Heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped me raise money for my coworker who had the heart attack and her son. I was given almost $300 towards the cost of the computer! My sister-in-law's company also donated a very nice carrying case for him. He was thrilled with the gifts, and the family is grateful for all of the support they have been given. My coworker remains in guarded condition, but she is lucid and able to write on a tablet. However, she is unable to regulate her own breathing yet. My dad tells me that people can live fairly normal lives for years on portable ventilators. She will most likely be headed to another hospital where they can connect her with a specialist who is better able to suit her needs. She has a long road ahead of her, but it's better than no road at all, which is what it was looking like just a week ago. Thank you all so much for your thoughts, prayers and assistance.
I had a nice week catching up with friends. I was able to spend one afternoon in Pittsburgh with my dear friends, reconnecting over coffee. These are the women I go to when my batteries need recharging. Just a little time with them always makes me feel better, although I do miss them all the more when we part. I love you, Norma, Donna and Marsha! Thank you for making time in your crazy schedules to gather together. A summer weekend trip is definitely in order. I'm game for anything!
I met another local friend for coffee this morning, which was very relaxing. Jackie, my longest standing friend - we have been friends for more than twice the amount of time that we were not (Does that make sense? We met when we were 10, we're 35 now...you can do the math.) came over for the morning on Wednesday with her little guy, Sean. Isn't he a sweetie? Andrew did nothing but order him around, and poor little Sean just did whatever Andrew wanted. Here's Andrew saying, "Sean, my mom take these stupid photos all the time. I'm sick of being her model. You do it instead! Smile for the darn camera!"
Today is my big family party. I know I've written in the past about how much I enjoy having this party. I was my grandmother's party, then my mom's and I have felt blessed to carry on the tradition. The party always falls on the Saturday after Christmas, and it's usually a kind of reunion for my grandmother's side of the family. Last year and this year, we turned it into a New Year's Eve party, for obvious reasons. We opened the party up to not just my family, but also Greg's family and some friends as well.
Here's the problem:
Last night around 6, Andrew said he didn't feel well. He didn't look well either. I took his temperature and it was 102. Nice timing. I gave him some Motrin and within an hour, he had perked up quite nicely. I put him to bed, optimistic that he just had a little fever that would quickly pass. He has a tendency to get periodic fevers, so I wasn't that far in the ozone with my thinking. The logic may have been OK, but the reality was not. He started crying at 915, and has been up 6 or 7 times since. Greg and I have both been up with him, given him medicine, turned on the vaporizer, draped a cool washcloth on his forehead and rubbed his back. He says his ear hurts. He probably has an ear infection, but I can't get any antibiotics until morning, and even then it usually takes 24 hours before they make a notable difference. Poor little guy. He's just miserable.
So what do I do about this party we are having? The last time we had a big party here and Andrew got sick, he stayed at my mom's, which was a completely different bag of worms, but at least it was an option. That's not an option tonight. She is having several people from out of town stay at her house. There's no room for him, even if I were to stay at her house while she conducted the party here. I talked to my mom last night and if I choose to cancel it, she is willing to move our family up to her house. Greg's parents are willing to move his family to their house, and the friends, well, they would have to find somewhere else to spend New Year's. I'm leaning towards canceling, but I'm just not certain. For one, it's a lot of work to put on my mom. She's been working all week, my step sister and future brother-in-law were visiting all week, so my mom's house isn't ready for a party, and she has to go back to work on Monday. That's a lot of clean up to do on Sunday, even if I help her.
During the evening last night, Andrew seemed fine after the Motrin kicked in. What if I cancel this huge party for what turns out to be nothing? That's a lot of people to just dump. But then again, what if it isn't nothing. What if it gets worse, or even if it just stays the same. If he's sick, he needs a good night's sleep, and that would be virtually impossible for him with the excitement of the gathering. Plus, I would never hear him on the monitor over the noise of all the people. Even if I checked on him regularly, he could be upstairs crying for a while before I noticed. And there's also the fact that Greg and I have both been awake all night. I think I slept for 30 minutes all night. It's now close to 4 a.m. I have given up on sleep and am drinking coffee. Last year people stayed here until 4 in the morning, which is what you are supposed to do on a New Year's Eve party. I can hardly say to my guests, "Oh, well, the ball dropped, I'm beat. You all can either crash here or head home, but I'm going to bed." There's the whole rudeness factor, but there's also the I-can't-go-to-sleep-with-a-messy-house-and-what-if-people-don't-clean-it-right-or-don't-clean-it-at-all-factor. OK, that's a very tiny fraction of my consideration, but I have to admit that it did cross my mind. You can't say you are surprised.
Then there's the whole issue of Greg, my third child. He gets more excited about big parties than the kids. He loves to have friends and family near. The more the merrier, and the closer the better. If I cancel the party, he will be crushed. It's a surefire way for him to kick off the new year in a state of absolute depression. Although I know he doesn't intend it to be, it's a huge guilt trip for me. While I feel like I need to get away to relax and recharge, he pulls his energy from getting together with others. I feel bad taking that away from him, especially since he has been preparing for weeks, and while we get together with our friends a lot, we don't often do gatherings of this scale. It's like telling a kid you're going to Disney World and then saying, "Actually, we changed our minds. Let's just go to Lakemont Park for the day instead. You can get cotton candy." Kinda pales in comparison, you know...
I don't know what to do. I suppose I will contemplate my options over several more cups of coffee and decide at a more reasonable hour, when I can call people, if I need to. Stay tuned for the final verdict. I know the suspense is killing you!
