Not Myself

It has been an off week for me. I have had a dull headache all week long. Tylenol and I are very familiar. Thinking I might switch over to Aspirin if it continues. Just so happens, a bottle of Tylenol is on my desk.

The county fair has been going on, so the swimming business is slack, leaving me lots of spare time. The weather has been glorious, 70's during the day, cooling to 50's at night. Despite all this, I seem to lack the motivation to do anything. I half-heartedly mowed and mulched. Mindless chores that leave my mind open to ponder other things.

Last year when I went to see my dad, he still looked somewhat healthy. He still had lots of fight and determination to win his battle with cancer. They managed to shrink the initial tumor with chemo and radiation and he was all set to have surgery with a good prognosis for a complete recovery. The pre-op PET scan revealed that the cancer cells had spread. This was not good news, but he gamely opted for more chemo.

At this point, his only disappointment was that he did not lose his hair. I suppose he thought he should be rewarded for all the sickness he endured with the radiation and chemo. Mama is a groomer. She feels it to be her responsibility to present her husband to world well groomed and neatly dressed. Her grooming weapon of choice is tweezers. My dad has the baldest ears and nose of any old man around, thanks to Mama and her tweezers. I once heard her tell him to be still, she was not going to have him riding down the road looking like she didn't care about him. Daddy had high hopes that all his hair would be gone.

He took his chemo faithfully and after a time I got the call that he was in remission. We all sighed that huge sigh of relief. Except for the inconvenience of  a pump and a port, life was getting back to normal for him. Calls became infrequent and when I did talk to him he was still his old optimistic self, rattling on about his daily activities, telling me what he had for supper, when he mowed the lawn and what he planned to put in the garden. Phone calls with him are awkward. He doesn't always hear what I say and instead of asking me to repeat myself (not such a big deal for me, since I live with He Who can't hear either), he will try to assume the contents and come back with something totally off subject.

I prefer to write letters. I think he prefers that, too. I can, after all, spin a tale. I never expect him to respond in writing and he doesn't. He is also apt to paint a brighter picture of his future than is real. Mama called me around the beginning of this month and told me just how sick he was. Remission is over. He was given two options. More powerful and toxic chemo, or let the disease runs it's course.

I went last week, totally unprepared for what I encountered. He is so very weak. Frail does not begin to describe him. My Daddy, always bigger than life, the most dependable man in the world was so shrunken. Barely able to walk, but still refusing help. He is trying so hard to live. Not for himself, but not wanting to leave his family.

Everything else seems not to matter to me. A man pulling a trailer just plowed down one of my flower beds and drug a boulder a good way ....... and I didn't care so much. He will be here a week, no doubt to address the axle on his trailer. It was a huge boulder and he rode over one, caught the next one and pulled it down the road. I am just not myself, I didn't even laugh.

Good To Be Home

Things are almost back to normal here at the kampground. I have been super busy helping get things back in shape. I left detailed notes taped eye level at the check in desk ...... what a waste of time.

I suppose he tried. He did admit that it was difficult to handle a weekend with only one person. But, I think he missed taking towing calls. I think he may have taken some and left the kampground on it's own.

I was so tired when I arrived home Sunday. I did not take the store keys with me, thinking I would not need them. I was wrong, as He Who Was Towing was absent on my arrival. Swimmers in the pool and lots of activity in the park. Sign with the happy frog proclaimed that he would "be right back".

After we gained entry and lugged all our bags in, I opened the store and took care of business, all the while watching the clock. I close early on Sunday and 6:00 could not come soon enough. I was itching to wander through my gardens. I picked collard greens and cooked them for Jill. Love my girl!

The real work began on Monday. I had asked He Who was in charge in my absence if I needed to check on the bathrooms before I retired for the night on Sunday. He assured me he had mopped and stocked that very morning ........

Monday afternoon we had a conversation that went something like this ........Me: "Honey, did you clean the toilets while I was gone?" Him: "I flushed them and put toilet paper in the dispenser." Me: "Did you clean the sinks?" Him: "Why?" Me: Did you clean the mirrors?" Him: "We have mirrors?"

My apologies to all who entered in my absence. All those areas have been addressed. You will no doubt catch a whiff of Clorox lingering in the air. I have been mowing and weeding and mulching since in an effort to tire myself, hoping for a good night's sleep. While my body is tired, my mind keeps churning and I find myself gazing at the dark ceiling thinking thoughts I would rather not think .......

My four legged children were ecstatic to see me. Almost as much as I was to see them. I actually slept a good 6 hour stretch last night, with Cujo tucked tightly to my ribs, Oscar at my legs and Toni Louise's head touching mine. I was all tucked in. Wall-E was next to He Who he loves most. The temperature was in the 50's and the fan was in the window. I caught an occasional whiff of basil. Felt like home. 

Super 8 Ain't Super!

Baby Mason and Papa Bob napping. So sweet. My dad sounded so much better last night when I talked to him. I slept better last night.

Speaking of sleep ........ there is no bed as restful as your own. The first night of our adventure was spent in a Drury Inn south of Atlanta. It was great. A suite with a king bed. The bed felt extra roomy, even though I was sharing it with my daughter. No dogs snuggled up next to me. The sheets were crisp and clean, the bathroom pristine and the price very reasonable.

