This isn't going to be a fun or funny post, just a life post. My sister Lisa and I have been in Chicago since Saturday supporting our mom and our grandma, because grandma is dying. She hasn't been in great health for quite some time, but Friday blood vessels in grandma's brain burst and caused bleeding on her brain. Essentially she had a stroke. She has lived 88 beautiful years, but no matter how old one gets or how their health has declined over the years, it is never easy to watch someone you love die or have to say goodbye to them.
Since we got here, each day has been almost a repeat of the day before it. We suit up in our plastic blue gowns before entering her hospital room and say hello to her to see what, if any, response we will get. We talk to the doctors, watch the nurses take her blood pressure, hold her hand, tell funny grandma stories, get each other coffee, sit around the room and talk, and wait. Yesterday she was the most alert we had seen her. When we arrived in her room in the morning and said hello she opened her eyes and made eye contact with us for a few minutes. She even grunted and moved her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but cannot speak. Besides those short but meaningful connections yesterday, she remains in a deep sleep. At least she is resting peacefully.
And now we wait, which may be the hardest part- the waiting and the unknown. But it has also given us time to process and accept this difficult process of saying goodbye to our loved one. We love you grandma xoxo
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
First day of school
All day today I have felt like a nervous/excited mom who just sent her kid off to their first day of school. No I don't have a kid, I don't even have a dog (a subject that has come up a lot recently, but that is for another post at another time), but today was Rob's first day of grad classes at Georgia State!
I am so proud of him for taking on this new chapter and challenge. Moving to a new city was just the beginning. Besides getting use to a new office setting, he will be working full time and taking classes Monday nights. This semester it is statistics and economics- sadly I don't think I will be much help with either of those subjects. Instead, I'll just have to find other ways to support him through what I'm sure will be a somewhat stressful first semester of business school. So tonight I unpacked more of his boxes, and did some of his laundry.
Now I'm anxiously awaiting his return home from class. I thought he would have been home by now, so I'm feeling even more like the nervous mom wondering how the big first day went and why the school bus is running so late. Oooh and I hear him coming in the door now!
I am so proud of him for taking on this new chapter and challenge. Moving to a new city was just the beginning. Besides getting use to a new office setting, he will be working full time and taking classes Monday nights. This semester it is statistics and economics- sadly I don't think I will be much help with either of those subjects. Instead, I'll just have to find other ways to support him through what I'm sure will be a somewhat stressful first semester of business school. So tonight I unpacked more of his boxes, and did some of his laundry.
Now I'm anxiously awaiting his return home from class. I thought he would have been home by now, so I'm feeling even more like the nervous mom wondering how the big first day went and why the school bus is running so late. Oooh and I hear him coming in the door now!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Operation Microwave
The real title of this post should be "Operation How long can we live without a microwave," but that would have been too long of a title.
On a positive note, we are all moved in! Yay!! We are proud, happy, new Atlanta residents and enjoying it so far. The move went much smoother than I had expected. I'm not quite sure what I thought might go wrong, but just the idea of us transporting all of our possessions in a Budget truck and my Saturn Vue from Boston to Atlanta- 1145 miles- sounds like enough of an opportunity for things to go wrong. We are not fully unpacked, or organized enough to take pictures of the new place and post them online for all to see, but we are getting there.
Rob moved in on Saturday the 14th (which I was happy about, because we originally told the apartment complex our move in date would be Friday August the 13th- way too risky), and I arrived on Monday. It wasn't until Tuesday evening that it hit me. I was finishing up unpacking the kitchen stuff, when I looked around and stared at the stove, and the lack of anything significant above the stove besides a small light/fan switch. Then I scanned the counters with no luck. We had no microwave, and didn't realize it until 3 days after move in!
I'll admit, we're doing fine so far without one. It's almost like I wish I wouldn't have realized we were missing one though. How amazing would it have been to go without a microwave for a whole month before realizing it? Then I might have been able to convince myself we really don't need one. The real reason I'm kicking myself is because we HAD one, a nice one, but for the past year we didn't need it at our 15 Euston Rd apartment, so we put it in the basement at the Cape house. And there it sits, 1145 miles away from our kitchen.
