Family Reunion Almost

Betty took a shower! Without much hassle. She wouldn't wash her hair, but she took a shower. She wore a nice outfit, that makes me think she's losing weight. I'll have to check on that.

She kept asking things like, "Where are we going?" "Are we going to get something to eat?" "Who's house are we going to?" And the ever-famous, "How long until we get there?" But she rode well in the car, and had a nice dinner and though she got tired and scared some folks when we brought out her oxygen to revive her a bit, she had a great time. She kept telling us that several times in the car on the way home. I think she was pretty tuckered out by the time we dropped her off home, but she enjoyed herself.

I don't think she knew who anyone other me, Eric, Jenn and Jewel / Liam...and Carolyn, her newphew's ex-wife were. But she was gracious and didn't seem to be too nervous becuase the elephant burps are part of her nerves, and she didn't do too bad with them. Unfortunately her sister who is also medically frail, and who we hoped she'd get to see, didn't make it due to the weather. However, Betty did so good, it gives us hope that we can try to plan a day to get the two elder sisters together in the near future.

This is my ex-husband's maternal side of the family. They were always welcoming, kind and accepting of me as family, even after I became an ex-wife. It was really great to reunite with some people I haven't seen in a long time. It was fun to see Jenn's contemporaries that I knew as children, all grown up now. It was amazing to see scads of little boys (only Jewel and one other little girl) playing really well together. It was really funny in a way to see how prolific that generation has been! Holy smokes! I bet there were 25 children there under the age of 10.

I was proud of Betty for doing something that was really challenging for her, and glad that she enjoyed herself. She doesn't get out much, and Newnan is probably the farthest she's been driven in a couple years. Today was just a happy day.

God bless the McDonald household as they try valiently to "teach" Jewel to sleep in her own crib upstairs. So far, the sleep deprivation curve is getting pretty steep for everyone there. Good luck with that. For a baby she is one of the lightest sleepers I've seen in a while. She sits up every hour or so, looks around and then just lays back down and sleeps. I haven't seen a baby do that before. They're either UP or DOWN but not down, up, down. Such a sweet little individual. She has her own stylized hand movements that she's done since birth. She listens to music with her whole body. The legs wriggle and giggle and the hands move, and even her torso sways to the music. It's a delight to see her so absorbed and so unselfconscious about what she's doing.

Liam, the Star Wars fiend, found a Darth Vadar outfit at his cousin's house and I will post some pix of him shortly all decked out. He's a big fan of Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and I think likes Darth Vadar's character a lot. We are not sure why, but if you ask Liam "Where does Darth Vadar live?" He's quick to let you know, "He lives in Las Vegas." Who knew?

I hope you and those you love are safe, warm and with loved ones tonight.