Jill and I shared a double bed at my dad's house. It was a bit too cozy. My child snores!! She informed that I did, too. We slept in shifts. I would lay very still until I knew she was asleep, then try to get to sleep myself. In doing so I would wake her ........ and again ......

On the way home we were thinking we would have another good nights sleep. Jill drove while I fretted about my dad going to the hospital and planned how to get back quickly. Both of us were emotionally drained and achy. We stopped for a break at an outlet mall. Jill was on a mission to address her mother's wardrobe.

After we walked and shopped what seemed like several miles we got back on the interstate, thinking to make great time heading north. We crawled along, stopping, then creeping forward. A call to my son-in-law, Nick provided an explanation. A wreck ahead.

We finally made it through that and changed drivers. You can't use the cruise in stop and go traffic and we encountered more of the same as we headed north. We didn't get as far as we wanted and were both exhausted. A Holiday Inn Express loomed in the distance and we pulled in ...... and right back out. They wanted $200 for a night's stay!

I saw a Super 8 right next door and although the doors to the rooms were outside and Jill did not like that, we decided we could handle it. I promised to shove a chair under the door handle. The clerk was nice and friendly and I presented my AAA card for a discount. We opened the door and Jill proclaimed it to be "cute". First thing she wanted was a shower and while I cleaned the TV remote (Matt Lauer would have been proud) she took over the bathroom.

The look on her face when she came out wrapped in the towel was priceless. She told me I could not have a shower. The shower curtain was nasty and we discovered used towels hanging in the bathroom! Gross!! I decided that brushing my teeth and washing my face would suffice and we would just get some sleep. Jill was already settled in her bed and we had already removed the bedspreads. I pulled back my covers, prepared to get in and saw blood on the sheet!!!!!

Jill leapt from her bed and actually exited the room. While I called the front desk, she called her husband (like he could fix our situation). The clerk asked how much blood was in the bed. Really. "Well, it doesn't look like someone was slaughtered here, but does it matter? The sheets were obviously not changed and I will not sleep on them." She pondered this and said she could either change the sheets or move us to another room. I chose the sheet changing. Who knows what may have been lurking in another room. I could inspect and watch the changing of the sheets. I told her I wanted both beds changed.

The same clerk that checked us in arrived with hot, fresh from the dryer bed linen. She pulled all the bedding and redressed the bed with a top sheet and a clean hot comforter. No bottom sheet? Nope. But it was clean.

We got in bed, sandwiched between the clean sheet and comforter. That is when Jill's friend, Sue decided to text with instructions to check for bedbugs, even including a picture. Thanks, Sue. I felt imaginary bugs crawling on me all night!!

To add insult to injury, although there was a safety device on the door, the door frame was so loose we could have yanked it off. The lone chair in the room that may have helped was too low to provide any extra security.

We left very early the next morning, after a fitful sleep we headed home. This room cost almost as much as the Drury Inn. Nothing around to explain the inflated prices.

Home, For Now .....

Back from my travels. It wasn't enough time. I don't think there is enough time. I will always want more. The visit was bittersweet. Seeing my always bigger than life Daddy so shrunken from his disease was almost more than I could bear. The biggest challenge was keeping my eyes dry while I was with him.

I gave up on make-up, even though my daughter agreed that without it I have no eyelashes. Despite that I posed with my Daddy for a picture before we left.

It wasn't all tears. We laughed a lot. My Jill got to meet her extended step-family and get to know them. I don't consider them "step" at all. Mama cooked and cooked. Jill complained that she would be able to wear her clothes after the stay. We got to meet a new baby and inhale that sweet baby scent. Abby (12) and her little brother, Mason (1) stayed the morning and I humiliated myself dancing a jig to enchant little Mason until he would agree to let me hold him. Jill and Abby bonded over making fun of my wardrobe. I was happy to provide them with all that laughter. My (step)sister, Glenda agreed with me about the clothes while my daughter and her granddaughter continued to make fun and laugh.

I am so happy that my Daddy is surrounded with love and laughter in my absence. The last day was the hardest. I had to make a deal with him to get him to go to the hospital. He was so weak and could not eat or drink anything and keep it down. He promised he would go if he couldn't eat the subway sandwich he requested. He tried so hard, but he couldn't. He went to the emergency room and we had to hit the road to get back in time for Jill's flight home.

Turned out to be a stomach virus and he was able to go home that evening after some IV fluids and instructions to stay on a Gatorade diet for 24 hours. Such a relief, as I was planning to board a plane as soon as I repacked and saw my daughter off. My next visit will wait until next month, as planned. Tomorrow I will enchant you all with more travel adventures ..........

Traveling

My long weekend was tiring, but we had a great time. No big troubles. I spent the better part of Saturday getting kites in the air for kids. There is still a kite on my roof. I enjoyed showing the kids how to feel the wind in the string. Odd, since I never flew a kite when I was a kid ......