So far we've only missed the microwave for re-heating some left-overs (which Rob ended up eating cold) and for cooking bbq teriyaki chicken from Trader Joes which takes 4 times longer to cook on the stove. My mom's solution to all of this is to take our microwavable goods to the super nice communal kitchen that is attached to the main office and lounge area of the apartment complex. It really is a short walk from my apartment to that kitchen, but lets be honest, I am going to have to be pretty hungry or desperate before I start walking down the path, through the swimming pool area, up the steps and past the pool table room to do my cooking!
On a positive note, we are all moved in! Yay!! We are proud, happy, new Atlanta residents and enjoying it so far. The move went much smoother than I had expected. I'm not quite sure what I thought might go wrong, but just the idea of us transporting all of our possessions in a Budget truck and my Saturn Vue from Boston to Atlanta- 1145 miles- sounds like enough of an opportunity for things to go wrong. We are not fully unpacked, or organized enough to take pictures of the new place and post them online for all to see, but we are getting there.
Rob moved in on Saturday the 14th (which I was happy about, because we originally told the apartment complex our move in date would be Friday August the 13th- way too risky), and I arrived on Monday. It wasn't until Tuesday evening that it hit me. I was finishing up unpacking the kitchen stuff, when I looked around and stared at the stove, and the lack of anything significant above the stove besides a small light/fan switch. Then I scanned the counters with no luck. We had no microwave, and didn't realize it until 3 days after move in!
I'll admit, we're doing fine so far without one. It's almost like I wish I wouldn't have realized we were missing one though. How amazing would it have been to go without a microwave for a whole month before realizing it? Then I might have been able to convince myself we really don't need one. The real reason I'm kicking myself is because we HAD one, a nice one, but for the past year we didn't need it at our 15 Euston Rd apartment, so we put it in the basement at the Cape house. And there it sits, 1145 miles away from our kitchen.
So far we've only missed the microwave for re-heating some left-overs (which Rob ended up eating cold) and for cooking bbq teriyaki chicken from Trader Joes which takes 4 times longer to cook on the stove. My mom's solution to all of this is to take our microwavable goods to the super nice communal kitchen that is attached to the main office and lounge area of the apartment complex. It really is a short walk from my apartment to that kitchen, but lets be honest, I am going to have to be pretty hungry or desperate before I start walking down the path, through the swimming pool area, up the steps and past the pool table room to do my cooking!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Married and Moving
Our wedding day was as wonderful as I had hoped it would be, and then some. The honeymoon was the best vacation I have been on- someday we will return to Maui I'm sure, because it was that great of a place. Pictures and more detailed recaps will be posted eventually, but for now I leave you with this.
To everyone I know getting married in the next year or two- I do not recommend coming home from your honeymoon after 13 hours of traveling and packing up your entire apartment within 24 hours. It was not the best way to end the honeymoon, but it did bring us back to the real world pretty quick.
Going back to work the same day your spouse and father-in-law load up the u-haul truck though, I might recommend that. When I left the apartment yesterday there was stuff everywhere- EVERYWHERE! And when I get home tonight, I am told there will be an aero-bed and a small pile of things in the corner. Safe journey to my husband today as he starts the long drive south to Atlanta! I'll see ya at our new place on Monday.
To everyone I know getting married in the next year or two- I do not recommend coming home from your honeymoon after 13 hours of traveling and packing up your entire apartment within 24 hours. It was not the best way to end the honeymoon, but it did bring us back to the real world pretty quick.
Going back to work the same day your spouse and father-in-law load up the u-haul truck though, I might recommend that. When I left the apartment yesterday there was stuff everywhere- EVERYWHERE! And when I get home tonight, I am told there will be an aero-bed and a small pile of things in the corner. Safe journey to my husband today as he starts the long drive south to Atlanta! I'll see ya at our new place on Monday.
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