Busy Day...

[liralen]

To add to the odd string of technical difficulties, my new Blitz celphone of only two weeks came up blank when I got it out of my purse yesterday. The keyboard was lit, so I knew it was on, but it was dead as a doornail. I called Verizon Wireless, went through the usual menus, got a support person on the line, and we went through her procedures and she basically said I could go to the local store and just exchange it. With all the stuff we'd gone through on record it was supposed to be a snap.

So Jet and I ate "skinny pancakes" (the British-style Shrove Tuesday pancakes) for breakfast to finish off the eggs and milk, we hopped into the car, and went to our local Verizon Wireless store. They had no problem with the request, but they didn't have any of the phones in stock. So they said that they'd have to mail it to us, but I said we're going to be out for a while, so could I come back? He said, just call, and handed me a card. So no cool phone to bring with me traveling, which will be okay. My old phone still had all the numbers in it, I've since added more from everyone that's contacted me (good thing I was lazy, huh?), and put the charger for it into our Pile of Stuff To Pack.

We hit the local sport store and bought me a rain coat as I don't have one, haven't needed one, but we hear tell that the NE is rainy and cool now. I need one for camping, anyway (witness our deluge in the Four Corners, that would have been FAR more comfortable with a coat that actually repelled rain rather than the sweatshirt that soaked it up) and they had them on sale for a third off. Yay! Jet was my fashion consultant and mirror as there were none there. After seeing me try on four or five, he said, "Mom, get the black one. It'll keep you warm, too."

So I did.

After that we both got kid-sized dipped cones at the Dairy Queen. *laughs* We both thought of it at the same time.

Home again home again, and John came home from doing Food Share. There's a community food share program, where all the grocery stores and local restaurants bring food that's near their pull date in in order to distribute it to the local food banks. The OUR Center can have as much of that food as they need, so they send John every week to pick and choose and figure out what's good for the week. So he loads up the van with what's good and takes it back to the OUR Center.

He got back at noon, so we traded off, and I went off to help a lady from our church get to her chemo appointment. There's about 15 of us all doing one or two drives for her, and waiting for her while she gets her treatment. The idea is to kill off as much of her cancer as possible, then harvest clean stem cells from her marrow, and then when she is doing badly, put those stem cells back in. What she has is incurable, but it can be treated and managed for years. We talked on the way to the appointment, I walked with her into the offices, to see where she'd be, and then, with her blessing, I went off to get my allergy shots. When I was done with that, I went back, and sat with her during the last part of the treatment in a room where four other people were having theirs, and then gave her my arm as we walked out to the car.

She said she felt comfortable with me, which was... surprisingly good.

I guess I'm intimidating to most when I meet them at first, but it was good to know that she found me comfortable. I got to her house and to her appointment five minutes early for each, right on the dot, and got her home safely. I'm so bad with time, that it felt very good to be so absolutely precise on getting there exactly when I said I would. So I feel good about that, but it's... sobering to see the choices she has to make with regards to her life, end-of-life, and her family.

When I got home, the three of us went swimming until the daily thunderstorm rolled in, and then we went home and packed like mad. We're trying to keep it small, but make sure that our daily stuff comes with us. If we really miss something, we can just get it there. *laughs* So it will work out.

Our neighbor is being nice and driving us all the way to the airport tomorrow morning. It's more than an hour's drive there and an hour back, so we're grateful. Plus, there's going to be a couple that's having to have surgery here in the Boulder area that will be using our house as their base while we're gone. So they'll house sit and have a place to just be when she's recovering from her surgery. Whew.

It's going to be an interesting trip.

Comments

[morgainelefae.livejournal.com]

wow- that's quite a day. it's so nice how much you help those around you. and i'm glad the raincoat was on sale for you. ^^; the weather today here was nice and warm, but we've got thunderstorms in the forecast for the next couple of days according to accuweather. and yesterday and today have been the only sunny days so far this summer, so that was nice. i'm hoping it lasts, but according to the forecast, it doesn't look good.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Given her schedule and our trip, this was the one day I could do it, as the very first of her treatments she wanted someone she knew well, which I couldn't blame her for. So I got this day. It was nice to be able to!

I'm glad that you had good weather for the last few days! But the forecast is kind of gloomy out there, and we wanted to do the Cog Railway and the last time we tried in 2005, it was raining and misty and foggy all in one, so I thought it would be better to be prepared this time. *laughs*

It is always nice to be lucky...

[morgainelefae.livejournal.com]

oh, the cog is really nice if you get the chance. :) it's a fun trip. ^^ yeah- today we had a hail storm and minor flooding in the back yard, and the thunderstorms are supposed to go through thursday at least. :P

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Whoof... we just had sun and a few clouds here in Chester, PA. *laughs*

Good luck with your week!

[incandescens]

(hugs) Have a safe journey and a wonderful time!

[liralen.livejournal.com]

(hugs warmly)

Thank you!!

[sophiap.livejournal.com]

That kind of pancake brings an intense childhood flashback - my grandmother used to make those all the time.

That sounds like a great day, including the more sobering parts. I'm glad to hear that your presence was a comfort. I hope the treatment keeps things under control the way it's supposed to.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Oooo... Jet likes them with vanilla sugar. I like them with chestnut cream. *grins*

Yeah... the sobering parts were still good. I hope so as well, and it's nice to be part of a very large team of people willing to help out as we're able.

[nosferatu-blue.livejournal.com]

(I'm a bit late getting through these, so you'll get a slew of messages from me to your entries ^^)

You're... very lucky to be getting what you want from your phone company. Wow, I've never heard of a company being so accomodating before (my company likes to screw me, so maybe I'm just so accustomed to the abuse :P )

Hearing about the good things you're doing always stuns me in such a good way. I guess I never realized how easy it would be to get involved in something and then incorporate it into a day that involves other errands as well.
I may have gone on before about how awesome your church sounds, but I think I'll do it again. It sounds like everyone is pitching in to help that one woman, which must mean so much for her. It sounds like you're a community that works together. It's very heartwarming to hear about.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Hee, and you're getting an avelanche of replies while the boys sleep and I have a connection...

Verizon's been very good to us and we've stuck with them for a good long while, so they do well by us in return, so far.

Yeah... I'm very impressed by our church, and the lady in there that really organized us all so that we could help out in little bits. The lady with cancer is really happy to have all the help as she has a husband with Alzheimer's and a son with brain problems. So having some help on top of all that is really useful for her, as she's so used to taking care of her guys.

It's good to have the safty net, too, in a way. The parents in the church know that they have each other to fall back on when bad things happen. One of the husbands just had a stroke, so we've been doing dinners, various parents have helped out with babysitting so the Mom can have time at the hospital with the Dad. It's one of those things where it could have happened to any of us, so it's useful to have the net when most of us don't have family here...

... so it's selfish in a way, but it's also... I dunno... when it's pretty clear it could happen to any of us, it's easier to pitch in while we're still 'clear' of it, in a way.

[annieroo2.livejournal.com]

Your family is so community oriented and active. Sometimes makes me feel like a wiener. XD

[liralen.livejournal.com]

It's all John's fault.

His parents, too. Yeesh.

♥