Secret agents from Malaysia and other heart-warming stories
My mother is very much into dolls, especially those by Marie Osmond. Thankfully, she's more into selling the dolls these days than buying them. She recently sold one to a lady in Malaysia, and as thanks, the woman was sending her a gift. It came by registered mail, but with all the stuff going on we weren't home to sign for it. This morning I went to the post office to pick it up. We weren't sure exactly what it was--as in, is it the package from Malaysia or something else? I told the postal employee at the counter that I was the agent picking up the package for my mother. He asked to see an ID and then asked if my ID said I was an "agent." I told him, no, I left that ID at home. He thought it was funny. :) The package ended up being pretty small so I took it to work with me. It was a little purse.
It smelled like lemons outside this morning, like someone had cleaned my town with lemon Joy.
Meanwhile, back in the city, my grandfather was undergoing surgery. Originally his angiogram was scheduled for last Thursday, but he remembered there was a Collectogether (i.e., old men talking about plane engines) on Saturday, and he didn't want to chance missing that. Good thing he rescheduled, right? The 'gram was at our old local hospital, but the bypass had to be done at the big hospital, Resurrection, on the far Northwest Side. (Trivia: I was born at that hospital. Also, I went there the only time I'd ever broken a bone, my right thumb. Those are the only two times I recall being at that hospital.) He stayed overnight at the first hospital, then got transferred to Resurrection yesterday. The surgery was this morning and went well. He ended up having a quintuple bypass, plus they did one in his neck to boot--mom said something about strokes, so I'm guessing that was to lessen the chance of a stroke. He had a breathing tube in for a while but my grandmother just called and said it had been removed, and that she'd talked to my grandfather. He's okay, but his mouth isn't working quite right. As in, his brain function is fine; his mouth just doesn't want to make the right sounds. He's also not in any pain, which is wonderful. He's in surgical ICU for the next 24-48 hours, and then he'll be recovering for 5-14 days. That brings us right up to Easter. I hope he's out by then. I think he recovered pretty quickly from his hip replacements, so maybe this will be the same way. Cross your fingers.
Miscellaneous family stuff:
Mom, grandma, and my (younger) uncle were all at the hospital today. My uncle was there last night too, and there was an incident where my mom accidentally parked in the employee lot instead of visitor. An employee said it wasn't a big deal as long as she hadn't parked in a reserved spot, but mom was still paranoid. My uncle had to go with mom to retrieve her car to move it, and then she couldn't find it, so they had security driving them around for a bit. Naturally, my uncle gave her a good ribbing. What are little brothers for? I think I'll have to call mom Employee of the Month for a while. :)
While they were talking, my uncle mentioned that my cousin is having a book published! Mom couldn't remember much about it, but I'm impressed and a bit jealous. She is 17 and still in high school...grr. But I'll have to remember to email her and ask what it's all about...and see if it's something I can order, maybe.
In the midst of the madness, mom and grandma got to talking, and we found out that my grandfather and "that woman" (the girlfriend that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back in my grandparents' marriage) are no longer together. That last straw came when she moved and didn't tell my grandfather. Nice, eh? She was living in Arizona, but my grandfather and her son live in the same building. The son didn't even mention anything. I sort of feel badly about it, but at the same time I don't. I never liked this woman. Consider that she is still married to her second husband and had no plans to divorce him because she was getting his benefits. He should be glad he's rid of her.
I'm such a gossip. And I'm sure nobody else cares, but I want to get this down. Especially the part where my grandfather is single. Hear that sound? That's my entire family (including my grandma) breathing a sigh of relief.
It smelled like lemons outside this morning, like someone had cleaned my town with lemon Joy.
Meanwhile, back in the city, my grandfather was undergoing surgery. Originally his angiogram was scheduled for last Thursday, but he remembered there was a Collectogether (i.e., old men talking about plane engines) on Saturday, and he didn't want to chance missing that. Good thing he rescheduled, right? The 'gram was at our old local hospital, but the bypass had to be done at the big hospital, Resurrection, on the far Northwest Side. (Trivia: I was born at that hospital. Also, I went there the only time I'd ever broken a bone, my right thumb. Those are the only two times I recall being at that hospital.) He stayed overnight at the first hospital, then got transferred to Resurrection yesterday. The surgery was this morning and went well. He ended up having a quintuple bypass, plus they did one in his neck to boot--mom said something about strokes, so I'm guessing that was to lessen the chance of a stroke. He had a breathing tube in for a while but my grandmother just called and said it had been removed, and that she'd talked to my grandfather. He's okay, but his mouth isn't working quite right. As in, his brain function is fine; his mouth just doesn't want to make the right sounds. He's also not in any pain, which is wonderful. He's in surgical ICU for the next 24-48 hours, and then he'll be recovering for 5-14 days. That brings us right up to Easter. I hope he's out by then. I think he recovered pretty quickly from his hip replacements, so maybe this will be the same way. Cross your fingers.
Miscellaneous family stuff:
Mom, grandma, and my (younger) uncle were all at the hospital today. My uncle was there last night too, and there was an incident where my mom accidentally parked in the employee lot instead of visitor. An employee said it wasn't a big deal as long as she hadn't parked in a reserved spot, but mom was still paranoid. My uncle had to go with mom to retrieve her car to move it, and then she couldn't find it, so they had security driving them around for a bit. Naturally, my uncle gave her a good ribbing. What are little brothers for? I think I'll have to call mom Employee of the Month for a while. :)
While they were talking, my uncle mentioned that my cousin is having a book published! Mom couldn't remember much about it, but I'm impressed and a bit jealous. She is 17 and still in high school...grr. But I'll have to remember to email her and ask what it's all about...and see if it's something I can order, maybe.
In the midst of the madness, mom and grandma got to talking, and we found out that my grandfather and "that woman" (the girlfriend that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back in my grandparents' marriage) are no longer together. That last straw came when she moved and didn't tell my grandfather. Nice, eh? She was living in Arizona, but my grandfather and her son live in the same building. The son didn't even mention anything. I sort of feel badly about it, but at the same time I don't. I never liked this woman. Consider that she is still married to her second husband and had no plans to divorce him because she was getting his benefits. He should be glad he's rid of her.
I'm such a gossip. And I'm sure nobody else cares, but I want to get this down. Especially the part where my grandfather is single. Hear that sound? That's my entire family (including my grandma) breathing a sigh of relief.