An Eight-Hour Day

The 4th of July came and went much as we had planned. We had invited Brian's parents, brother and nephew to join our family for a backyard celebration of the holiday. I woke up earlier than normal to make my traditional potato salad and baked beans; Bucky and I set up tables in the back yard, rearranged the patio furniture to sit near the water slide Cory and Brian brought, and cans and bottles of various beverages were packed into coolers so they were ready when someone needed refreshing. Cory ran over to Kim's to bring her to our house. When Kim arrived around noon she said she felt tired. It was a lovely afternoon with the little ones having a blast hurtling down the water slide, Brian thrusting himself down the kiddie slide, evoking giggles and squeals from the little ones as he splashed him like a performing orca at Sea World. We all enjoyed sitting under the umbrella with a little mist spraying on the non-sliders and cool drinks and snacks at arm's length when needed. Lots of good conversation, laughs, child juggling among adults, hot-tubbing. Kim was pleasant but you could tell she is depressed. She dared not attempt sliding down the water slide and landing in the pool -- such actions would have earned harsh screams from us, and she certainly wants to do nothing that causes her head to jerk around or get snapped quickly.

Just for a few hours everything was "normal". We ate burgers and hot dogs and all the other stuff around 2:30; shortly afterward, Kim went upstairs to nap -- she said she was really tired. Her nap lasted three hours. She awoke in time to freshen up to go to the Fireworks at Swift Park. Everybody went their own way to their respective cars and reconnected at the Park. Kim came with us; Ben got to come along in the car seat and enjoy Elmo on the DVD enroute. Addie was NOT happy with this decision of privelege. Cory's promise of a reward for being a big girl by going in her own car with Mommy and Daddy finally calmed her down.

We were lucky to get a parking space close to the park. Just a few steps and we were there. It was sprinkling a bit when we first arrived, but then the showers stopped and we were having a very comfortable evening. Brandy arrived shortly after we did, having gotten out of work and driving straight to meet us there. As the fireworks time approached, we remarked how lucky we were that the rain had stopped. Big mistake. With just minutes till launch, we started feeling rain, and by the time they were finally airborne, we were all getting drenched. In the past couple of years, the fireworks displays were a bit diappointing. This year -- we assume because it is an election year and financing was probably more generous from the local politicos -- the display was phenomenal. Two different times we thought we were witnessing the finale, only to have another burst of rounds shortly thereafter. When the finale finally did come, it was spectacular, and we all limped back to our cars, clothing drenched, quilts and ground coverings soaked, stroller seats in puddles. Kim and Brandy went home in Brandy's car, Bucky and I went home by ourselves.

TJ called at 10 p.m., assuming correctly that we were just about home from the fireworks, to say hi. Bucky and I stayed up till 2 watching movies. When we finally went to bed, we were beat.

I have no idea what happened the morning and early afternoon of July 5th. We arose from our slumber at 3:55 p.m. It took us a half hour to get the back yard back in order after the celebration of the 4th, and the biggest focus was on our patio where Addie and Graham made "tree stew" out of dirt, mulch, salsa, and Cory's snicker salad dessert she surprised us with. Bucky had to use the power sprayer to get the dirt out of the wicker furniture, out of the cracks between the patio blocks, out of the various beach utensils the kids had used to mix their concoction. When it was all cleaned up, we were exhausted again. Let's see -- it's about 4:30, we've been up less than an hour, and we're already exhausted. How do you spell DEPRESSION: Tired, tired, tired. Except for some plant clipping and reading out in the garden, we did little else today. A trip to Outback for a nice dinner, then back home to read and relax. We will be in bed by midnight -- I believe this will go on record as the shortest day of my life, and I believe Bucky's too. The topic of this coming Friday comes up repeatedly in our conversations, and we are willing ourselves to that day by sleeping more and having less awake time to count the minutes. We can't wait for the 11th to be over, to finally know what is going to happen, to see something proactive in returning Kim to good health. Today is an eight-hour day. I wonder how many awake hours we'll have tomorrow.