Thursday, May 2, 2024Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2007. Mattie was five years old. One of his friends from preschool gave him this superman outfit for his birthday. As you can see Mattie loved it and that was how I nicknamed him... Super Mattie. When we lived in Washington, DC, our townhouse did not have a washer and dryer in it. Instead, we had to take laundry three levels down. I really do not know how I survived that process for so many years, especially when I had Mattie. When he was a baby, I was constantly doing laundry and I of course couldn't leave him home by himself. So doing the laundry became an adventure. Super Mattie was either in the laundry cart or as he got older, he would ride his bicycle through the hallways to the laundry room.
Quote of the day: You know someone is very special to you when days just don't seem right without them. ~ John Cena
It was another crazy day for me. Our pool got opened for the season this morning. In the state that I am in, I contemplated not opening the pool, but this wouldn't be good for the health of the pool. Two people came to remove the pool cover, and unfortunately given my caregiving routine in the morning, I couldn't go out and supervise them. I figured they knew what they were doing. Yet before loading my parents in the car to head to their cardiology appointments, something inside me said.... go see what they did!
We have a special plastic bin to store the pool cover when it isn't in use. The team did not place the cover in the bin, but instead threw it into our shed. This cover is enormous and practically took up the entire shed. In addition, I have found debris all over the place and landed up cleaning it up as well as removing all the leaves they dumped from the pool onto the grass.
Needless to say, before I left for the hospital, I sent the company a nasty gram. I wanted all of this corrected today. But the state of the shed bothered me. The whole thing is disorganized and filled with leaves and dirt. So later today, I went at it with one of our large garbage bins. I will be working on this space for the next several weeks.
After my email tirade to the pool company, I got my parents into the car and I literally drove about ten minutes from the house.... when I realized, I FORGOT MY PURSE. I literally was cursing my head off, and I DON'T typically curse! This is how frazzled I am. Juggling both of my parents is a feat, and I am so busy managing their needs, that I left my purse in the kitchen. My mom said to me.... you don't need your purse, just keep driving! REALLY???? My purse has my wallet, my driver's license, and phone. Needless to say, I turned the car around and drove home.
I finally got my parents to the cardiology office. The cardiologist is stellar. Competent and very personable. He spent an hour with both of my parents. They got EKGs and a thorough exam. The doctor feels they are both doing well. Which I translate to mean, Vicki gets an A+.
After their appointment, I drove to the Foundation's mailbox. I do not get to this mailbox as often as I would like, given how far it is from our home. However, when I take my parents to the hospital or doctor appointments, I make sure to visit the box.
Right next to the Foundation's post office is a restaurant that I love. I rarely go to it anymore because parking is challenging and I can't drop my parents off without me, as my mom can not manage my dad alone.
It was such a beautiful weather day, and when my mom saw the outside patio of the restaurant she requested that we go! This restaurant holds many fond memories for me. Prior to my parents moving in, I would meet friends there for lunch. In addition, when we used to host live Awareness Walks, we always took friends and family visiting us from out of town to this restaurant. So in a way, eating there today was bittersweet. It was a reminder of how different my life is now. NOT for the better.
That said, my parents enjoyed the change of pace, eating outside, and the liveliness on the restaurant's location. This is the beauty of being closer to the city, things are more vibrant.
My mom and I shared this for dessert! It was a bread pudding.
When I got home later this afternoon, I decided to see if the pool cover was placed in its bin. It was, but then I decided to do about three hours of work outside. I started cleaning out the shed and then planted all of the flowers I purchased yesterday. With the intense heat, I could see they were beginning to wilt, so I spent the time planting and then watering everything. Needless to say, I came back in the house after 8pm and was a thorough mess.
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