Back Home! :)
Well, after getting just three hours of sleep Thursday night, I absolutely crashed last night. I fell asleep around 1 something and woke up at 8:15, and I don't think I moved even once all night long...I was that tired!! Laurie and I got ready and headed out. We didn't go far...just down the road to the Cracker Barrel to meet Gerry and Dixie for breakfast.
I first met Dixie online over on the HLAA forums when I was researching CIs. She is one of the moderators over there, and was very encouraging about my interest in implants (she has one herself). I met her in person at a CI support group meeting at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville some time last summer. Her real name is Concetta but I'm hooked on Dixie...hope she doesn't mind :). She and her hubby Gerry are both funny and friendly and enthusiastic and we had such a fun breakfast with them!! I hadn't seen her in over a year, so it was great to be reunited!! :) My hubby and Gerry have a football rivalry thing going on so Gerry wore his Alabama shirt to breakfast, the bad fella ;)
Laurie, Dixie, and me...bionic buddies! :)
Even though Gerry is not one bit bionic, we decided to allow him to be in the picture, too, because we're nice like that ;)
After breakfast, we all headed our separate directions. I took a wrong turn on the interstate, which was really dumb, because I drive that interstate all the time....argh. Ended up getting home just in time for the birthday party. We stayed there about an hour and a half and then went home. I promptly crashed and took about a two hour nap...I was worn out!
When I woke up I found my bunch getting ready for a football game! They went to a high school game last night while I was out but last night happened to be the night that we got RAIN...and lots of it. We hadn't had any in weeks...in fact, the leaves are all falling off the trees...things are dropping around here. So the rain was welcome...but the timing was bad. Folks there huddled under the stands for several hours before they finally called the game off. Anyhow, they re-scheduled it for tonight, so hubby and the kids went back out. It rained again, but not so hard that they didn't get to play (the lightning was really bad last night). I begged off and stayed home and rested. About ten minutes before they got home, the power went off....and it was off for two hours!! I got up and lit some candles and got the flashlight. I was holding the laptop when it went off, and it went to battery power. I unplugged it and used it as a huge flashlight to help me find stuff....ha! :) I played cards on it for about an hour and a half (cable modem died in the power failure too), then I read by flashlight for a little while, then I went upstairs to get Katie's laptop. Booted it up, started a card game, and the lights came back on, so I made the rounds turning the lights off, blowing candles out. I was so glad they finally came back on...talk about communication problems...when it's dark, I got nothing, ya know? Lip reading's not even great because everything has shadows. I'm so grateful for electricity, y'all!!
Laurie and I really enjoyed our time together, and it was hard to say goodbye to her. It was made even harder by the fact that she got some bad news just before she left to go home. We were standing around talking and taking pictures when she got a text message on her phone from her husband saying that their son had been hurt. Brad is a VA Tech student and he and two of his friends were on their way home last night when they were attacked in what was possibly a gang-related ambush and left for dead. They all survived the attack, thankfully. Brad's attacker stomped on his head, and Brad related to Laurie that he didn't wake up until later when he was in the ambulance. He has had all the necessary tests done to make sure that he didn't have any brain trauma, but he had to have three staples in his head :(. The attackers abandoned their car at the scene, so we are hoping that the police will find 'em.
Another of her sons, Chris, texted while she was on her way home, and told her that he had just buried his puppy. Brutus and Chris were really big buddies, Laurie reports, and Chris is really hurting over his loss. Laurie, needless to say, is having a rough time...two of her children are in a lot of pain. She is too down to post right now, but she said she didn't mind if I shared it. If you would, please, go offer her a cyber-hug?? I would appreciate it, and I KNOW she would. I hate it that her fun weekend ended so sadly!! :(
I'm off to bed, but after that nap today, there's no telling if I'll sleep or not....
Love y'all! :) <3
I first met Dixie online over on the HLAA forums when I was researching CIs. She is one of the moderators over there, and was very encouraging about my interest in implants (she has one herself). I met her in person at a CI support group meeting at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville some time last summer. Her real name is Concetta but I'm hooked on Dixie...hope she doesn't mind :). She and her hubby Gerry are both funny and friendly and enthusiastic and we had such a fun breakfast with them!! I hadn't seen her in over a year, so it was great to be reunited!! :) My hubby and Gerry have a football rivalry thing going on so Gerry wore his Alabama shirt to breakfast, the bad fella ;)
Laurie, Dixie, and me...bionic buddies! :)
Even though Gerry is not one bit bionic, we decided to allow him to be in the picture, too, because we're nice like that ;)
After breakfast, we all headed our separate directions. I took a wrong turn on the interstate, which was really dumb, because I drive that interstate all the time....argh. Ended up getting home just in time for the birthday party. We stayed there about an hour and a half and then went home. I promptly crashed and took about a two hour nap...I was worn out!
When I woke up I found my bunch getting ready for a football game! They went to a high school game last night while I was out but last night happened to be the night that we got RAIN...and lots of it. We hadn't had any in weeks...in fact, the leaves are all falling off the trees...things are dropping around here. So the rain was welcome...but the timing was bad. Folks there huddled under the stands for several hours before they finally called the game off. Anyhow, they re-scheduled it for tonight, so hubby and the kids went back out. It rained again, but not so hard that they didn't get to play (the lightning was really bad last night). I begged off and stayed home and rested. About ten minutes before they got home, the power went off....and it was off for two hours!! I got up and lit some candles and got the flashlight. I was holding the laptop when it went off, and it went to battery power. I unplugged it and used it as a huge flashlight to help me find stuff....ha! :) I played cards on it for about an hour and a half (cable modem died in the power failure too), then I read by flashlight for a little while, then I went upstairs to get Katie's laptop. Booted it up, started a card game, and the lights came back on, so I made the rounds turning the lights off, blowing candles out. I was so glad they finally came back on...talk about communication problems...when it's dark, I got nothing, ya know? Lip reading's not even great because everything has shadows. I'm so grateful for electricity, y'all!!
Laurie and I really enjoyed our time together, and it was hard to say goodbye to her. It was made even harder by the fact that she got some bad news just before she left to go home. We were standing around talking and taking pictures when she got a text message on her phone from her husband saying that their son had been hurt. Brad is a VA Tech student and he and two of his friends were on their way home last night when they were attacked in what was possibly a gang-related ambush and left for dead. They all survived the attack, thankfully. Brad's attacker stomped on his head, and Brad related to Laurie that he didn't wake up until later when he was in the ambulance. He has had all the necessary tests done to make sure that he didn't have any brain trauma, but he had to have three staples in his head :(. The attackers abandoned their car at the scene, so we are hoping that the police will find 'em.
Another of her sons, Chris, texted while she was on her way home, and told her that he had just buried his puppy. Brutus and Chris were really big buddies, Laurie reports, and Chris is really hurting over his loss. Laurie, needless to say, is having a rough time...two of her children are in a lot of pain. She is too down to post right now, but she said she didn't mind if I shared it. If you would, please, go offer her a cyber-hug?? I would appreciate it, and I KNOW she would. I hate it that her fun weekend ended so sadly!! :(
I'm off to bed, but after that nap today, there's no telling if I'll sleep or not....
Love y'all! :) <3
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