Yep, as of today I will have been sick for THREE WEEKS. And survey says: Walking Pneumonia. SUPER.
Luckily (!?!) I am on the tail end of it so I just get to tough it out. I can, at least, see where each day is a little better. Until I sleep in until 10:00 these last four consecutive mornings then it's difficult to deny that I am not keeping it 100 up in here.
Last weekend was the super-extra-omg-busy weekend and it was as promised.
Saturday we had a memorial and a wedding to go to.(insert joke here) Difficulty Level 3,000 because the memorial required a ferry ride and the wedding was on a whole other island, not accessible by ferry. And, keep in mind, we set small achievable goals. hahahaNo.
Here in the PNW, you need to have reservations to ride the ferry. I should say it's highly recommended, not required. Until you're traveling on the busiest weekend of the summer then it's required.
I made reservations TWO WEEKS in advance and the sailings we needed were already booked. Yikes. This should have been our clue to adjust our expectations but who are we to heed the universe?
Memorial is at noon, on a Saturday. Not to be heartlessly bitchy, but they waited three weeks to hold it and then chose the most inconvenient time on a holiday weekend other than say 11:00 am on a Tuesday.
Available ferry for that day? 6:45 am or 7:15 am. FOR A NOON EVENT.
So, I went shiny-side: we'll make a day of it. Kevin and I will go explore the peninsula and make an adventure out of it. And the universe laughed. Again.
His family was on the same sailing. FML. And traveling with whom I will describe as the weird aunt. She's Kevin's mom's best friend and to sum her up best: she kisses everyone on the lips. Swistle cleverly described her as Shirley McLaine and she could not have nailed it any more perfectly.
The parents were in their van with the weird aunt and stayed in the van because his mom is scared of the water. (sigh) And it is for the better anyway because they don't ask for wheelchair accessibility when they reserve sailings. (because nothing can ever go wrong)
However, the kids rode with the brother and sister-in-law and THEY STAYED IN THE CAR TOO. What is going on? FERRY RIDE!! BEAUTIFUL PNW!!!FUN UNCLE & AUNT!!! *waving of my hands around me*
Later, with more information, the guess is they didn't want to make the brother uncomfortable by leaving him in the car. Because the brother is massively overweight, he does very little at this point. (I am not fat-shaming. This is a well-known fact and has been negatively affecting everyone's lives for a few years now. Don't get me started, this post is already too long.)
This guess is also based on normally easy-going Nephew ripping out of the car and walking away when we stopped at a restaurant. BECAUSE OF COURSE WE ALL HAVE TO HAVE BREAKFAST TOGETHER BECAUSE WE NEVER SEE EACH OTHER EXCEPT EVERY.SINGLE.GD.DAY.
Even after breakfast there was still three hours to kill. I admit to saying to Kevin quite passive aggressively "I thought we were going to go explore" when someone mentioned the group finding something to do together. The parents were going to the house where the memorial was being held so that was one less problem to deal with.
Port Townsend is small and we were early enough that not much was open yet. We went to a beach that you have to hike down to. It's an easy path, just downhill but it's a good walk. I did it, knowing that I was sick and coming back up was going to be challenging. But BEACH, Beautiful PNW! Kids!! This is not an opportunity that you say no to. Lack of oxygen be damned.
 |
| Tide was out so we were able to walk way out |
I should clarify: when I say kids I mean grown kids. Only Nephew and Niece came on this trip. It was too much to have six kids for the Nephew alone and both spouses had to work. We never, ever, ever get one-on-one time with the kids so this was the shiny side.
We spent hours walking the beach and talking. I was able to take some wonderful photos and my dark little heart was happy after all. The brother? Well, he pouted at the trailhead as we all explored the tidepools and beach. Then walked himself back up to the car and sat in it for HOURS.
Then we went to the memorial. It's our uncles house, an over-century old, historical district home with an English garden. It's one of my favorites. ALL the cousins were there and that is A LOT. My Big Fat Greek Wedding level A LOT. Four generations of folks, ages toddler to seniors. It really was probably the last time all of us will be together.
We had scheduled to leave about two hours into the memorial because that was the only ferry until way late in the day. Kevin reconsidered and asked me to change our reservation. I went onto the app to find that...our reservation had been cancelled. (there is a story to this but I will shush for brevity sake) On the Busiest day of the summer. Sonofabiscuiteatingdog.
Here were our options:
Keep our plan of early sailing and hope we could get on. Odds were pretty good of success.
Wait for later sailing on standby and odds not so good, especially as it got later.
Driving around the peninsula, which would be 4.5 hours in traffic. NO.
Staying the night with no preparation to do so.
So we left and nearly drove right onto the ferry. We probably could have stayed according to the ferry tollbooth guy. Kevin was crushed and I felt so badly. I mean, we kept to our original plan but he wanted to stay. *I* would have risked it but with everything going on, Kevin was not in the headspace for that kind of adventure.
By the time we got inland, it was too late to even try to get to the wedding or the reception. All of that for nothing. Instead, we phoned a friend and arranged to meet at a car show. This show was something we scheduled to do a year ago and couldn't go because of the memorial and the wedding
AND with all of this, we were supposed to be in Canada all weekend racing. Kevin was invited to run with a group that he's been trying to get included in for two years. He was finally invited and he couldn't because of all the above nonsense. And he was supposed to crew on our friend's car also. This time next year Kevin and I are going into hiding.
This continual mess created a whole mood for him and I understood. And during this, he kept saying "I don't know why I'm in a bad mood." It was literally frustrating him that he was in a bad mood. I'm all "Um, do you want the LIST? because we have time." *unfurling the scroll of current bad news*
We hung out at the car show then after a bit, I tapped out and sat in our truck. Kevin went for a cruise with our friend, which is exactly what he needed. Cool car, one of his besties, and a cruise. Meanwhile, I rested in the a/c, listened to music and caught up on the social media. I know it doesn't sound fun but I very much enjoyed it. (hello introvert tendencies and oh yeah, pneumonia)
We got home late then was up early to Canada the next morning because why not at this point. We spent the day at the track with our friends. This was another antidote for Kevin: spending time working on racecars with his friends and NOT his brother is pure heaven. Even if his wife sounds like Typhoid Mary at this point.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were back to normal...ish.
Then the annual (my) family gathering on the 3rd. Every year I am tasked with making spaghetti. Last year, barbecue meatballs was added onto the menu for me to make. Until it wasn't. My sister-in-law texted THAT DAY to say that the mom had made them but forgot to make coleslaw and could I make some. That is ADORABLE. Yes, I will make some by stopping at the deli and spending three times more than it would take to make it.
And...does anyone need barbecue meatballs because I have buckets of it. Kevin walked in the other day "Why In.The.Hell. do you have so much barbecue sauce?" "My family" was my only reply.
I powered through the family gathering. Turns out my sister-in-law broke her ankle and was in a boot. Did anyone mention this previously? Nope, because "my family." So it was up to me to round up the nieces to do the food and cleaning. PERFECT. This is going well. Shiny side: time with young nephew and we busted out the silly string for the adults.
On the fourth, I slept a good part of the day while Kevin did racecar stuff. Kevin worked the next two days and I coughed and slept. Today I am trying to remember what real life feels like.
AND THEN Kevin leaves for four days on a trip on Wednesday. I leave instructions that my memorial be as inconveniently planned as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment