Mamagotcha's journal

My dad called tonight. His procedure has been moved up to April 24 (It WAS going to be mid-May sometime).

I'm thinking I'm going to fly out instead of drive, and rent a car for a month so I can go visit Julia and my in-laws after staying with my dad.

I'm trying to stay positive about this, but I'm worried... first the doctors seemed pretty blasé about this thing, and now they're suddenly saying he needs it done faster.

This means I won't be seeing all you lovely Kansas City folks, at least not as soon as I want to. But I will be at Whole Earth Festival, and this way I will have more time to wander around the coast and in Washington.

If all goes well.

Drove to KC in the rain, got in late to Jill's and crashed. Listened to Magnetic Fields much of the way, along with a Ben Folds Presents album of college acapella groups doing his songs. Awesome, thanks Clay!

Saturday, Jill had a few people over to celebrate Valerie's 4th birthday. Kenna, Raegan, Monica, Christina A., Tracy, Tara and Derek all showed up, with their assorted kiddos. It was for the most part a merry mess, with a beautiful purple and yellow birthday cake, sunny weather, and lots of yarn and beads. Christopher and Linc had a little tiff over Lily and Linc wound up with a bonked arm, but Monica came to the rescue and tragedy was averted.

Jill let me use her wonderful tub to soak in, but the hot water ran out after about six inches. I just flipped and basted, and felt so much better afterwords.

Sunday, I took Linc and Charlotte to the zoo (which didn't accept my Brookfield membership, pooh), then Kaufman Gardens (which was in glorious full bloom) and then a couple hours of Science City. They got along great and ran around like mad things.

That evening I was going to go out with Angie, Christina, Tamera, and Karen, but two of them were feeling poorly so we called it off and instead we did an impromptu picnic (using the sourdough sandwich loaf I made; the asiago pepper boules were long gone, and well appreciated, by then!). We went out to Black Hoof park near a dam by Jill's house, and Monica, Tara and Derek joined us again. Nobody fell into the lake, and we all enjoyed the beautiful evening. This time, Christopher and Linc were buddies. A few ticks were found and squicked over, but otherwise it was lovely.

Monday I was going to go to Nia, but just really didn't feel like it. I wound up taking the marudai back to Derek's (he'd made one for me, but there were screws in the mirror and he said he could redo it). I wound up chatting with Tara and we took the kids to the park near their house. Lily, Linc and Aden all wound up soaked and happy from exploring the creek and woods in the park, and they all found rocks with fossils embedded in them! Monica and little Tony and then Derek joined us and we headed to a WONDERFUL Chinese buffet (Joy Wok, I think?) once we got everyone dried off and into clean clothes.

Linc and I then went to see Anne U. and Anne B. to eat homemade kraut sandwiches and chocolate-cherry-almond clusters, plus some awesome gourmet sodas, while Linc plagued Sailor, Noah and Quinn (who are all tall and polite and beautiful young men now!). The hours FLEW by as we gabbed about everything... it was like I'd never left! Rick came home and I got a tour of their beautiful house that just went on the market... I also drove by the nifty condo they might buy. We finally tore Linc away from Sailor, and dashed over to see poor sick Christina before I left town (I'd grabbed some lacey chocolate cookies for her before I knew she was sick). Christian, Skylar and (?? forgot third guy's name) were practicing their band... they sounded great, and again entertained Linc. All these little guys grew into great tall yearlings! Christina and I hung out on the front porch during the concert, while Linc gamboled over the lawn (oh, I remembered to give back her book, Clay).

It was dark when we finally left KC, and only got as far as St. Joseph, to have a quick dinner at an IHOP and crash at a Motel 6.

The CPAP had been acting funny... took three nights before I finally looked up how to change the pressure and amped it up a bit. Not sure if my breathing needs more oomph, or if there's something wrong with the machine itself. I've had to ramp it up again with the high altitude. Also, while I was dashing around, I got several messages from an insurance person in Chicago... my handheld UV device was finally approved and they're sending it to me! I got them to change the address to my dad's house in California, so I'll get it in a week or so!!!

We grabbed our first geocache on the way out of St. Joe, and Linc found it before I got out of the car!

We headed to Lincoln, NE, and got to the Lincoln Children's Museum with two hours left to play. We grabbed a T-shirt (I've wanted a Lincoln shirt for Linc for a long time) and spent some quality time with the Rhoads sculpture there. Linc also talked me into buying him a canister of Brain Food, this awesome funky putty that has been worth its weight in gold! He plays with it constantly, and it's glow-in-the-dark, too.

We stayed in Kearney, and got a nice walk the next morning with another geocache. We hit the road and started listening to Diane Wynne Jones' "House of Many Ways," called the sequel to "Howl's Moving Castle," and it was absolutely awesome.

Argh. Linc really wants to get back into the pool, so I'll try to finish next time we have internet...

If everything goes OK, here's the current plan:

Tues., Oct. 20: Drive to Shasta or other more northerly point

Wed., Oct. 21: Drive to Portland, crash with the lovely Crowmama

Thu., Oct. 22: Drive to Seattle

Fri., Oct. 23: Meet up with friends (zoo? childrens' museum? other idea?) (I'm looking at you, Qarin and Megan and Heidi and Colleen and Hollie!); pick up my sister at SEA/TAC at 7:30 pm

Sat., Oct. 24: Hang in Seattle a bit (breakfast with my sister- and brother-in-law?), drive to Spokane

Sun., Oct. 25: Visit with Lorraine & Paul, stay in Spokane one more night

Mon., Oct. 26: Start heading back to Chicago; maybe a side-trip to visit Uncanny in Butte?

Tue., Oct. 27: Drive

Wed., Oct. 28: Drive

Thu., Oct. 29: Drive

Fri., Oct. 30: Arrive Twin Cities area?

Sat., Oct. 31: HOME!!!

Sun., Nov. 1: My sister flies back to NY from Chicago

I'd love to connect with folks in Oregon and Washington... if you're reading this, it's a safe bet that I'd like to hang out with you at least for a meal or maybe a stop at your favorite park (so I can let Linc and Wiley get their ya-yas out). Comment and we'll make it happen!

Also... if you have a bed (after Friday, two), don't mind a kid and a dog, and feel like letting us mooch for a night, we'd be more than happy to impose upon you. I would happily provide massage, braids, babysitting, dishwashing or some other service to help out while I'm around!

In other news... did you know that all Motel 6s allow pets? Yay!