Monday, September 5, 2016

That kind of week

So usually we hear from our family once a week by texting or talking to them.  This week has been a flurry of calls and texts as all of this happened:

1.  Stepdaughter broke up (finally yay!) with boyfriend of 3 years.  We could all see it coming but she finally pulled the plug.  She is sad and misses us but is otherwise fine.  Hubby and I tried to temper our excitement when speaking with her.  She has created a whole new life for herself including supporting herself (September 1 payments stopped to her from us) and needed to break that last tie as her boyfriend didn't work and had basically sponged off her for the last year as she was working a part-time job while finishing highschool.



2.  Stepson #2 rear-ended someone, thankfully no injuries but he killed his vehicle.  He intends to go to College September 2017 and is currently working where he can't take a bus.  The accident was his fault so his insurance will go up, a very expensive mistake.  Lots of phone calls back and forth giving advice.  I absolutely hate receiving a text that a kid has gotten into an accident though - why do they do that!?!  Yes, we called him straight away.  Fortunately the kid has good credit as has had a credit card for 2 years, went to the bank, got preapproved for a $5000 loan and found a new car yesterday that he is going to buy if it passes the mechanical inspection tomorrow.  If we had to we were going to loan him money but he never asked so we didn't offer.  He is actually the kid that seems most capable of generally taking care of himself that way, which makes us happy that at 20 he is able to do that.  He is also smart enough to call us for advice.

3.  On Friday my Mother-in-law appears to have fallen in her unit.  She has Alzheimers and the girls who bring her her meals in her care unit took her to the hospital that is attached for x-ray - no broken bones.  Then she decided she wanted to walk on her own back to her unit (she is very active, this would not have been unusual) and fell and broke her hip. Almost no sleep Friday night as we waited to see what was happening - rushed from small town hospital by ambulance to University of Alberta Hospital (one of the best in the country) to wait 9 hours for a room, and then Saturday emergency partial hip replacement.  We are just lucky she was able to have surgery so fast.  We talked to her yesterday after surgery and she seems amazingly lucid, knew who hubby was (becoming more difficult for her to remember) and seemed ok.  She has to stay there for a couple of days and then gets sent back to the small town hospital.  Unfortunately her Doctor is saying that her care requirements are too far gone to be allowed back in her existing unit and she now has to go into long-term care which is basically attached to the same building but a different area and much smaller space.  We knew this was coming but things seem to be progressing on a very fast downward spiral.

Yeah, so our long weekend was spent trying to catch up on sleep after Friday night being mostly sleepless and doing things around the house in case we had to fly out.  We have decided that unless things get worse hubby will wait and fly out in a couple of weeks to help his brother clean out her unit and to see her.  We already have flights booked for early December but he probably will fly out there every 6-8 weeks from now on to see her.  If we get any of the 5 contracts signed for all the proposals we did this week (we expect at least 3 to be confirmed, the others depend on government funding) these trips can be written off as all that business is in Alberta.  If not we have a bunch of airmiles I won this summer and we shall be using them.  That win must have been fate!

I try and stay pretty positive on this blog but sometimes life smacks you in the head.  In the end, fortunately everyone is as best as can be expected after this week and things will hopefully quiet down again.  I have also had a 3 day headache which I can't lose, likely brought on by stress but my glands are swollen so maybe I have a touch of the flu.  Hopefully I can shake that soon too.

16 comments:

  1. Hi, your life does sound hectic at the mo I have been there too with kids pranging cars, relationship trauma and babies in the mix it does pan out in the end. I think this is why I have such a desire to wander the globe I'm still young and don't want my non working life to disappear in a whirl of supporting everyone else. I adore my family but I'm not done with my life just yet lol. I love your blog by the way.

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  2. Yikes. Yep, that was a busy week.

    We went through the Alzheimers thing with Ruth's Mom. Five years from start to finish, and she went through all the stages like it was right out of the textbook. Not nice.

    Sounds like you deserve a glass of wine...or two...

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  3. Life gets crazy complicated some times. Wishing you well and some peaceful sleep.

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  4. Wow, not a good weekend! Sounds like both the kids have things under control so that will help, I am sure.

    Hope your mother-in-law is doing better now that she has had the surgery and that she will heal quickly.

    Go sit down and have a glass of wine and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  5. Wow! That's a lot to handle in one weekend. I understand the sleepless nights that come with anxiety/worrying. Here I am at 2:30 in the morning typing this worried about going to work today. The kids are young and will bounce back quickly, but your mother-in-law has it tough with a broken hip. Your defenses were likely lowered from the stress and you caught a bug. I just got over a nasty head cold myself. I hope you feel better and that the rest of this week is less stressful.

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  6. They say things come in 3'a so hopefully you can relax a little now.
    Please remember to take care of yourselves too x x

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  7. It never rains but it pours. Hope this week is better for you and that headache does one. x

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  8. Stressfull things usual happen in groups! Today is another day. I am sure this week will go smoothly...
    My Mother-in-law had Alzheimer and also broke her hip, but she was too far gone for surgery, so they managed her pain and she was gone shortly after. Courage , hugs Valerie

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  9. So sorry for all your troubles. Yes the kids will be fine and have learned lessons form all of this, so nice that you were both there for them.

    Your Mom in law is going to need a lot of support for the next few months. Learning a new room and of the facility area won't be easy either. So sad.

    Hugs to you both and cheers :)

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  10. Why does it all come at once?!!! Well done for coping and now your body is telling you it needs some nurturing so you can bounce back. Find a soft warm blanket, fireplace and cuddly dog and you will soon be on the mend.

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  11. No wonder you have a headache! That is too much for anyone to handle all at once. It does always seem to come at you in a rush though.
    I am sorry about your MIL but it does seem as if she is getting good care. That helps a lot. I'm sorry about your son being in an accident but he really does seem to have it on the ball. And now it seems that your daughter is getting it too.
    Hang in there and have a drink or two. Maybe a cold drink will help wiht the headache.

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  12. Yikes! I'd probably be self medicating by now. lolz

    If it ain't the youngins' then it's the parents having issues. Isn't it grand to be the sandwich generation?

    Sorry about the MIL. My MIL had Alzheimer's and it was no picnic here either.
    Get some rest and "me" time as soon as you can.

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  13. A tough week for sure. At least your business side sounds upbeat. - Margy

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  14. All that happening at once and so suddenly was a real trial for you. Good luck going forward.

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  15. This has been a rough time for you and your family and I hope things mellow out soon.

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