We had a hard time getting here. On Tuesday we were 300+ miles into our 500 mile drive when something went wrong with the car. An hour and $100 later we had learned that a sensor was breaking and the part wasn't available quickly. At some point it would go out completely and then the car would lose all power and that would be it.
Knowing that it could happen any minute or not at all, we turned around. We did make it home, after 12+ hours in the car driving through pouring rain, the last hours filled with tension that the engine could stop at any moment. We went to bed and got up at 6am and tried again in our other car.
Wednesday's trip went just perfectly, and were were here in time to take Mom to Red Lobster for Christmas Eve dinner. Afterwards we exchanged gifts in her apartment and it was lovely.
We'll spend the day with her today and head home again tomorrow after breakfast. A very short visit, but meaningful.
Mom is doing well overall but is getting a bit forgetful and a bit vague, and it just seems like she is less and less herself.
I'm trying very hard not to worry too much about taking care of her, and taking care of Greg. The hours and hours and hours of driving hurt his back, and I probably shouldn't have let him drive back up the next day. Plus this is one of those meal situations that's extremely difficult for vegetarians; at Mom's retirement home there's not many choices, and it turns out the restaurant here in the hotel is closed today.
Tomorrow night we'll be back at home, and we'll have a weekend to try to relax and take care of ourselves before we are back at work on Monday.
Greg got me the perfect Christmas present, it's something that I had been wanting but just could not justify spending the money for something so silly and so expensive. A black cat Spirithood! I can't help it, I love it.
