I woke up early on Saturday and sat and read until the rest of the house woke up. The girls headed out to a baby shower and the guys were put in charge of decorating the garage for the party that night – and getting tables and chairs. We got everything set up and even did a good job on the streamers and balloons. The girls were impressed later when they got home.<\/div>\n
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For lunch, we went to Dunkers – a small town bar and grill – and took a short trip afterwards to Walmart.<\/div>\n
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Back to the home base, I volunteered to help in the kitchen and actually did a pretty good job on the stuffed mushrooms. My cousin was peeling fresh ginger for Ginger Lemonaid – and I wanted to try a piece. She warned me, but let me try some anyway.<\/div>\n
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It was like a chemical burn – artificial tasting and insanely hot\/painful. I had a little trouble breathing and managed to spit most of it out before it got too bad. Lesson learned. And she did warn me, after all.<\/div>\n
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I also helped with the dishes and managed to cut my thumb on the SlapChop while I was washing it. Of course.<\/div>\n
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Just enough time to get changed before the guests arrived and the party began – it was the Birth(day)(an)iversary for my aunt and uncle. It was supposed to be a surprise, but they got told beforehand since things were getting rough for my other aunt. <\/div>\n
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I didn’t know many people there, so I mostly hung out with another cousin and taught some origami while listening to the story of how a kid keep messing with him on the bus until he got fed up and threw a punch. No word yet on if he’ll get kicked out of school. I hope not, he’s a good kid and doesn’t deserve any road-blocks to his future.<\/div>\n
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A little later in the evening we watched a video of my aunt and uncle and their family – it was pretty cool, though a little sappy. <\/div>\n
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I talked to my other aunt a bit about her upcoming brain surgery. She was putting on a good front, but I could tell she was scared. She told me that she knew I didn’t pray much, but she was expecting me to do so for her and I told her I would. She said a lot of people were praying for her and that it was cool that she was getting people to do that. I offered that brain surgery was a little extreme to get people to pray and she laughed and said, “well, whatever it takes” <\/div>\n
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The party wrapped up and I crashed pretty hard in that orange and blue room and the next morning we went to visit grandma in the nursing home. <\/div>\n
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It was… rough. She recognized my sister and the baby and I think she knew me, but she was so weak and randomly confused. Her room-mate wheeled in and kept insisting that my grandmother turn and look at her and listen when she explained that she hadn’t wet her pants, she had only spilled coffee. Another resident wandered in and picked a fight with the room-mate. It just felt like a place people would go to wait for the end, not a place of healing. The staff were kind and doing what they could but there was just this… emptiness. It was tough to leave grandma there – I’m still upset about it and I more so each time I’m there, but it’s not my decision.<\/div>\n
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From there we went to lunch and another party for the 2 year old son of my cooking cousin. It was a pretty fun time and the food was good, but it ended up being a much later start than I we would have wanted. Back in the car for 6+ hours to my sister’s house. I checked online when we got there and since I didn’t have any meetings for today I emailed my boss and told him I would be in late. My sister let me crash on a mattress on the floor and I got up early to head back North. I was on the road by 6 am and at work just before 9. Still felt like a full day of work and I expect I’ll sleep well tonight.<\/div>\n
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So, 18 hours in a car over the slightly longish weekend. Incredible mix of emotions. My baby niece is awesome and so are her mommy and daddy. I’m worried about my aunt, my grandmother, and my cousin. Glad I went on the trip, but so very tired. So, laundry, some warm tea and an early night. <\/div>\n
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