Weekend Update

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Yes, I am well aware that it is Wednesday, but seriously, it was the longest weekend ever.

First, my mom-in-law comes in for a visit. We actually brought her back here after going to MI for my niece's baptism. Our goal was to bring her back home with us and then leave for Florida for a week long vacation. Although she had a bit of the flu, she felt well enough to travel, so off we went. Unfortunately, what was thought to be a little stomach bug turned out to be serious enough to land my mom-in-law in the hospital. Nice, huh? She comes all the way here to . . . go to the hospital. In the last 15 months this woman has lost her husband, broken her hip, lost her mother, fallen down stairs and broken her wrist and bruised her back (at her mother's wake!), lost her brother-in-law, and now, a stomach bug that landed her in the hospital for over a WEEK!

After days and days of going back and forth to the hospital, we brought her home last Thursday. She rested for a couple days and then T took her back to MI. Wow. What a vacation for her . . . stinks. J and I stayed behind--I just couldn't imagine subjecting her to either six plus hours of crying or of me singing Old MacDonald. Just couldn't do it . . . As for mom-in-law's health--we still aren't sure what happened. The docs in my little town were at loss. She visits her PCP tomorrow. So, here's to hoping they find out what happened.

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My little sister, B or AB (for Angel Baby), came to visit. She was going to meet us in Florida, but you already know what happened there. She stayed for a few days and we had a blast together. Outside of the fact that she is having some "man issues," I think she enjoyed herself--she definitely laughed a lot, but then again, that is something she is never short on--laughter. (BTW: I love your laugh, B. Oh . . . JEEEEESUS! *said in sing song high voice*--I'll explain later.)

OK, funny moment . . . we were in Walmart. Little side note here . . . isn't it true that you can tell a town/city's make-up by visiting the nearest Walmart? Especially if you visit it at 11 at night? But, I digress . . . So, I make a brilliant move to use the self-checkout lane (made no sense, as I had several items and a baby in tow, but I HATE waiting in lines--one of those itty bitty annoying traits about me. As I'm checking out (AKA, using the non-user friendly touch screen that for some reason won't work with my alien fingers) and getting a little irritated that my items won't stack on the bagging area (I have to stack it because it won't sense that I bagged my item and won't let me move on . . . UGH). Anyway, the cashier in charge of all the self-checkouts comes over and starts playing with J.

J is all smiles, flirting with women, mirrors, and magazine racks. My sister is right there, so I'm perfectly OK with it. UNTIL, the checkout chick TAKES MY SON out of the cart and proceeds to walk with him over to her station. She keeps him in her lap while curious co-workers ask her if it is her grandson. She replies, "No, I just STOLE him from that lady." She points to me. I with a 103 items perilously stacked in the bagging area of the self-checkout lane. My sister is in what seems to be shock as I look over at her as if to ask, "What the hey?!?!" My sister quickly snapped into take-down mode and I was certain the she would have quickly taken said cashier out if she made an attempt to head for the door.

After bagging my items blindly . . . I had my eyes on cashier the entire time. I was smiling as if to say, "Hey, it is so OK that you are a stranger and grabbed my son without my permission." I was irritated. Beyond irritated. Now, I am a really nice person (interesting how I feel the need to point this out) and am NOT a freak about people coming up to J and talking to him, playing with him. However, grabbing him is another story. I have to go on another related tangent here . . . when J was all of two months old, a neighbor lady I had only briefly met two Halloween's prior when her daughter trick-or-treated, came over. She welcomed me to the neighborhood (I lived there for five years) and invited me to a dinner party with other neighbors (none of whom I knew). She congratulated me on the birth of J and was all geeked about getting her hands on him at the party. Well, the party was canceled. A few weeks later the lady comes over again. She chatted me up about the weather, her bad back, the rescheduling of the dinner (which still has yet to happen--and may never). She then asked to hold J. I said, "No. I really need to change him." You see, I really didn't think I had an issue with people holding J. I really didn't. The NO just came tumbling out. I felt kinda bad--she had such a hurt look on her face. She quickly said she understood and that was that. I had to add that I had been watching way too much Lifetime television and at least two or three of the films I watched had something to do with snatching babies--so, I was a little freaked out. FREAK being the operative word . . .

Back to Walmart. Something happened to the freak in me. As I made my way to grab my son back from this woman's arms, I noticed something. She had the hugest grin on her face. She handed him back to me and went on and on about being a grandmother. She was laughing and J was laughing. I was smiling. Sure she was a stranger. Sure she just grabbed my child out of the cart. Sure we were in Walmart. Sure it was weird. But, in an instant I was all calm. I chatted with her while B finished checking out. As we made our way for the door, B heard the granny cashier say, "Boy, did holding him just make my day." Hmmm . . . The freak in me smiled. BUT, the next time I go to Walmart . . . I'm putting him in a baby carrier and strapping him to my chest.

I leave you with J and his sweet potatoes . . .

So yummy! Who could resist? Oh, and I guess the baby is pretty delicious, too . . .