Thursday… We checked in on Tuesday night and the momentum has been strong. I was thinking that we would have a smooth go of this and it might be a product of having been through the routine a few times now. 
Nah… Not so much. I walked into the room this morning at 8 and Summer immediately asked me “Do I look weird?” “Huh?” I said as I was still getting adjusted to her 10 windows of daylight vs my cubby of darkness. “Do my eyes look funny? My face hurts.”
That’s sacred ground for Dad jokes. “Your face hurts?” is one of the all-time classic setups! Maybe I am getting soft… Maybe it’s the environment… I held back from the joke and took a serious look at her. “Yeah, your eyelids look white and puffy”.
“UghHHH!” was her response. She asked for a paper towel and proceeded to put ice cubes in it. She took her homemade cold compress and started pressing it against her eyes.
I took her breakfast order and headed downstairs to the cafeteria. Today, I struck gold. They had the hashbrown casserole that she loves. The bacon, like I have control of it, was deemed underdone and slimy by my judgy daughter. That’s 2 days in a row I have failed on the bacon. Thus, you can see why I was celebrating the casserole.
That was about it for food today. Summer told me during breakfast that she could feel her stomach turning. Eating was now a chore. I left the scone I had picked with her as I was doing work and she didn’t touch it. Yesterday, she loved it and nearly ate the whole thing. Today, she just looked at it.
We did not do much for lunch. I think I am getting about 1200 steps a day while here and I can acknowledge that I am not hungry. But I was happy to get her to get anything. She ate a protein bar she had been saving and one piece of dried kiwi. She LOVES the dried kiwi normally. Today it was “Meh”. I ran down to Starbucks (They have one in the lobby) and picked her up a “Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, Hot, Tall”. (I had her text it to me since I have no idea what that is.) I keep it simple. Cappucino with Coconut Milk. Easy!
She drank half the “tall” and said she was done.
We had a few visits today from nurses, Terry from PT, Bruce the hospital dog, and the Chaplain. Around 1 we started “The Menu” and with all the distractions we finished it at 5:15. No exaggeration. I told Summer I was heading down for dinner and asked what she wanted. Another Protein bar and more bottles of water were all that she requested.
At about 6:30 or so the Benedryl was kicking in hard. She was desperate to stay awake, but it was not happening. She complained she had a headache… And I was getting one as well. I think it was Starbucks late in the day.
We called it an early night and I have been hiding out next door.
Nate texted me and said he will be here tomorrow afternoon. He asked if that was OK. LOL. I sent him back a message that I am at his mercy. If he said Saturday or Sunday… I would do whatever. Glad he has a car so we are not dealing with AMTRAC schedules anymore!
Angela’s birthday is the 13th if you are inclined to wish her a happy birthday. I am happy to be able to be home for it. She was lamenting that she would be all alone on her birthday.
Summer let me know at about 10 AM that Bonoroo tickets were now for sale. Bonnaroo is a giant music fest in Tennessee, somewhere south of Nashville. Summer and I had been talking about it earlier in the week and she pointed out that a couple of her favorite bands would be playing on Saturday of the festival. Conveniently, this year they are allowing 1 day passes for the event. I know that she will be in decent shape in June… But I also know that she will not be physically able to hang out in the Tennessee summertime heat for multiple days. A full pass would have been a better deal, but it was not realistic.
I was able to secure 2 passes for the fest. Summer thought they were for her and I… And Nate would need to get his own. I told her that this was for her and Nate. I will go if necessary but want her to go with him if possible.
Summer and I have spent a lot of time watching TV since we got her Monday night. For the record… Jurassic World Dominion is terrible. Sam Neil is absolutely wasted. Laura Dern did not get any material to work with. Goldblum makes some terrible speech to a class of students that was idiotic, it was at that point that I knew the next 2 hours were going to suck. Chris Pratt and Bryce Howard have NO chemistry. The script is terrible. I know it’s a tentpole summertime movie. But it is not enough to have wooden acting and dialog married with CGI dinosaurs and call it good. It’s awful!
The Series Wednesday on Netflix is a fun ride if you like goth and Tim Burton classic darkness. The young lady who plays Wednesday has phenomenal timing with her facial expressions and eye movements. Loved a lot of the show, but the ending starts to unwind like Glass Onion. You are given so many false flags that it becomes annoying as we run out of suspects.
Today, we watched “The Menu”. My toes curled as the young man who was the movie’s focus early on was reading and interpreting everything the chef was doing with the food they were eating. It was hitting a little too close to home. It reminded me of some moments when I geeked out on craft beer. How annoying!!! I might just drink Budweiser and eat steak and shake the rest of my life so I don’t look like that. That sounds terrible. Maybe I will just try not to get too excited when I eat something amazing.
Did I mention not to see Babylon unless you want to be completely shocked by feces, urine, or gratuitous sex? (I’m no prude!!! I swear!) Oh and an out-of-place Margot Robbie. I felt like they unleashed a 2020 actress into a 1920’s movie. I can’t be the only one who saw that. I could write a lot of thoughts on this movie because it was a massive disappointment. The director of La La Land, Whiplash, and First Man made this??? I had high hopes, but I am still scratching my head after seeing it. Summer and I did talk about it today… She had a more favorable memory of it than me.
I pray these tough days will be behind you soon. You are always in my prayers, and my kids in my class pray for you each morning. May God bring you healing and strength.