Friday, July 10, 2020

Friday, July 10, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2007. Mattie was five years old and in a way it was a summer of innocence. Before childhood cancer emerged into our lives. Mattie looked like the picture of health and he was happy. He loved his pool on our deck each summer. Ironically as he aged the pool got bigger and bigger. So much so that we had more pool and less deck. I can't explain why the pool was without toys. Perhaps Mattie had just gotten in and was figuring out his plan. I say this because the pool wasn't about playing in the water, it was about interacting and playing with this toys in the water. On any given day, this pool was filled with cars, trains, and whatever else Mattie brought down from his room. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins. 

• number of people diagnosed with the virus: 3,163,505
• number of people who died from the virus: 133,847

I had high hopes of going to the DMV today to renew my driver's license and get a Real ID. My license expires this month on my birthday. I completed the application and got all the documents needed to obtain a Real ID. I got up early and wanted to get the process done since I am going back to Los Angeles and need a valid driver's license. When I got to the DMV, I was thrilled to see no lines and no one there except for a greeter outside the office. The greeter proceeded to ask me if I had an appointment. Of course not! I have been out of town for a month and had no idea that appointments are now required! I tried to explain to her that it was important I get this done and since NO ONE was there, couldn't she allow me in!? The answer was.....NO! NO! NO!

I wanted to throttle this woman! She is lucky I am a non-violent person, because right now my fuse is SHORT! The DMV looks a lot like our COVID-19 testing centers...... empty. I am sick of this and all these regulations on my life. Life is hard enough. In any case, I got home and went onto the DMV system and the next available appointment I can make is in mid-October! I have no choice, I must wait for October. I printed out all the documentation from DC which states.... DC DMV has extended the expiration date for all documents expiring March 1 through the duration of the public health emergency, including driver licenses, identification cards, vehicle registrations, inspections, ticket payments and ticket adjudication responses, until 45 days after the health emergency concludes.

In the midst of dealing with this chaos, I get several photos from my mom! The ceiling in their family room (where the TV is located, along with my dad's recliner) fell! Not only fell but a ton of water burst out of the ceiling and all over the floor and TV. I honestly believe that caregiving from afar is a nightmare! There are times I want to just scream, because I am totally stressed out and am not on the ground to fix anything. My thinking was I would come home and regroup and rest, to prepare for my next month of 24 by 7 work. But it has yet to happen. I am either on the phone or dealing with issues on line! 

Plaster was all over the floor and came inches from my dad's chair. When I was moving my parents into the house, I noticed that the ceiling had been patched and I deduced the house had experienced water damage in the past. With the emphasis on the past. When I confronted the owner of the home about this today, he denied there was ever a previous problem! He can deny it all he'd like, I know what I saw and shame of me for assuming that the problem had been corrected!

Given we planned the virtual walk (which was a huge undertaking) and were in California for a month, I never planted our garden. We could have just skipped it for this year, but we decided to go buy some plants today. We will be planting this weekend. We need something to brighten up our surroundings, given the intense stress we are living with each day.