And The Next Five Days...

The timing of Tony's sister's passing was the same day as Youngest's departure to summer camp.  Which was fine, as this was not my first rodeo and I had obligations to the Troop that I needed to settle up while I was there.

So while he went to be with his mother when the news was delivered, I set forth into the forest where I'd be dropping my son for the next 6 days.  And when I tell you how fortunate we are that this excursion for him is local I truly mean it, even though trekking him there takes a half a tank of gas. Three hours later, I have secured the camp sites for next year, checked him through Medical, and met with the chef regarding his gluten free meals for the week. I left without looking back, as this was not his first rodeo either, and even though the temperatures would be in the low 90's all week, I knew he was in good hands.

Until 730 pm Monday night when the good hands I left him in called to tell me he needed to come home.

Apparently, he had not been eating and was sick. So off I went... over the river, through the woods... to get him and bring him home. On the ride home, I asked Tony to cook him up a quick burger, which he inhaled as he walked through the door.  After a quick shower he was off to bed, and after seeing his color return to his face, I was confident he was fine, just a bit dehydrated and hungry.

By 655 am, I was back in the car, heading back to the forest where I dropped him off, fingers crossed for better days.  I then headed to another camp where Oldest is a Counselor in Training three days a week, dropped him off, and then back on the highway to work.  By the time I got there I was already done for the day.  But instead, I drove around in the EZ bake oven truck, desperately trying to stave off the heat induced migraine that had been forming all week. No such luck.  As soon as I was out of work, I was back to get Oldest and drop him at the High School for summer conditioning, run some more errands, and then back home for dinner.

Wednesday was my day off, and while I could have spent the day relaxing in the AC, I spent the day running errands with Oldest, and waiting for emails to be returned. *sigh* Why no one else understands my sense of urgency is beyond me, but whatever.  Needless to say, the day was spent spinning wheels until it was too late to do any of the things in the emails, so I dropped Oldest at conditioning and then headed BACK to the forest for family night, where I hiked all over the 300 acre camp looking for my Scout, only to find him completely engrossed in a game of Magic with some other Scouts.  Turns out, he was kicking everyone's butt.... and he was skipping merit badge classes to play. *sigh*

Sweat pouring down my face, we met up with my parents, and hung out at the camp site for a bit before heading back to the mess hall for dinner.  Tony met us there about 15 minutes before he then had to leave and go back to pick up Oldest from conditioning. Before I left for what I hoped would be my last trip to the forest, I ran though the "No more skipping classes, 3 meals a day, hydrate or die!" speech, and said I was all set with seeing him until Saturday after work.

I haven't heard a peep from camp.

I assume he's still alive.

Thursday was the wake for his sister.  Tony made his own peace with his loss, and he had already had plans to be out of town for the night, so I wanted to go down and stay with his Mom while the rest of the family attended.  Traffic, while not horrendous, still sucked and it took me 30 minutes longer to get there than I had anticipated, leaving no one home when I got there.

This is key folks, because my mother in law has an attack dog.  Sure, he looks all small and nice when the family is there, but when they are not home, he will growl and nip at anyone who tries to come in.  The dog gets locked in the basement when they know we are coming, so when I saw him in the basement window, I just opened the front door.

And he FLEW up the stairs, barking up a storm, growling as if he was the most ferocious beast ever.

Good times.

So we danced, one step at a time, him growling, me telling him to knock it off.  He jumped on my mother in law, trying to get in between us, she yelled at him... blah blah... he settled in between us.

And the I moved my foot. Growl. SNAP. (twice)  I tried to get up and get something for her, he jumped, scratched my legs, and snapped at my hands.

Even better times.

So here I am, here to help her, and I can't move off the couch.  The doorbell rings.  The dog's down at the door growling.  I go to the top of the stairs, he runs up and growls. the doorbell rings again... he's back growling at the door.  Seriously.  This was the longest, most comical 3 minutes I had even seen, the dog running up and down the stairs, growling, barking.  My mother in law is cracking up in her chair, likely the most excitement she's seen all day.  Luckily my nephew showed up, meeting the pizza delivery person at the door, because I had no idea how we were going to get it in the house. And as soon as he walked in, the dog was fine.

No barking.  No snapping. Nothing.

Weirdo, psycho, hobo dog.

When the rest of the family arrived I got the low-down on the wake.  Quiet.  Small.  Non-dramatic. I picked up ice cream on the way home.  As I was leaving the grocery store the sky opened up and POURED.  *sigh*  Oldest and I made the biggest ice cream sundaes and sat and watched game shows for the rest of the night. Because I mean, come on, what else would we have done?

So now it's Friday night.  Tony's returned.  We took Oldest to dinner, met up with my parents, priced out new washing machines for my mother in law's if the old one can't be fixed.  Youngest will return home tomorrow, Tony will be off to investigate the status of the washing machine, and I will be de-crusting camping gear.  Rest assured, by Sunday I will be floating around on a pond somewhere, far away from accountability.

This has to have been the longest week ever.