Summer has arrived!!

Alrighty...we have approached the week-mark! I have so much to do in the next week (actually 6 days!) that if I had decided to work up until the day I left, I would have never gotten it all done. My last day at work in VA was sad. My supervisor got me a cake and everyone in the company came down and wished me luck. And my coworker, Amber, got me a beanpod candle in the most delicious scent: Ocean Mist and a hilarious card. It's a sound card with the hoops and yoyo characters on it. (I add that link because they have an entire website devoted to these guys and it's pretty funny stuff).

So my weekend shall consist of fixing the terrible thing that I did to my hair (don't ask!) and packing. Sounds like fun, right? OH I also get to study for my North Carolina drivers' license. Yes, the fun just never ends here .

Stepdad update: He had his final ankle surgery on Tuesday which was supposed to last an hour but lasted THREE hours because of swelling. He was supposed to be able to come home yesterday for good but I got word from my mom this morning that he wasn't able to come home because his incision didn't look good. They are currently worried that this will never end. From here, he will not be able to put any pressure on that ankle for three months. Also, my mom is going to hire someone to finish spackling and painting the bedroom and she has threatened to sell all the ladders. And rightfully so!

I better get started on the weekend. Have a great one!

Today after work I will be on my way down to NC for an interview tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!!

My stepdad is back in the hospital. He was supposed to have the second surgery on his foot on Tuesday but he had a skin infection so it got postponed. By yesterday, the infection still wasn't healed enough for the doctor's liking so he'll either have the surgery today or tomorrow. I feel bad for not only him but my mom, having to do all this running around and everything. Once he has the second surgery and he is on his way to recovery (finally!), I think everyone will breathe a lot easier. Thank goodness they have both been at their company for 20-30 years, so they have a good amount of paid time off.

Next Friday is my last day at this job. I was expecting them to be mad that I'm leaving, but everyone has been very supportive and has said they will miss having me here. That's a huge weight off my shoulders!! When I told my supervisor about the interview and that I'd have to take tomorrow off, she had no problem whatsoever with it. I guess it pays to be a nice person :). Now I just have to get this job. It sounds like my dream job. I just keep telling myself not to screw it up tomorrow!

My brother called me at work yesterday and left a message that was like, "we can't wait for you to come down this weekend!" I see this as a really good sign because if I'm going to be living with them for a while, I wouldn't want them to dread that I'll be there. I always assume I'm a nuisance. I'm not sure what that's all about.

Thank you, everyone, for your concern and well wishes! They brought my stepdad home Tuesday evening, (my mom said she was NOT leaving there without him. And she got her way :). I spent the day yesterday helping them do things and running errands. He's tube-less and awake and already bored out of his mind. So he's back! It's really nice to see and it stinks that he'll be right back in the hospital for the "plate and screw" surgery on his ankle in two weeks. He's on a bunch of different medicines...for his stomach, pneumonia, pain, blood thinner. You know when we were sitting in the first hospital, before any doctor even saw him and his foot still looked like it was on sideways, he kept saying, "it could be worse". Well, he definitely took it to the extreme. And I don't think I will ever utter those words again!

I will say one thing about sitting in a hospital for two days waiting for doctors to come see your family member who is unconscious...minutes seem like hours. We're always told, "time flies when you're having fun", well the opposite is painfully true as well. I have actually found an environment in which time goes by slower than being at work on a day where there's nothing to do!

And now I must go face the music at work...sigh.

...since I was here last.

The "short" version...

Saturday evening I get a call from my mom to meet her at the emergency room because my stepdad broke his leg. So I get there and...wow. His foot is at a 90degree angle to his leg. It ended up that his ankle was dislocated AND both bones in his leg were broken at his ankle. The plan was to put him under conscious sedation and reset it. When they put him under conscious sedation, which the doctor kept telling us was "safe and there will be no problems", he vomited "black coffee ground material" (which, in doctor terms means he was bleeding into his stomach at some point) and aspirated it into his right lung. So they had to intubate him. They then had to airlift him to another hospital because they couldn't fix his leg at the hospital closest to our house (i HATE this hospital so we're glad he was brought to the other one). So he stayed intubated all night and all the next day. Every now and then his "white stuff" (the drug that was keeping him sedated) would run out and he would wake up. I hated when that happened. I can't imagine what it's like having a tube down my throat, another in my nose and another extracting urine. Just can't. His arms were restrained which was scary to me. I couldn't hold it together when he woke up and opened his eyes. Finally Sunday afternoon they did the surgery on his leg. Well, the first of two. For this first one, they put an impressive piece of hardware on his lower leg. If I can, I'll get a picture and post it. They kept him intubated overnight again just to make sure he was breathing ok and when we got there the next morning, they took him off the "white stuff" and took the tubes out FINALLY. When they wheeled that respirator out of the room we were NOT sad to see it go!! So right now (well, as of last night), he was already eating real food, breathing just fine, and was talking (albeit his voice is very hoarse from the tube, but talking just the same). So hopefully he'll get to go home in the next day or so on crutches.

