4-8-13 Monday (Do You Have The Time?)

Wow. It’s been almost a month since I last blogged.  So here’s what happened…

My grandmother (mom’s mom) aka, Nanny, was in a nursing home and had been for some time.  (You can tell by the past tense that she died.)  My mom said she was talking even less, had coordination issues, and wasn’t able to chew her food very well.  All a sign that she probably won’t be with us much longer.  We booked a flight to Florida for mid-May figuring it might be the last time I see her.  On April 2nd I got the call.  She’s gone.  92.  I’d say she lived a full life at that age.  To be honest with you, over the years there’s so many times we didn’t think she’d be around much longer.  In fact, on every cruise we booked since 2003, we got the insurance… just in case.

My company is so awesome.  5 days max bereavement (paid time away from work that doesn’t even count as PTO).  Jim’s company recognizes domestic partners and gladly gave him 3 days.  Airfare for both of us would be about $650.  We decided to drive.  That was much cheaper and we brought Dasher so we didn’t have to worry about someone pet sitting.  It was an 11 hour drive, 12 with pee-pee and food stops.  Jim and I chitchatted and listened to music so the trip there was 100% bearable. 

We departed/arrived on Wednesday.  We checked into a hotel that Jim booked via Priceline.  He landed us a 2 bedroom suite, 2 baths, kitchen and living room for $70 a night.  That setup was only $10 a night more than a regular room so what the heck.  The hotel had it’s issues which is unfortunate since it’s only 13 years old.

Above: One of the bedroom clocks.

Above: We turned the dishwasher one before we left and hours later it was still running.  The dial had gotten stuck.  Escaping steam has taken its toll on the underside of the counter top.

I took several other photos of moldy faucets and such.  I’ll spare ya.

The service was Thursday.  Nanny is at peace.  Nanny outlived 2 of her sons who were taken early from AIDS related fatalities (shown below).

Above: July 2005: Uncle Mike, Nanny, Uncle Alan

The reason for being in Florida was sad, but we did have a nice time visiting with family and friends.  Jim got to see his family as well so it worked out to be a good trip.  There’s friends we didn’t get to see but there just wasn’t enough time!

As I said, going there was great.  Getting home?  Not so much.  We hit traffic.  The near-stand still type.  We switched from regular GPS over to WAZE GPS (amazing app!) which is designed to utilize user-driven reporting to warn and recalculate driving routes due to police, accidents, or whatever.  It took us off the interstates and put us on backroads.  We agreed that even if it only saved a few minutes (sometimes 15), it was worth it to have that feeling of actually moving.  Going through the small towns and such was really cool too.

We’ll be back in mid-May, the flight we booked to come see Nanny is still on. Although I was “too late” to see her, my Mom said it was best since she wasn’t herself toward the end.  She was like an empty shell.  That flight on Allegiant Air was so cheap.  It cost us $200 for both of us roundtrip!  A Friday to a Monday.

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On my last blog entry I talked about getting “lending authority” and how I got it and then it was stopped due to an error.  On my return to work, I signed the paperwork again.  I won’t be first but I’ll be like 3rd or 5th or something like that.  I can live with that.  Once again, I have to NOT mess up for this to stick.  LOL.  Other than that, I simply love my job.  I couldn’t be happier with it.

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I finally got confirmation from my boss that my requested time off for the cruise is a go.  The only reason it was so complicated was because it ran into Labor Day weekend which is naturally a busy time for people to take off.  The excursions are booked.  Highlights include a helicopter ride to a glacier where we’ll be dog mushing.  Mush!  Mush!  We also get to visit with the dogs.  It sounds fun.  

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Such a great big thank you to Bette who sent me 2 more Pysanka eggs this year.  Aren’t they gorgeous?  I have to figure out a nice way to display the 3 of them.  For right now, 1 is in the holder I bought last year and the 2 new ones are in a crystal dish.

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A couple of animal pics from our Florida trip:

Above: My mom’s cat, Oreo.

Above: Jim’s mom and Morgan’s newest adopted pet: Rusty