Friday Night

It’s almost the 4th of July, 2011 and time is flying by so fast. I’m not sure if this happens as one gets older or because I got a glimpse of not being here a couple months ago…..all I know is it’s way too fast.
My daughter stopped by today for a short visit. Now that sounds like a regular normal everyday sentence but………….it’s been a long , long time since that’s happened because she hasn’t lived near us for quite awhile.
She and her husband finally closed escrow on a condo today, in the little town next to Pasadena. Am I happy to have her, my delightful son in law and my soon-to-be-born grandson 10 minutes away (max.)??? There are no words to express how excited I am!!
She’s been living in Hollywood for many years now. On a map, Pasadena and Hollywood are not that far apart. Driving to or from there is just a nightmare. I hate it so much that I don’t even want to spend many words describing how awful it is.
It was lovely just talking to her, watching her eat my leftovers from the ‘frig, having Terry happily continuously get up and provide her with fresh water with cut up lemons from the yard. Pregnant women get away with so much!! I probably would have gotten it for her once but after that, I’d just give her “the look,” translated into “don’t push it too far.” But Terry is delighted to do for her, she’s delighted to be waited on and I just sit back and enjoy seeing them both.
She has quite the “baby bump” now. I’m afraid to say “I can’t wait until Max gets here” because I want him to stay in for as long as it takes to “cook” him properly.
They’ll be moving this next week and that I don’t envy. It’s fun to watch their excitement at being homeowners, especially in the little city they really wanted to live in. I’ve always called it Mayberry because it’s very quiet, homey, family oriented with a police station with nothing to do. She’s too young to understand the Mayberry comparison. Maybe Sheriff Andy Taylor will explain it to her.
We’re working with a couple of her friends on a baby shower for her in mid July. As she said, she’s not a “shower-type” person (just like her mom) so it’s going to be a party with husbands, wives and family. My girlfriend will be catering it….all hearty finger food, to be at our house. I’m looking forward to it.
I’m feeling better every day. Recovery is not as fast as I would like but most of the time, I feel almost normal. I’m doing a lot more than I used to as far as going places, doing things, etc. but I just wear out sooner than I used to. Still sleep with O2, trying my best to eat more to gain back some of the weight I lost….it’s really surreal to “try” to gain weight after a lifetime of trying NOT to gain weight.
All in all, life is good. It’s true what they say about near-death experiences: you do get a new more appreciative view of life. I still have a lot of things that I’ve trying to come to terms with regarding the sudden, unexpected onset of this illness, the seriousness of it and all the missing time during it all.
I may never work it all out and I’m not sure that it matters if I do. I’m just glad to be here.

And I’m going to be a Grandma next month!!!!