Sibs Wknd ~ Part 2 aka The Rest of the Story

Saturday AM~ I awaken to Katie coming home. She fell asleep at "the boys" house the night before. Katie sounds terrible. She can barely talk and I give her the look that says "please don't give me the plague." (I had awakened Friday night to hear her coughing in her room and worried that she may have bronchitis or pneumonia since she is very prone to both illnesses since she was a child.) She calls mom to ask advice as to whether she should seek care on campus or wait until Monday to see the doc at home in Z-ville. Katie manages to croak out "I need your advice..." before mom tells her "go to urgent care." Mom then calls me on my cell phone to ensure that I go to urgent care with Katie to make sure she isn't going to suddenly drop dead along the way. So I put on some clothes, pull up my hair, and put on a touch of make-up so I don't scare anyone and we head to urgent care. We make two stops along the way. The first is to buy Katie a gigantic bottle of water. The second is to buy me some food from the drive-thru at Wendy's. After Katie checks in I begin reading more of my USMC book and eating my food. Katie thinks I look funny. I think Katie sounds like she just might die any second from the plague. Katie sees the doctor and discovers it is severe sinus problems. She is prescribed an expensive antibiotic and an antihistamine. I hope this will make Katie feel less like she is breathing through a straw and am grateful she didn't have bronchitis or pneumonia.

Saturday Afternoon~After our venture to urgent care, we proceed to go to Wal-Mart to pick up Katie's prescriptions, some tissues, and some groceries for Katie. She enjoys filling my cart with whatever her little heart desires, knowing I am paying the bill. I feel like she should be on a leash or I should be pushing her around in my cart because she is so out of it and is just wandering. We finish up at Wal-Mart and head back to Katie's apartment to drop off our purchases. Then Katie takes me to tour the "new" student center. It has been there for a year or two now, but was built after I left campus. It looks very nice, but the escalators down four levels seemed a bit extravagant. It's a college campus...make them take the stairs! We also shopped a bit more and found the paw print t-shirts. I bought one for me, Katie, Maggie, and Jess since she is our adopted honorary sister. We also wandered a few of the shops that I never stepped foot into during the four years I was there. At this point Katie looks like death warmed over so I take her back home. She feels the need to aplogize for not being more entertaining. I tell her I am having a great time and feel like I have been let out of a cage for the weekend.

Saturday Evening~We go get some dinner at a place called Campus Garden. It was delicious freshly made Chinese type food. Then we go back to Katie's apartment. We watch an episode of John & Kate plus 8 and I ask Katie if she might like to have an "aldergator." She says no. We end up watching crazy house buying shows on TLC. Then Jess and her bf Joe come home. They rented "Night at the Museum" so we watch it. Somewhere in the middle of the movie Casa gets going and we hear thumping base music. Every time we think the thumping music is going to stop...it gets louder. Ugh! I couldn't live there. Good thing I don't have to. We pause the movie somewhere around midnight so that I can venture out for a piece of Goodfella's pizza. The bars are overflowing into the streets since the weather is unseasonably warm-a balmy 55 degrees or so. It wouldn't be a problem if I were as tipsy as the bar patrons, but I'm not and I get annoyed. we manage to get the pizza and head back to Katie's apartment to finish our movie. At the end of the movie it is time for bed. Katie sleeps on the futon across the living room from me so that she doesn't have to venture into the arctic igloo.

