Christmas Has Come and Gone . . .

. . . but the pain lingers on. 1300 miles in 5 days was a bit too much for Lori to handle. The aches and pains are pretty bad. The fatigue has set in and looks like it might be here for a while as well.

We did have a good time and it was a really great trip. We rented a large passenger van and packed the 5 of us plus the 2 dogs and headed to northern Georgia. Our leaving Thursday was a bit delayed due to a work crisis but, thanks to the boys doing all the packing and loading up of the van, we got out of town at a decent time. The first couple of hours were a bit restless due to the dogs getting settled in. Our plan was to have them sit on the floor in the back. About 2 blocks from the house they each had their seats picked and stayed there for the rest of the trip. Once they became accustomed to the van and the driving it was smooth sailing.

The drive itself was pretty nice. We talked and had some Christmas music playing in the background. Lori didn’t sleep too much on the way up. I think she was too excited. The first stop was Atlanta for 2 nights. We had a real nice 5-room suite with plenty of beds and furniture to keep the 7 of us comfy for the couple of days. We arrived pretty late. It was almost 11:00 when we finally got settled in to the room. Once we unpacked Lori went right to bed while I stayed up and wrapped presents for the next day.

Friday Lori and I headed to see Lori’s sister and her family. We left the dogs with the boys at the hotel. I was going to go back later and pick them all up. Lori really enjoys spending time with her niece and nephew (8 and 5…I think). She was very excited as we drove over to Jennifer’s house. We had some breakfast and then Lori played a couple of games with the kids. Lori did great. She was glowing as she played with the kids. After lunch we watched a movie (good chance for Lori to rest). As it turns out she didn’t get much rest while watching the movie. She sat with both her niece and nephew and spent most of the movie talking to them (answering Morgan’s questions actually!).

During the movie I went to get the rest of our gang. The balance of the day went well. We had dinner and opened a few presents. Around 7:00 we headed back to the hotel. You could see in Lori’s eyes she was wilting fast. Once back at the hotel she perked up a bit again while she boxed up the last few presents and then crashed hard when she finished. I’m not sure if it was from the drive the day before, the cold, or the long day at her sisters’ house but Lori was pretty achy. We put one of the blow up beds up so Lori would get some joint pain relief for the night. The next day we were back to driving.

Saturday (Christmas eve) we got up, ate breakfast, packed up, and headed to my brother’s house in North Georgia. The drive was a lot shorter than I figured. We arrived at their house around an hour and a half after we left the hotel. It was a pretty easy ride. Once there, Lori pretty much just sat with her feet up. After lunch she took a nap. It was a very relaxing day. Around 9:00 that night she went to bed.

The next day was Christmas. It is one of Lori’s favorite days of the year. For many years Christmas has had a very special meaning to us. It is always enjoyable but is also very emotional. Again the day was extremely relaxing for Lori. She sat and visited and when she got too tired she went and took a nap. Unfortunately for Lori, while she was napping in the afternoon I took the boys out for a drive. The dogs (who were locked up in the basement) started howling. She had to go sit with them till we got back so her nap was cut short. Still it seemed to be enough to recharge and get ready for the rest of the evening, and what a nice evening it was.

Lori didn’t go to bed till after 11:00 that night. She was really tired. I figured we would talk a bit before we went to sleep but Lori fell right asleep (as did I). We were heading home the next day. I figured the traffic would be pretty bad but we were not in any real hurry to get home. The plan was to get up, eat some breakfast, and be on the road by noon.

I was right about the traffic on the way home. It took 12 hours (it should have been closer to 10). Lori slept for about 8 of those. It would have been better for her if we broke the trip up into 2 days but with 6 people (we added my 19 yr. old nephew for the trip back to Florida) and 2 dogs it would have been difficult. It was great to be home. Lori looked really bad though. When she is with people she uses her energy to keep up her appearance and smile. Once we were home you could see just how much that actually did drain her.

Yesterday was to be a sleep day. The plan was for Lori to rest / sleep while I unpacked and did some laundry between movie and TV watching. The day went really good. The evening was not as good. When the boys came home from playing basketball (at dinner time) we found out Ricky hurt his ankle pretty bad. I took Ricky to the emergency room while Lori stayed home and worried. The worrying was not good to say the least. Ricky will have to be off of his foot for at least a week.

Today Lori woke up, took a shower, and got dressed. Her brother was coming into town to visit with Lori’s parents later this afternoon. Lori wanted to go see him. Unfortunately, after her shower, she began to get a headache. As the day went on it turned into a full-blown migraine. She was also pretty sore and tired. After she scheduled a follow up appointment for Ricky with an Orthopedist she went to take a nap. That was a few hours ago and she is still sleeping. I hope she wakes up and her headache is gone.

It’s about time for me to get dinner going then get back to work. The next few weeks are going to be very busy. I hope Lori can get to where she is “self sustaining” soon. I know she is worried about Ricky.

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10:30 in the evening

Well, Lori woke up to get some dinner a couple hours ago. The headache was still there. She said she felt better, but it didn’t look like it to me. After she ate she sat with us for a bit, the she got sick. She barely made it to the bathroom it time. She is now in bed once again.

Tomorrow’s another day.