So that was my Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. If nothing else, this experience proved to me that I could stay awake for almost 40 hours straight. And I slept much better last night knowing he was ok. Who knew this could all come from a broken leg!! Don't climb ladders, people!

Both of my dads have now broken both bones in their lower right legs. That's a little too ironic for me to be comfortable with.

Today will commence the packing. I decided that I need to go through the things I've already packed and get rid of a bunch of stuff. This feeling doesn't come along very often so I'll be getting right on that. My brother will be very happy with that decision . It's hard for me to part with some things; It's that sentimental value of it all. I'm a sucker for "the little things" in life. Greeting cards from friends from when I was in college; trinkets I had in a shadow box that I'm not sure I want to hang back up...things like that. I'm trying to de-clutter. Easier said than done.

I need to figure out how to transport my fish. I wasn't going to bring him, but I don't trust anyone else with him. That's sad, right? Well every time that I went out of town and someone else took care of him, they ended up putting in WAY too much food and the tank had to be cleaned. I'm sure if I left him here, he'd be dead in a week. I recently cured him from some weird fish disease so now I feel like it's my duty to keep him alive. We've bonded. (stinkin fish!) I will miss the dog. Anything that gets THAT excited to see me every time I come in the house, even if I just go out to my car and come right back inside, is easily going to be missed a lot! My brother told me one day that he can't wait for me to get there because Amanda (my sis-in-law) told him one day that he either needed to get her another friend to hang out with or a dog. And he doesn't want a dog right now. So that's why he wants me to move. I feel so loved. haha. Next weekend my best friend from Florida, who I haven't seen in over 2 years (!) is moving to NC, about an hour away from where I'll be. I'm so excited I could pee my pants. I will have a good portion of my most favoritest people all in one place again!

Time to get on with the day. Have a great weekend!

Good news...my taxes are done!! YAY! Every year they get more and more difficult. This year, my HSA (health savings account) was to blame. Since it is an account that uses tax-free dollars from the top of my pay, I don't understand why the IRS wants to know about it but it has absolutely no affect on the outcome of your return. It took my mom, stepdad and I two hours to figure this out. BUT they are DONE, SIGNED, MAILED! Hasta La Vista taxes! Now I just get to wait for my money which, I assume, I will get in like 4 months considering I put my current address on them and I will be moving in 3 weeks. C'est la vie!

Today I am going to start packing. Does anyone wanna come help? Packing ranks right up there for me with painting walls. SO not fun! And, once I get to NC, one of the projects my sister-in-law has planned is painting my room. How's that for irony! The problem for me with packing is, in this process, I usually find things I haven't seen for years and I get side-tracked. My attention deficit side comes out in full force and it takes me way longer than it should.

Since clocks were turned ahead last night (why can't we lose an hour in the middle of the day on a workday? Why does it have to be during the weekend? Whoever designed this system needs a good talking to!), it now appears that it's 9:30am instead of 8:30am. So much for getting an early start. Now to do some packing...

 It does funny things. Well, not exactly "funny". I remember when I was at my first graphic design job and I was getting ready to tell my boss  that I was leaving (she being the reason I was leaving, but I didn't tell her that), and I had the only ever panic attack I've ever had. It was the scariest thing.

And now It's like yes, I'm moving and I know in my heart it's the right thing to do and my brother and sister-in-law want me there, like, yesterday but still, my brain seems to not be convinced. I have had a headache now for about 2 weeks straight along with a sore jaw (and I don't grind my teeth). I'm assuming that, hopefully, as soon as I tell my current job I'm leaving and I find a job in NC, I'll be a lot better off but those are both things that cause me to want to poke my eye out with a pencil. Being a grown-up is not all it's cracked up to be sometimes.

In other news...I'm now at the age where it seems like everyone my age but me is married. It's not that I wish I were married, by any means. For the simple fact that I haven't met anyone I'd want to be married to. But if I see someone somewhere who is attractive, I find myself looking at their left ring finger. It makes me a little sad. OH and I'm now at the age where it wouldn't be a tragedy if I got pregnant. And when people my age call me "ma'am", I feel the urge to vomit. Does this mean I'm having a quarter-life crisis? (to quote John Mayer). The people that I will know in NC are all couples and three of the couples are married and the other couple is getting married in September. (hello to being a bridesmaid for the third time in three years).

It's times like these I'm extremely thankful for my gym membership!! Shuts my brain up for a while.