Mostly Ups

My mom drove my aunt to meet my grandparents at a restaurant for breakfast. I went along for the ride (and for the conversation and yummy food!). My mom has five sisters, and if I had to "pick", I would say this one is my favorite. Of course, since she kind of WAS my mom when I was in college because she lived so close, that makes sense :o) We had a really nice visit, and I LOVE breakfast food! My aunt when the rest of the way home with them, and my mom drove us back so she could go to work. She and I had a good talk as well.

Me, Grandpa, Aunt, Grandma

Um, are we related or what?! (Not a very

good photo of me since I was looking directly into the sun,

but it works, I guess.)

After I got home, I went to Fashion Bug and bought a few things since I had two coupons (I got a shirt, a pair of capris, and a pair of bermuda shorts for $30!). I stopped by Hallmark to get a couple cards. I was home briefly before I went to the hospital for a 3:00 memorial service they held for the little boy who passed away yesterday. It was by far the largest turnout for a memorial service at the hospital with about 80 people in attendence. It was also one of the shortest because hardly any of those people wanted to share their stories with the entire group. What great support for that family...there were nurses from multiple floors, doctors from multiple services, ancillary support workers, nursing assistants, other parents...and more. It was really nice to see that. And, while there were tears, there were also some good stories and memories shared about a very special little boy.

After the service, I went and visited my friend and her baby. While I was there (I was there over an hour!) they took the ventilator out of his room. They also removed the dialysis machine because he has been peeing! Physical Therapy came to work with him (he is pretty weak after being so sick for so long, plus having major surgery). He was not liking it very much, so I couldn't get a smile, but he looks really good! (The one on the left was actually one of the last days he smiled until after he came off the ventilator last week. He looks even sicker in other "before" photos, and looks better in some other "after" pictures)

I vegged at home for a little while before I went to spend time with the little girl I will be baby-sitting next weekend. She is a really sweet girl and I think we will have fun (it will probably be more work than I can imagine, but it will be a GREAT experience!). Her mom gave me some toys, and told me what her normal schedule/routine is, so that will help!

I left THERE around 8:30 to go pick up my friend for dinner. She said she would take me out to the Olive Garden since I paid for her ice cream and picked up her pictures, etc. I decided to let her do that (and we both probably ate more than we should have, but it was SO good!). She was a little worried about the way her son was breathing when she left. Hopefully he can stay off the ventilator. I guess if he can stay off dialysis and the ventilator for a few days, he could be working his way up to the general floor and out of the hospital! Not to get too excited because these kids can change in status with a blink of an eye, but praying that is the direction he is headed...out to the "real world" to see the sunlight, feel the rain, and all the wonderful things that await him.

So, mostly good stuff today. That was refreshing. I did get a little overwhelmed for a while because I am feeling like all I do is "go go go and then go some more". That doesn't really seem like how it should be when you are young and single and it was kind of stressing me out! There is another transplant patient whose mom has called me a couple times. I REALLY want to help her out because she is pretty stressed out and would love to have some adult conversation . Unfortunately, yesterday and today ended up being so crazy that I have yet to finish my painting. I need to finish my painting, so I can organize that room, so I can then organize my living room and office, so that it is ready for when I baby-sit next week. Therefore, I NEED to do that tomorrow, which leaves very little time to do something that would involve a bit of planning...especially since I have already planned to have dinner with another friend tomorrow night, and then work on Friday and Saturday. Gosh, all this thinking makes me tired (well, I suppose the fact that it is after midnight means I have another reason to be tierd besides thinking and stressing out!). Okay, good night!