Back to Work (I Hope)

            I can't believe I'm finally back at the keyboard working, but here I am.  Hopefully, this will become a regular routine.  Knock on wood. 

            So why have I been so negligent in my work life lately?  Well. . . here's a brief rundown of what I've dealt with lately. 

            Let's start with June.  Most of that month involved me undergoing, recovering from and surviving sinus surgery. Many people warned me how bad it could be, but I tried to put any negativity out of my mind and forge ahead with it.  My youngest son also played on an All Star baseball team that month.  While the kids were great, some of the parents involved (on the other teams) could be real nightmares.  Although I felt tempted to scuffle with a couple of them, I kept quiet for fear of having my ENT work on my nose again.

            July was our vacation month.  We started with a trip to Colonial Williamsburg staying in one of the colonial houses there.  Being a huge history buff, I felt like a kid in a candy shop when we arrived.  I was sure my kids would be equally thrilled.  No such luck. 

            We'd barely crossed the threshold of the place when my seven-year-old started complaining that it smelled bad.  Later, I noticed that our twelve-year-old had become strangely quiet. At bedtime, the reason became clear.  He felt sure the place was haunted and couldn't sleep. In fact, he didn't sleep the entire time we were there.  Try "vacationing" with a sleep deprived pre-teen.

            My husband complained that the bed hurt his back and spent most of the 4^th of July in said bed downing Advil.  Only my niece seemed to enjoy the entire experience.

            Next, we went to Duck, North Carolina in the Outer Banks.  Overall, we enjoyed the place, but even it had its challenges.  First, no one warned us about trying to get to the Outer Banks on a Saturday.  There is only one highway and bridge leading there and it takes a good two hours to get over the bridge and to your destination. On our way there, I built up for the kids all that we were going to see there, including the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk. The day we finally ventured there started out bright and sunny.  In fact, the weather seemed fairly nice, but just as I handed the Park Service Ranger the seven dollars for parking at the site, I noticed a black cloud move into position right over the parking lot and the museum. 

            And then it poured and poured and poured some more. We were on a tight schedule so our time was limited to see the place.  I kept telling the kids that if we just waited a little while longer, the storm would pass and we could go in and learn all about the Wright Brothers. Sadly, it just kept raining.  I considered gathering the troops and making a run for it, but when I saw how soaking wet my fellow tourists became when they followed that plan, I decided against it.  Unfortunately, our time ran out before the rain stopped and we left-seven dollars poorer but no bit wiser as to the Wright Brothers achievements there.

            Returning home, our flight from Dulles Airport was delayed several hours most of which we spent on a hot plane out on the tarmac.  We arrived home well after midnight exhausted.  I was brushing my teeth, when I heard my oldest child scream "RAT!"  My husband and I ran up stairs and found both children in a panic.  Seems the older one saw what he initially thought was a stuffed toy mouse on the floor make a run for it across his room.  I'm terrified of anything that comes into my home uninvited, so I immediately went downstairs and Googled realtors in the area who might be interested in listing our home.  Meanwhile, my husband and sons chased the little rat (literally) between the children's rooms until my husband made the unfortunate decision to stand on a gliding ottoman to take a swipe at the thing.  Not surprisingly, my husband's body went crashing to the floor in one direction while the rat went the opposite way.  That night, our entire family (dog included) slept in our room and continued to do so until the exterminator could make his first appearance.  I instructed him to burn the house down if he had to in order to be rid of the rodent or any of his friends and family who had decided to take up residence here.

            Fortunately, I got a slight reprieve from the crowded sleeping arrangements a few days later when I left on a three day trip to Disney World with my youngest son, his best friend and his best friend's mother.  It was a great trip but so short that it was over before I knew it.  

            The following week was an annual event my children and their cousins fondly know of as Aunt Monica's Summer Camp.  I'll blog more about that later, but suffice it to say, it ranks right up there with a trip to the amusement park for the kids.

            Unfortunately, while I was running my little camp, I got a call from my best friend, Suzanne, who has been battling a very aggressive small cell cancer.  She'd been hospitalized in Chicago where she's lived for several years and this time things did not look good.  I spoke to her several times that week.  Each time we talked, I could tell she was fading further and further away.  Finally, I got the call from her mother that I dreaded.  Suzanne died early Sunday morning, July 28^th.

            I immediately flew to Chicago where I delivered the eulogy at her funeral.  It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.  I still can't believe she's gone and I'm sure it will be awhile before I really believe it.

            Now it's August and I'm finally back to work.  I hope (and pray) that the worst is over and the best is yet to come.