Last Thursday, I drove south to my parent’s house – about 3 hours – and then on Friday we drove 6 and a half hours to central Illinois. They dropped me off at my cousin’s house and there was much video gaming, paper folding, and card playing with her kids.
One of whom decided early on that we were now “best buddies”. 🙂
It ended up being a very late night and there was an early morning on Saturday to visit my aunt for brunch. From there, a birthday party at a gymnastics center that had a climbing wall, a bounce house, and a pit filled with foam cubes. A lot of fun to get into, but difficult to get out of. I proved once again that I’m just a tall kid and spent a lot of time running, jumping, and climbing – much to the delight of the actual kids.
After the party it was trip to my Dad’s cousin’s house, then back to my cousin’s for a family get together. Lots of food, lots of great conversation, and lots of people – including some of my relatives that I hadn’t seen in many years. It was another late night with some really amazing people – didn’t want it to end, but I was asleep on my feet.
Sunday was back in the car for 6.5 hours, then a quick dinner and 3 more hours home. A good trip, but it took a lot out of me.
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A side effect of hanging around a lot of kids when you aren’t used to that is… well… they are germ warehouses. I love ’em, but I picked up some kind of nasty bug over the weekend. It hit me about 2 in the afternoon on Tuesday with just a tickle in my throat. I was coughing pretty good by the evening and Wednesday morning I was sick as a dog. I got up long enough to send an email to work, then it was back to bed. I was up again a little at lunch and then once more at 5 to do some work.
This morning, still sick and I hadn’t slept well. Took another day off, but did a little more work from home so I wouldn’t be so far behind. I’m better now, but still really tired.
The worst is that horrible taste as my body slowly converts to mucus. Yeah, pretty much like that. Need to get some more cold medicine so I can function tomorrow and then it’s back to work.
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A few weeks ago, I fired up my text editor and wrote a little to the Ladies Who Have Returned to New York – Louise and Edna. It was a newsy kind of letter – just sharing some of my silly adventures since I hadn’t talked to them in a while. I printed it out, drew some pictures on it as illustrations, and dropped it in the mail.
Last week, I got a card back from Louise. It was a short note, written in a densely packed cursive, that was a little difficult to read. She thanked me, a couple of times, for the letter and how much she and Edna enjoyed it. She also said, a couple of times, how unhappy she was for having moved and that it was a terrible decision.
Made me sad to hear that – but perhaps not surprised. She decided early on that this wasn’t a good move for her and I’ll give her this – she’s consistent. I’m worried that she’s not making a good effort to make the best of the situation and that it’s going to ultimately impact her health.
So, I worry, a little – but know there’s not much I can do to help. I’ll write again soon and try to send a little Ohio cheer her way.