Drama Drama Drama

My life sometimes has more drama than a Mexican Soap Opera. We're home safe & sound, well, kind of. Sort of. Not all of us.

I spent our first night home partying with food poisoning. We got that party started about two hours after we got home. Once again, it's good I don't believe in guns because I would have gladly used one at about 2:30 AM. Not the welcome home I was looking for. But Thank God, it happened once I was home.

My m-i-l also got to enjoy the food poisoning, poor old girl. She's in bed today, still feeling the hangover of it.

But that's not the fun part. There's more, you ask? Why, of course! Have you met me? There's always more.

My nephew was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease just a few weeks prior to our trip. Fun!! he's on meds and seems to be stabilized. He is driving/riding with my f-i-l towing the racecar back from Vegas. On the first night while I was hanging with Food Poisoning, we got a 3:00 am telephone call telling us that the nephew was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Turns out, he has a perferated intestine. Not good.

Now, it's only Tuesday morning. We've postponed, much to my relief, Thanksgiving to the weekend as it was uncertain when the Nephew would get discharged from the hospital.
I get to play the "Where are you at?" game and try to research flights home for him on a grouchy computer. Red Bluff, CA. I still don't know where it is. Horizon Airlines, $100, not bad actually. And the agent was an angel.

I spent Wednesday trying to catch up. Cleaning the house, doing what small laundry we have (because our suitcases are still in the trailer, in California with our souveniers) and trying to catch up on the email situation which has reached ginormous proportions.

And my computer begins acting up. Of course it does. It doesn't want to stay logged onto the Internets. It stops recognizing the modem. (yes, as I live in the sticks, I have dial-up still) This is at the same time that Kevin is trying to look online for pictures of the racecar. (there are a bunch, so far) So, that's not frustrating at all.

Finally, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few needed things. As my nephew & f-i-l are now stuck in parts unknown California, my m-i-l is without a cell phone charger. a) I'm not sure how this happened exactly as my f-i-l doesn't have the same phone and b) this is her only means of communication. So I buy her a cell phone charger while I'm down there. Good girl.

Meanwhile, I still haven't eaten much and still feel like I've been hit by a truck. My original plan was to get all my chores done and then consider Christmas decorations and the such. Yeah, not so much.

Kevin comes in about 5:45 and says that the cell phone charger doesn't work. *insert bad words here* At this point, we are still unsure when the nephew will be discharged and even if they discharged him quickly, he is still a day away. Back into the truck I go to exchange the stupid charger.

I must admit, it was kind of nice to be alone in the truck as we've all been joined at the hip for a week. I did, however, break all landspeed records getting there, just to discover that it DOES TOO WORK. I called Kevin while still standing in the store to tell him he sucks. This is what I get for not double-checking before I leave. It was entertaining for the Verizon Wireless workers, I am sure.

That night I gave up on the computer, it was working intermittenly and I didn't have the energy for it. I was Scarlett: tomorrow was another day.

I detest Thanksgiving. I've ranted on this previously so I won't go into detail. Two dinners within two hours of one another and little compromise between the two families = FUN. Enough said. I was relieved that we only had to eat one dinner the next day. Especially considering that I still hadn't eaten much of anything.

We went to bed and I fell asleep right after realizing that my brother's birthday is on Thanksgiving. AND
I haven't gotten him a gift. I get to go to town AGAIN and this time, on Thanksgiving. Good on me. Why I didn't buy a $3 t-shirt while I was in Vegas, we'll never know.

I slept in on Thanksgiving, lazily got up and ignored the Macy's Day parade on television. My nephew called at 11 am and they released him from the hospital. They would be home around midnight. Hooray.

Finally, I drag myself into town AGAIN to get the birthday present. Luckily, he's easy to shop for and it didn't take long. I came home and got out the paper to wrap his presents. Where is the tape? Oh yeah, it's in the racecar trailer. Conveniently located somewhere in California.

Luckily (!?!) I keep extra tape buried in the tote that has gift boxes, bags, bows, etc. Unfortunately, this requires me getting into the one messy closet that I allow myself to have. Fun!!! But it's Thanksgiving so I'm grateful I have tape, right? Sure. Oh, and I unearthed our Christmas cards at the same time. A Thanksgiving Miracle.

Finally, we make it out to my parents for Thanksgiving. My nieces are there so that's a joy. My brother, whose birthday it is, is late as always. We weren't there for thirty minutes when my mother won the "Who is going to take the Lord's Name in Vain on a holiday" game. We eat...my mother's stuffing is the WORST...Worst, I'm saying. To quote Kevin: "Raisins? What the hell is that about?"...then because we're a highly communicative family, we watch Jeff Dunham's Christmas Special.

Meanwhile, my nephew is texting Randy with regular updates. They were due home at 10:30 now instead of midnight. At 8:30, my mother decides we have to have cake and presents now. 8:30!!!! Oh, and have I mentioned that the birthday boy has slept for the past hour? Sadly, this is not unusual.

We ooh and aah over presents, we sing happy birthday...which make Kevin twitch: having to sing happy birthday to a 45 year old man...and finally, with a sigh of relief we are out of the door. I wish I could say that I enjoy my family but frankly, it's just not the case. I love them, of course, but oh. my. God.

We get home with twenty minutes to spare before my nephew & f-i-l arrive. We fidget and wait until finally they're home! Hoooray!!!! Everyone is home!!!! All is right with the world.

But wait, where are the nephew's parents? ASLEEP. For the love of God, Jesus, Joseph and Mary, they're SLEEPING. Poor Nephew. We hugged him extra. And I'm sure Kevin won't let it pass without a comment.

So now it's Friday after Christmas. I'm swimming in laundry, happily. I have our souveniers unpacked and our suitcases put away. Kevin is working in the shop with the nephew. I am feeling better. The exorcism on the computer is momentarily taking hold and we're all home.

God Bless Us Everyone. ( I know, that's Dickens A Christmas Carol...work with me)