arm. Their faces (ALL of them) in her face. It was enough to make me feel claustrophobic, and I was standing out in the hallway watching through the open door. I don't know if this is a southern way of doing things, or Irish, or just a Dills way of doing things, but it was WAY to overwhelming for me. Half the day went by, and my frail little grandma woke right up and asked if she can have a sip of coke, like nothing happened!! What-tha????

So after standing hours on our feet in the hospital hallway, or sitting in the waiting room trying to strike up some conversation with a cousin you haven't seen since you were 3. After all the boo-hooing of very vocal family, after the laying on of Baptist hands in prayer, and sentences being said like "don't go (die) yet mamaw I gotta go smoke"... no joke! This little old deep southern woman was ready to go to her house, listen to her minister on the radio, and have her sips of coke. Again, What-tha????

She did have some serious medical issues going on, but my grandma said she felt fine... with her blue lips. I drove Brint home Sunday night so he could go to school the next day. My parents called, thinking she had passed, but she was doing well and wanted to go home. I drove back on Tuesday to help my parents anyway I could, with some sanity and a good lunch. They had to help the rest of the family understand that she needed better care at home, than my poor uncle Charles, who forgets to give her meds, but does the best he can. None of the family wanted to help out with her care, but agreed that she needed better care. Thanks!!

Anyway, that is another LONG story for another time. So here I am just telling you my story, meanwhile trying to keep one of my nostrils from dripping like a faucet, and the other so blocked up that my eye is about to pop out, because I have a fun filled head cold. Is it 2010 yet?? Sorry for the rambling, and complaining, but hope you found a little humor in my month of January. How was yours??