As I was setting up the coffee maker this morning, (the ONE time Gary hadn’t beat me to it) I had this horrible feeling of Dejavu. The last time I said goodbye to a friend before boarding a plane, he died a few hours later…… I know that one thing has nothing to do with the other, but I literally started having a panic attack….smh. I don’t understand how my brain works in the least..logic and emotion certainly do not go well together…..over the last few days in vegas, I have jumped off a building, gone zip lining, secured a very nice sunburn for myself, and rode the rides on top of the stratosphere….im fearless in that department, but I am afraid to death of losing another person. I wasn’t able to “talk myself down” from this one…..yah for xanax…and wordpress…and facebook.
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The LAST time
I had hoped to share 100’s of pictures, and stories about my last few days in Houston, and my subsequent arrival in Las Vegas. I wanted to to share videos that we made while we were sharing that ceremonious first bottle of wine that you have when you are welcoming someone into a new home or new phase of their life. I wanted to tell you about the christening of the grill at the new house, but instead I am here sharing my tears….and
I am asking for a moment of silence.
When I woke about in Las Vegas, (eight hours after saying goodbye ) it was to an explosion of missed phone calls and texts from Kristina (dan’s wife). Honestly I thought maybe I had mistakenly taken the keys to the rental with me, or they couldn’t find something that I had unpacked….. I read the last text that said…”CALL ME ASAP, Dan is in the hospital.
I curiously wondered if he did really ride the motorcycle off the truck like I wanted to do, and maybe broke a bone or something…. When Kristina answered, I did not expect to hear, “Grace Dan died”
I don’t have any answers, instead I have a hundred questions.
Dan just turned 46 in April. Did I mention I just hugged him 8 hours ago?!?!? He grabbed a cup of coffee that morning, went out to the garage to have a cigarette, and collapsed.
The hospital is performing an autopsy and the family that just packed up their whole lives to start a fresh one, lost their “ROCK”. If you are a religious person, please say a prayer for them, if you are not please take a moment of silence to help me honor my friend. If you like Beer, maybe have a couple of those too?
Thank you for reading and allowing me to share this with you.
Things NOT to do when relocating out of state
Although pizza and beer are must have parts of the moving experience for me.. I learned that I should not over indulge on either when celebrating the last item being loaded on the truck. Especially if the last item loaded was the bed I planned on sleeping in.
Time flies when you go to sleep at 3 am and wake up at 5, but really really drags when you are driving flat land…smh
You CAN “beat” the governor that they put on rental trucks.
While driving with a Foley catheter lets you cover an incredible amount of distance before having to stop… you should still take frequent mental health breaks. After hitting the rumble strips on the road a couple of times…. I got this service message..whoops.
And if you do get a service message try to pull over in a “bigger” town. I have already learned (a future post) if you can avoid it, do NOT pull over on the side of the road. The town I pulled off into had a gas station half the size of this building.
Although the gentleman that greeted me was very friendly…. with his toothless grin, I realized that I have watched way too many episodes of criminal minds.
Meet Dutch
While dogs make great travel companions they suck at navigation and googling what the service light means…smh
I SHOULD have learned not to get too far ahead of the other vehicles traveling with me, especially since they were the ones unloading that bed I mentioned earlier. (I arrived almost two hours before the rest of the group.)
When I walked into the house it was 96 degrees INSIDE!
I spent about 20 minutes trying to turn the air conditioning on before I realized that it was broken beyond my scope of having a clue how to fix it.
Beer thirty
While trying to not let my cold beer go to waste (Did I mention I can’t move a fridge?) I was sitting outside which was much cooler than inside, kind of quickly drinking my beer, and got the opportunity to meet several of my friends new neighbors. One offered me use of their fridge while another couple invited me for dinner. I politely (I think) declined both but continued with chatting with “my new friends” while finishing the six pack.
When the rest of “the party” arrived, Dan was able to “fix” the air conditioning and I unloaded the bed I could carry
Of course there were a lot of other events that may be worth mentioning but the final thing I learned is MAYBE over-indulgance on any level can be a bad thing….. does anyone have an aspirin?
Driver’s Tan
I have never posted from my phone..and more than anything I am just playing with that feature…
The driving part of the trip is done….and we all have drivers tans
ME and my bag of PEE
I wrote last week that I was going on another “adventure”. Maybe I shouldn’t have SAID anything?… Somehow MS found out that I am going away and decided that there was no way in hell I would be traveling without it. GRRRRR
I realize that MS has a place in my life. I make room and accommodate it’s demands all the time, but just ONCE I would like it to stay in the background a little more.
I should probably get to the actual point of this rant huh?
As I finished packing this morning, I had to pee again FOR THE 4th TIME IN LESS THAN AN HOUR!!!! Seriously?!?! I just had PTNS last week, and Botox surgery in February for this. I shouldn’t be having problems again this soon!
Thinking that it is better to be safe than sorry, I called the doctor’s office. They agreed that maybe I had a UTI and should come in to rule that out. (yah for getting me in so quickly)…. Urine test complete, no UTI, but they still want to put me on antibiotics anyway, and suggested I use the Foley catheter for my whole trip. 😦
I am actually ok with having to use the catheter, lord knows I’ve been dealing with incontinence long enough, and who would want to have to pull off the interstate 4 times an hour for a 16 hour road trip? The thing that stresses me out is having to deal with people’s reactions to seeing someone with a bag of pee strapped to their leg in public.
Well you could cover it up Grace?
Why? So other people are more comfortable? Not a chance! The weather in Texas and Las Vegas is supposed to be in the 100’s, no chance in hell I am going to wear pants. I have already given up half of my suitcase for incontinence supplies, medications, and such. The only way I have half a chance in hell of surviving the heat is wearing shorts and tshirts or tank tops. I had hoped to stay in/or by the pool while in Vegas, and I realize if I can’t get these symptoms to calm down I MIGHT have to give that idea up though :(… we shall see….
I’ve got this!…The only thing left is to come up with a name for my “companion”….Any suggestions?
MS Graceful...NOT! 