The golf cart parade was great fun , too. I actually locked the store and rode. It occurred to me that I had never ridden in one before. Gavin, my grandson is usually here and I let him have my seat. It was going quite well until the lead cart (mine) lost power. It was a bad battery, which was new. Butch has a gas cart and he came to the rescue. He towed us out of the way and the parade continued.

The fireworks are over and I am heading south. My daughter is here and we are all set to leave in the morning. My Dad's prognosis has changed an we all want to spend time with him as much as we can while we can. Next month I will go with my other daughter, then with son in September. I will go every time I can.

Blooms and Itches

Last Saturday I had an adventure! He Who happened in after a towing call agreed to watch the store while I went to a local nursery with my best buddy, Martha. I was so anxious to escape that I left knowing I needed gas for my car.

Now, we all know that I am a kept woman and never put fuel in my car. I keep an eye on the fuel gauge and inform He Who is in charge of this task when the necessity arises. Since that nasty little red light indicating low fuel was flashing, I pulled into the first station I saw. As I navigated my way to the pumps, I realized that I had no idea which side the tank was on. The VW tank is on the passenger side, but most others are on the driver's side. I took a chance on the driver's side and won.

It has been several years since I have put fuel in a vehicle. I started to pre-pay only $5, but decided I could spare $10 (this was out of my highly coveted plant buying money!!). Good thing I opted for $10, because it barely moved the needle on the gauge!

One of the plants I bought was the Texas Rose you see in the photo above. It had tight yellow buds and I fully expected the flowers to be yellow, but they popped out purple! Wish I had bought more of these. Half price, they were!

Wild flowers popping up everywhere! This one is in the sedum ground cover I have on the front. I didn't plant it. Maybe the wind carried the seed .... or a bird dropped it here. Pre- fertilized .....

This the burn ring we usually have big bonfires. Not this year. It is now housing a majestic sunflower. I thought about transplanting it to a garden, but I was afraid it would die.

It is a holiday weekend that started yesterday. I woke with an intense itching in my right eye. Poison ivy? Yes. On my eyelid. Called Here's 2 Eye's and talked to my Sweet Nan. She got on it, let me tell you! Barb called the doc and he called in RX to remedy my affliction. You can't use the normal remedies on your eyelid. Took all day to get my ointment, but sweet relief came last night.

I was so miserable that I took a Benadryl. Not the best idea I ever had. I was checking in campers and dealing with money while mentally foggy. I undercharged one man by $4, caught the mistake and congratulated him on his surprise discount. The lady I accidentally overcharged had to be corrected, as she was unwilling to pay $800 (supposed to be $80) for her stay. It was a long evening!

Time to go do it all again.

Dog Days Of Summer

People love to advise me ........ Tell me how to make my life better. Sometimes they will contradict themselves.

Seems I should not work such long days. I should just close the door and take a nap ..... no matter the revenue lost. Then later in the same conversation I am told that we should be open longer hours ..... we could make more money. When I point out that 12 hours is about all I can handle I am told to hire help. Help, you say, will make my life a breeze. In order to pay the help, I would need to raise the rates ....... But, no, you can't do that, you will lose business.

Kind of like raising the minimum wage. It can certainly be done, but what those making minimum wage don't seem to understand is that the money has to come from somewhere; meaning that prices for goods will rise and the cost of living will go up and there you go ------- back to square one. By my own calculations I come nowhere near minimum wage for myself.

We have hired people from time to time. Local people who would seem to be down on their luck and need help or kids who want a summer job. That doesn't work out for us. They will either do a lousy job or complain that their time is worth more than we are paying. We pay a flat rate of $10 an hour. If you work 5 hours, you get to put $50 in your pocket. Seems like a good deal to me. But they will complain that their skills are worth twice that, which brings me to wonder why they aren't employed if their skills are so valuable.

I don't feel I get my money's worth if I have to re-do what they have done. I am funny like that. If you see me on a weekend, you would think that I sit upon my throne behind this desk and do little else. I am in here for 12 hours. What you don't see is that I have been working for 2 hours before I open the door. I could on and on about all that I do, but whining is not attractive. For the most part I am content with my week day life. The weekends are tiring because I have to open earlier and then there are lots of people here.

Lots of people means lots of cleaning and picking up and speaking. My throat is sore on Mondays. I have a litany I repeat what seems like a thousand times a day "The pool is open to the public from 11am til 7pm. You have paid for the entire day and are free to come and go if you choose as long as your name is on the sign-in list. You may not substitute friends or family members for later in the day." And, now, after this weekend I have to add ..... "Please refrain from putting the chairs in the pool. The water will weaken them and they will break and I will expect you to pay for them. If you see somewhere else put the chairs in the pool, please tell me and I will treat you to a fine show of public humiliation. They are being told the same, so keep this in mind should you be tempted to put a chair in the pool." I am hoping this will act as a deterant.

The next step will be more surveillance cameras closer to the pool and another monitor in my office. The monitor is currently in the living quarters. My dog Toni Louise is a big fan of TV and will watch the monitor as I cook and will let me know if anyone approaches the door. I know you are there before you even open the door ...... unless she is napping. And it is not called the dog days of summer for nothing