I think Dr. Gajjar must have a soft spot for Summer and her desire to get to Carbondale to see Geno, Nate, and Nate… In that order. Geno is the cat. He is the number one priority when Summer is trying to get back home… Regardless of whether Nate (boyfriend Nate) is in town or not. Roommate Nate (or “Z” as we all call him) is also essential because if he is not at the apartment, Summer is not going anywhere. Cat or not! 
The initial plan for this weekend was for Angela to stay in Memphis till the New Year, and then Nate would come down for his week with Summer. Friday afternoon around 2:30 Angela called me at work to let me know that Summer was getting her port removed and the doctor said she could go home for the weekend. (great! I was not ready to clean the house when I got off work!!! Aiden had friends over Thursday night and the kitchen was a hot mess!) Like I said, going home for Summer means Carbondale. Angela made the long drive back to Tremont from Memphis with the now very common reroute through Carbondale.
I got the important spaces clean… Enough. But, I have been exhausted. I got a call from one of Aiden’s friend’s parents on Friday to say that COVID had been in our house the night before during a party. Great… I have COVID and that’s why I am gassed? I took a test and thankfully, it came back negative. Angela got home from her 7-hour drive and I think we crashed at the same time.
Saturday, I stayed in bed for a good chunk of the day and did not decide to get up till nearly 4PM. We did not have our normal December 31st plans in place because Angela was not supposed to be home and the fear of COVID in the house could screw up a wedding for the Stegers. I was not regrouping a big event.
As it turned out… I was OK enough to play a few games with another couple who risked the perils of the bubonic plague in our house.
When the clock struck midnight… Our party crumbled and I believe I was in asleep by 12:30. Today I was still feeling lethargic. I did fix a backed-up drain in the basement and reinstalled a tire on the horse trailer. But, when I sat down this afternoon, I was happy to start snoring on the couch during some terrible football.
Tonight, Linda came by and we did a drive through the Festival of Lights park in East Peoria. It was way shorter than I remember… But, I would guess my memory has a better chance of being flawed than the length of concrete roads the light show is parked on.
This week, just like the last, Summer will start her hospital visits on Tuesday as the holiday is observed on Monday. Nate is driving her down to Memphis instead of taking the train… Because he got a new car!!!! Yeah!!! We are all quite excited! A 2017? Subaru Crosstrek. Should be a great car for fuel economy and getting to trailheads next summer with its all-wheel drive. I am glad they have a car for getting back and forth to St. Jude from Target House. It’s far less time-consuming than taking the free shuttles. Plus, those midnight train departures are not as fun as they sound.
Next weekend I take my place back in Memphis. You can count on lots of updates then!
Happy New Year!
Angela worked like crazy pulling down the Christmas decorations this weekend since getting home. (she has a lot!). One of the items she had to put away was an awesome new ornament that I had ordered on ETSY. I ordered with enough time for it to be here by Christmas… But you have to know that the delivery date is just a day or two ahead, you run the risk of being disappointed. This delivery showed up after Angela and Summer left for Memphis last week. I stuck it on the tree regardless of whether t was seen or not. It’s pretty great. The artist took liberty and added a hat for Summer. She used the picture from our selfie outside the Eccentric Cafe a few weeks ago.
Is my hair that gray? Should I have shaved that mustache?
Here is a link to the seller if you want to have one made for you and your fam.
Your new Christmas ornament is beautiful. You could leave it out all year?
PS, and thank you for the drive through the Festival of Lights East Peoria!!! It was magnificent.
We are also so excited for Nathanial’s car!! I can’t believe how patient he has been waiting for the perfect car to come along! I believe it’s a 2019 ☺️
Summer sent me a link to it and I would have done more research, but I was feeling lazy when I wrote the post! It could have been a 1978 and I would have been happy!!!!