Sunday morning/afternoon~I wake up and begin getting ready to visit my bff Chantell. Katie loads up the car with my assistance and we get ready to head to Zanesville. Chantell's house is along the way. We stop and visit for about an hour. Then we continue on our way home to Z-ville. We finally arrive and Mom is happy. Maggie begins texting "Sisters?" since she is at work at Staples. So Mom and I venture to Staples. I try to surprise Maggie, but she is alerted by Mom's presence first. I am met with a gigantic hug. We wander Staples and I point out all kinds of things I would love Maggie to buy for me. I know she won't it was more just something fun to do. As we wander down the writing utensil aisle she tells me about how she hates annoying customers like me who find a pen they absolutely love and then can't find it again. She'll ask them to describe the pen and all they tell her is that they really like the way it writes. She asks things like "was it a fine point, a medium point, a gel pen, a retractable pen?" to see if she can help them find another such wonderful pen. They give her a blank stare. I give her a smile when she tells me this, she's finally speaking my language. Mom and I also venture to the mall where I am able to purchase a pair of shoes on sale for $10. They were brown Life Stride dress shoes. I am super excited to wear them to work. I am sure I'll be less excited once I find out how they make my feet hurt, but for now I love them. Then we look and see that we still have time to shop at Gabe's. Gabe's sells "Lofty" (Ann Taylor Loft) clothes that have been either damaged or we were unable to sell all of our inventory. I shop the racks and find three items: a long sleeve t-shirt, a halter style tank in black (that I also bought last spring in red), and a black knit skirt that will serve nicely as a bathing suit cover-up. I spent less than $20 or so on those three items. I am excited. At this point it was time to pick up Maggie at work.

Sunday Evening~I go visit Jean. She is a very special lady who I must visit every time I go home. Sadly, I didn't get to see her children and grandchildren...but we made plans to make plans in June when I go home for Katie's graduation. I only visit for a short while before it is time to run home and pick up Maggie so we can go bowling. I am going to serve as a substitute on Maggie's bowling team. I am a terrible bowler, but I have a fun time. (Even if I didn't look like it Miggles. I was exhausted.) I manage to bowl a 97. Not too shabby in my book. Maggie and I venture home after bowling to watch the Grammy's. Mom had taped them for us while we were bowling. Maggie and I spend our time watching them yelling at Mom and Katie to act like they haven't watched them already. I also was able to drink a bottle of Duplin County Wine since the Wine Rack in Z-ville carries it. (And they were open on a Sunday!!) The VCR remote had also died so I ended up using a broom handle as my remote to fast forward through commercials. Once the Grammy's are over I go to bed. I can barely keep my eyes open.


Maggie & I at the Bowling Alley

Monday AM~ I get up, shower quickly, and head off to see Amy. Amy is like another member of our family. No trip home is complete without a new hairstyle from Amy. (She's our family hair stylist...but we talk about her like she might be another sister or something.) I ended up with a lighter color and a shorter hairstyle. I love it!

Monday Afternoon~I am back at home to try and squeeze everything into my suitcase for the trip Alabama. It takes about an hour to rearrange all of my belongings so that they fit in my suitcase. Maggie kindly reminds us that she has class at 2pm. (I'm so proud she remembered and she was irritated that we didn't!!) Before she leaves I hug her and we both scream "I Love you!" Then it is time for Katie and I to leave so she can take me to the airport. I hug my mom good-bye and reassure her I will be back in June. Katie stops for gas and then we are off to the airport. When we arrive at the airport I hug Katie and tell her I hope she feels better. (She still sounds like she just might have the plague.) I go to check in for my flight and ahead of me is a Marine. I ask if he is headed to Jacksonville. He gives me a funny look and says no. I say "you're a Marine, right?" He says "yes, I'm headed to San Diego." He gives me a funny look and I quickly explain that my husband is a Marine. (I assumed he was headed to J-ville b/c typically all East Coast Marines get stationed there.)


Mom & I


Katie (Very sick), Wendy, & Maggie in our Paw Print T-shirts

Monday Evening~I fly once again to Memphis, but have no layover. I have 10 minutes to get from one plane to another. I manage to do this. Before I know it I arrive in Birmingham and my husband is there to pick me up. I give him a huge hug because he missed me over the weekend. ( I missed him too.) He also had a rather eventful weekend, but I'll leave it at that. As soon as I am in the car he tells me...you'll probably need to do a load of laundry because I am out of clean jeans. I ask him to think back to the days before we were married and ask how he ended up with clean clothes. He says "it was different then b/c Combsy helped me." (Combsy was his roommate at the barracks.) I sigh and know that I am needed. (Another reason he wouldn't survive well without me.)

P.S. And that is as Paul Harvey would say "is the rest of the story." Random Fact-I called Mom on Saturday to ask her "who is the old guy who always says something about a story and the old people really love him." She replies "Paul Harvey?" Yeah, Paul Harvey. Thanks Mom. I knew you would know the answer to that. (Joe had said something about him and his radio show and we couldn't think of his name.)