Thanksgiving

I cannot sleep. I have a cold/cough/congestion...

It has been so long since I have had a cold that we are completely out of cough meds. The sutafed I did take a few days ago gave me such horrid dreams. So, I need to be careful of over the counter stuff.

We drove down to Austin to see our youngest son. Enjoying his job, but wanting more cash, he had applied to a pizza delivery job. So, electrical all day, and pizza at night. He posted on facebook that he had worked 52 hours last week including a day off for Thanksgiving. He was planning on going to Mississippi to be with cousins for Thanksgiving, but with the new job, stayed in Texas. Visited friends in Waco, and got fed good. Thank you, Cori for feeding my baby.

When we visited Ben in Austin on the 19th, he showed us around town. Showed us where he worked, and we bought him some new work boots for his birthday. It was hard to leave him, as he seemed lonely. So, I was glad to hear today that Cori fed him Thanksgiving. I owe her!

Then we drove to north Houston, Cypress, to see our daughter-in-law and her two kids, our grandchildren: Abby will turn five in January, and Baby David, who turned one in October. They are waiting on our firstborn to finish his deployment to A-stan. Living near her folks, and aunt and uncle, and grandfather. Our daughter-in-law is having stomach issues. gastritis, h. hernia, and gallbladder acting up. She has had lots of horrid scope and scan procedures...should get test results back Monday. hopefully. We baby sat for her for one appointment. She has lost 14 pounds in a month. Unable, and afraid to eat. Wish she lived closer so that we could help out more, but she and the kids do not need our coughs. Baby David bonded to Bob. It was so cute to see them play. Abby was busy drawing or cuting out things or taping...she has quite an imagination. And she let me read to her day 2.

We drove home and slept in our own bed for two nights, repacked and headed northwest after Bob's dental appointment on Wednesday and spent a few days at our middle son's home. The cold/coughs/drainage had just started...and part of me was tempted to stay home. But, our daughter-in-law assured us she had been sick, too. And Baby James, 10 months, was on antibiotics for his first ear infection. It was fun to see him crawling everywhere. And fun to help wrestle the turkey into the oven. Amazed I remembered to cook it upside down to keep the breast meat moist.

I was ready to go home as my cough was getting worse, but I think Bob would have stayed through Sunday! And I did not want to wear out our welcome. We watched our son and his wife decorate for Christmas. So good to see them having fun together. And we babysat so that they could get some shopping done, too. It was our third year in a row at Fort Sill. No telling where they will be next Thanksgiving. The end of an era. And next Thanksgiving, they will have two babies! What fun.

Maybe this will help jog our memories...and though scattered, our new normal: travelling to where the grandkids are. And trying to be a help. But, knowing our daughters-in-law extend us longsuffering. They'd rather be with their own folks. I was guilty of that when we were young marrieds. My folks lived closer, and dropped in all the time to see their grandsons. Bob's Dad lived way out in El Paso.