Vacation update

Just when you decide life is just a little too stressful...your life gets shaken like one of those balls filled with fake snow.

Everyone told us we needed a vacation, so off we went to the great state of Maine. This vacation will always be known as ... the vacation from hell! But it worked. I was so thankful when it ended, I was immediately relaxed....well, almost. Exhausted is probably the better term.

Since most of our trip would be stressful, Dave and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice bed and breakfast. It looked so nice...don't believe everything you see. Bob Newhart didn't own this New England inn.

The adventure would have made a nice episode for an English comedy. The gas logs didn't work, the thermostat didn't work, the "lathering gel" wouldn't come out of the bottle. The down filled pillows and comforter were sooooooo nice, but the mattress was as soft as plywood....we won't discuss the toilet paper! What was the name of the English comedy about the man and his wife who owned a hotel? Hmmm..... I'll think of it later.

Deciding we had enough stress we quickly moved to a hotel. It was WONDERFUL, having everything the B&B lacked....like heat and toilet paper, a Dunken Donut down the steet, and it was cheaper!!!!

My sister-in-law is a walking miracle...God isn't finished with her yet. She's happy to be alive and making remarkable progress.

My mother-in-law can only say "yes" and "no" but she understands everything you say and has a wicked sense of humor. I told her if I was in her condition the first word I'd be saying would be short and four letters. She nodded and laughed when I told her the nuns probably wouldn't want me giving speech therapy. We communicated well enough to agree old age stinks, it's better to get sick shopping than being at home, Dave's older brother is not the man of our dreams, and if you wear rings it's difficult to keep soap from making them dull.

We saw her another day that wasn't as nice. I stroked her hair and we both cried.

Between running from hospital to hospital, I got sick and spent a morning in the emergency room with a viral and sinus infection. That slowed our hospital visits, so sick as a horse, we decided to drive along the coast. Gosh, it's beautiful...God was in a good mood when he made Maine.

If I had one silly dream, it would be to spend summers in Maine. A little cottage on the coast...oh well...enough of that.

Mom did very well without us. I tried to call on a regular basis and tell her when to change the channel. If any of you talk to her at 8:00 in the evening...tell her to turn the TV to channel 54, so she can watch Little House on the Prairie.

We arrived back around 11:00 last night. I slept in and didn't get up until 9:00, which gave me plenty of time to get Mom for her 1:00 hair appointment. We had lunch with a friend, got her hair done and then I took Mom home, and slept for hours. I'm still fighting my cold and I'm very tired.

Bottom line: Mom is fine, life often stinks, miracles happen, cats are smarter than people, don't buy pure maple syrup unless it says "dark amber" and the best time to shop at L. L. Bean is around 7:00 in the morning.

Nite,
Marsha