Awake

Looking back on this week

Wednesday began with a bump in the night at a little after four in the morning. A small crash but another substantial skin tear. A trip to the emergency room and a left forearm now completely wrapped.

Thursday ended with the assembly of one of those walker-on-wheels-with-a-seat and a deeply encouraged grandpa walking up and down the hallway.

Friday began again at an early hour—this time 3:00. Grandpa was complaining of excruciating pain in left thigh. Ice pack and acetaminophen was fetched and thus commenced my Independence Day.

Friday continued with a few more "Zs" and a reluctant roll-out-of-bed at quarter-til-nine. Grandpa, still in pain, me, fetching my massage table to set up in the living room. He insisted on the wheelchair, I, the walker. He walked to the table and I propped him up with several pillows and a face cradle turned neck rest. His jammied legs extended, I took his feet and gently wobbled them back and forth to see how restricted his hips were. The right leg wobbled well; the left barely budged.

I compressed and slowly ran my fist down the side of his left leg to try and release that tract of fascia. I felt around the hip joint and noticed a build up of tissue around the joint that struck me as unusual. Indeed, the right hip had no such build-up. After softening that and then doing compression on his hamstrings, I gave him a little foot massage and then applied the heat pack to the side and back of his thigh. By the end of the morning, he was feeling much better.

By afternoon, spirits were decidedly lifted (maybe due to the yummy tacos?) and I bounded off to the mall to buy a suit (it only took me 15 minutes to find the perfect one—which I think has to be some kind of record) and then over to Drew and Kelly's for a pool party at their new house. Had a blast in the pool for a few hours and then went back home to make Grandpa a sandwich for dinner. Went back to Drew's and we tried to scout out where the fireworks would be in relation to his deck (and awesome view of the valley). Their house is on the back side of Manor Hill and as far as we could tell, the fireworks would be going off in Miles Field right on the other side of the hill. We noticed neighbors walking up the hill and so we followed, but only to be turned away by security (attempting to enter Manor Hill without a walker?). No, there is construction on the hill and the lawyers decided to ruin the fun and not allow the public to trespass on the Manor's property like they have in year's past. But it turned out ok, because at 9:40 that night, a huge bang and explosion of fireworks erupted from the Hill. We scampered off the deck and down to the end of their driveway and enjoyed 20 or so minutes of what shall be known as the Great Manor Hill Volcano Fireworks Display. (Because the hill was between us and the fireworks display, the fireworks looked like they were coming out of the hill, like a volcano.)

Last night (Friday), I got to sleep through the whole night and this beautiful Saturday morning woke up early to cycle laundry, pack, empty and load the dishwasher, make breakfast, shower and get to the salon in time for my first appointment. I've got one more appointment in an hour or so and then it's back to 3355 to get us ready to embark to Portland for a short weekend with (most) of the family.

As of this morning, Seth is in California with a friend—both on business—and April and the girls were headed south from Lacey to Portland. April's car broke down in Kelso (fuel pump?) and the Dadoo left to get them and hopefully get the car towed to the McKenzie Ford dealership. Brant and Jackie are already there (I think) and hanging out with the V's.

So hopefully we'll all converge and have some quality time together before we disperse again on Monday.

Hope your holiday weekend is going well.