Catching Up
This weekend was all about catching up. Catching up with my wife, catching up with my friends, catching up on movies, on the laundry, on the dishes, on the garbage. I'm batting 1000 on the first few, but I halfassed the last half. I'm more than pleased with all that I managed to squeeze into the weekend, though. I also managed to finish all the arrangements for the Vegas vacation we'll be taking from March 31 - April 5.
Alicia had a bit of a scare this week with a trip to the emergency room after her back flared up. She couldn't feel her lower half, and the doctor at the ER got her the painkillers and muscle relaxers she needed-- and finally convinced her to see the specialist she had been avoiding. The trip to the specialist wasn't half as bad as she expected. In fact, rather than telling her that she had to have surgery, they informed her that surgery was the very last thing they had in mind. She's going to start an intense regimen of physical therapy on Friday March 5, focusing on her now officially diagnosed sprained back and neck. They took X-rays which were inconclusive, but when she returns after her first few PT sessions she'll be bringing her MRI results and getting an ultrasound on her back and neck, so that will shed more light on what's goin on inside her.
My sister volunteered to watch Emma this weekend, so I handed over my little girl and $40 to spend on her and my niece and nephews. Twyla took the kids to Chuck E Cheese and thoroughly exhausted them. Alicia and I took advantage of the quiet weekend to spend some time together. Friday night I kept her company at the flower shop from 8pm till 1am while she arranged flowers for a wedding. I picked up a book about Las Vegas a few hours before and read the more interesting parts to her while she worked, taking breaks to chat with Jenny. Alicia overslept the next morning because she had taken her meds a few hours than normal and couldn't get out of bed. When she did manage to get back up, we rushed to the shop where her coworker had finished the small pieces for the wedding, and I actually helped Alicia deliver a wedding! I've never done that before. Funerals, sure. I've even tried to pitch in on holidays, but never an honest-to-goodness wedding. It was kind of cool wandering around in this church all by myself, and seeing how all the pieces Alicia put together were laid out. After that, we had planned to meet my parents at their old place to say hello and pick up some of our old things we had left behind, but that didn't pan out. Mom and Dad opted to stay in Wilmington because they weren't sure if the snow and such had cleared up, so we went out to lunch instead and held hands and smiled at each other alot. I wanted to see a movie afterward, but Alicia's back was bothering her, so back home we went so she could take a little nap. That was interrupted a few hours later by Ian, aka Bleep the Elf, pulling up to get directions to Scott's birthday party, and generally whipping the dogs into a frenzy. Alicia woke and decided to go party too, so off we went.
We caught up with friends at Scott's thirty-third birthday party, which started out looking like a bit of a wash. When we arrived, the only folks there were Scott's girlfriend Rachel, her friend Rose, my boss Lyle, his wife Tami, their kids and Scott's neighbors. A number of folks arrived a bit later, and Scott invited me to taste a couple of different vodkas, so it didn't turn out so bad after all. I had a happy little buzz going on, so I made my way to bed shortly after arriving back at the house. I woke far too early and ate some leftovers for breakfast. Jenny decided that she didnt really feel like being in bed, so we had some interesting conversation this morning while I watched movies. She managed to keep me awake through the more dull parts of Star Trek: Nemesis and Once Upon a time in Mexico. Alicia got out of bed to watch Underworld with me, but I'm not nearly as good as Jenny at keeping people awake, and she passed out at some point in the last half.
During all of this, I took little breaks to round up a huuuge contractor bag full of assorted the trash and junk that's been piling up since Alicia's accident in September. We're not the neatest people in the first place, and with her unable to do much of anything, and me being the lazy bastard that I am, it's gotten to an obscene level of dirtiness around here. I also washed three loads of laundy, washed a few days worth of dishes-- only two or so months worth to go... I think we switched to paper plates and plastic cups at some point in December-- and then it might almost resemble a house again.
Twyla brought Emma home around 9pm, after taking her kiddos back to her ex-husband's place outside Greensboro. Emma has a raging ear infection and a really upset stomach, so Alicia's going to take her to the doctor tomorrow. I'm going to stop here because I've already practically written a short novel. Perhaps I'll write more tomorrow with some info on our upcoming vacation plans.
