Between Then and Now

Here I am again.  Whew!  It's been an interesting ride!  My OCD keeps telling me to wait until a more "even" date to start blogging again---like the 5th or the 15th---or March 1st even!  But if I do that, something will be sure to come up on that date to keep me from blogging (dontcha know!), and I'll have to start all over---and never get back to blogging!  So I am ignoring my OCD (for once!) and blogging today.  Ignoring my "condition" doesn't happen too often, so enjoy it! lol  Speaking of "conditions" reminds me of work today (which was quite the ordeal let me tell you!).  We started "live" on a new computer system---except that someone in the Corporate office forgot to flip the switch for us to go live, so this morning at 0500 what we had was the leftovers of a dead system (read unusable) and a new system that said we didn't exist.  Basically, nothing.  Nice! Fortunately we had had the foresight yesterday to make sure we had patient orders on paper for just such an occasion.  Not that corporate fails us very often (insert heavy sarcasm here!), but just in case..... So thankfully we could at least get our patients up and running.  We just wrote everything down---which then had to be entered in the computer manually when corporate decided to turn the new system on!  That was a joy to be sure!  But back to my story.  I was explaining to one of the patients about the new system that was but wasn't and how it was making us all discombobulated.  One of my co-workers said, "Not me, I'm just being normal."  To which I replied that at least for this one day I could blame my discombobulation on the computer system and get away with it! =)  It seems I have more than one "condition" to ignore! lol  It was a tiring day, but hopefully tomorrow will be better.  This is not the first time we have been glad we are not a huge clinic!  More chairs today would have been a Disaster!

So where have I been?  That is a very good question!  As Bilbo Baggins might say:  "I've been there and back again."  I've done quite a bit of traveling since my last post.  It was, unfortunately, for sad reasons.  My dear Uncle Charles passed away after quite a struggle with Parkinson's Disease.  He was a godly man, so we know that he is far better off now and reunited with other dear ones who have gone before him.  I would not wish him back to his life the way it was, with his suffering, but it is sad for us to know that he is not around anymore.  He had 2 funerals, one in the North because he (and much of his family) was from there, and one in the South where he lived.  I went to both.  Because I wanted to, that's why!  =)  So my traveling went something like this:  Drove to Florida for a weekend and back home, flew to Pittsburgh via Baltimore (that was an adventure!), drove to The Farm (my Grandpa's old place, not anything to do with the CIA! lol)  and back to Pittsburgh,  flew to Raleigh via Baltimore.  All told, something like 2500 miles total.  Let me stop a minute and catch my breath!  There.  That's better.  Whew! But now let me tell you about my adventure.  It just so happened that the "Northern Funeral" as we came to call it (vs the Southern Funeral---believe me it was just easier that way!) fell right during my already previously scheduled vacation.  This would have been my "Christmas" trip home since I couldn't make it at Christmas time.  This was handy in that I was already covered at work.  However it did make for a rather interesting Christmas vacation! lol  Anyway, I was scheduled to fly from Raleigh to Albany where my parents would pick me up and the next day the 3 of us would drive to PA to The Farm.  I made it as far as Baltimore with flying colors........then they cancelled my flight to Albany.  Oh joy!  Baltimore is getting as bad as Philly! lol  There was a second flight available---but was filled just before I got to the front of the line.  Double bummer!  When I got to the desk, my option for Albany was to wait until 9-something that night ( I had been at the airport since 0930!) and hope that one wasn't cancelled for some reason, or to pick another city.  Oh why not?  I asked the rep if there was anything available for Pittsburgh.  She looked at me a little funny for just a minute and I could almost hear her thinking "You do know that Pittsburgh is in an entirely different direction from Albany, don't you?"  Bless her, she didn't say it!  I did, however, explain to her that I was planning to drive to the area the next day anyway---so she wouldn't think me completely nuts!  She tapped on her little keyboard and Lo! and Behold! there was a flight to Pittsburgh that very afternoon with seats available!  Lucky me!  But then there was the matter of my baggage.......2 bags already thoroughly checked through to Albany........Oh dear!  But this rep was resourceful and she got on her walkie-talkie to someone in baggage, and after just a bit of back and forth, the baggage man had found my bags and sent them in the right direction.  Of course, at the time, I confess to a bit of doubt that my bags would get where they were supposed to go.  I could picture them somehow still ending up in Albany, or worse yet, ending up in the dead-end luggage department of nowhere!  And me in a denim skirt for a week--and to a funeral no less!  *shudder*.  But thankfully, no such disaster occurred.  The baggage man did indeed get my bags on the right plane.  It was such a relief to look out the window of the plane in Pittsburgh and see my bags on the cart!  Whew!  Fortunately that was my only real adventure of the trip.  I can't take too much excitement, dontcha know! lol  The upside to all this is that I got to spend almost 24 unexpected and delightful hours with my grandparents who live near the Pittsburgh airport.  Definitely my silver lining!  =)

So my "Christmas" vacation was spent at The Farm, which was not an unpleasant thing.  The grandparents are gone, but the house is pretty much set up the same as it was, complete with attached memories.  And I did spend the time with my family---more of my family, in fact, than I would have, had I just gone on my regular vacation.  True, none of my gifts to others were wrapped, and they were given out in a rather hodge-podge manner, but still it was pleasant.  It was nice to spend days with my parents, sisters, cousins and aunts---instead of just hours.  There were tears, yes, but there was also plenty of laughter and smiling---maybe we could call it a Muted Celebration.  =)  There is something very comforting and pleasant about spending sad times together with close family.  It magnifies the joy and eases the sadness, somehow.  Maybe it's because we know Dear Uncle is in heaven or because we have shared memories or because we love each other---or maybe all of the above.  =)  Whatever the reasons, it was good to be all together in one place (18 of us even slept in that one house, and I will tell you 41+ does not sleep on the floor as well as 12! lol). 

So that's me between then and now. Are you asleep yet?  I'll see if I can keep the posts rolling..........but don't hold your breath!  I would really hate to be responsible for anyone's demise! =)  Ciao!