[MyBrainIsBroken]

Thanks for the feedback regarding the trip. I may have gotten a little carried away. I was having so much fun planning the trip that I forgot I would be going by myself. I like Hope and T's suggestion that I stop for a visit.

I came home from work tonight expecting to get some work done so I can take off this weekend for Sunday's half marathon and spend both Saturday and Sunday in the city. I went for a nice, short run then started making a taco salad for supper. Before I finished preparing it D32 showed up with GS10. She wanted to know if I could tell her how to get GS10 into the same hospital GD14 was in last October. She told me she can't control him any more and he keeps threatening to kill himself and then she showed me pictures he sent to a friend of himself holding a knife to his own throat.

I don't know what D32 expected from me. She knows perfectly well that she needs to take him to the ER and they'll decide whether or not to send him. I tried to talk with him but there's no talking with him when he gets into a mood. I think what she really wanted was gas money. At least that was something I was able to help with.

Then the phone rang before I had a chance to eat anything. GD14 was upset because she was home watching GS8 and she had a meeting at the church she wanted to go to so I told her I'd be right there. So I quickly ate, picked up GD14 and GS8, dropped her off at church, and took GS8 to McDonald's for an ice cream cone and a walk. Then we went back and picked up GD14 and I took them both home.

This is where it gets interesting. After we got to their house I learned that GD14 was home by herself this morning because her mother was at the hospital with her boyfriend. He had emergency gall bladder surgery yesterday and this was the first I heard about it. Then GD14 told me that grandma picked her up this morning and took her to get lunch. She said grandma's boss was so mean yesterday that grandma didn't want to go to work today. She did go in but she did what had to be done, left early, and went to see GD14.

This is crazy. I need to go for another run but it's dark outside. Maybe I should run away. I could pick up T and we could go to Cades Cove.

Xyzcf's post just popped up. That 2 seat convertible sounds pretty cool. I like the rear-view mirror quote too. The rear-view mirrors on the Mustang weren't relevant on the track last Sunday because there was only one car that could be seen behind me after the first lap and he wasn't close.

Remember that at altitude, your car doesn't go quite as fast.

Yeah but what goes up must come down. Maybe I'll have time to install one of these.

http://www.andysautosport.com/products/sts__0510MV640ST-T.html

[Ropeburn]

If you go to Cades cove may as well pick me up i can meet you there as I live 1 hour away ...I'm just a country gal and i love it

[Reallytrying]

W doesn't usually see kids and grandkids right? If so, I'd say it's a good sign that she was having a tough time at work and chose to spend time with them to feel better. I love that you had an ice cream with GS - those little things are the memories that matter in the long run.

[MyBrainIsBroken]

I went out with the ambulance at 1:30 last night. I was able to check on GS10 and D32 while I was at the ER. Got home and GD14 called at 2:30. She was alone with GS8 and heard a scary noise behind the house so I went to their house and went for a walk around the back yard. Nothing scary was located. I was afraid it might have been a skunk!

GD14 said she'd called her mother and GS10 was sleeping in the ER and D32 was on her way home to get a couple of hours of sleep so I kept GD14 company until D32 arrived. After I left GD14 wrote a nice post on FB about how lucky she is to have a grandpa she can call in the middle of the night when she hears a scary noise. I wrote back and told her to go to bed and get some sleep. 

Back out at 0820 this morning with the ambulance for a bad call. I drove this morning. We weren't even out of town before we got a second call and had to swing by the ambulance garage and drop off a couple of people so they could go out with our second ambulance. I drove through police radar on the expressway this morning going 90mph. Glad the lights and siren were going. Our patient was still alive when we dropped him at the ER this morning. While there I checked on D32 and GS10. He'll be taking an hour long ambulance ride at three this afternoon to the hospital GD14 was in last October. Last night D32 noticed light cut marks on his left arm.

I have a dental bridge on my left bottom molars that my dentist removed a couple of months ago, patched one of the anchor teeth, then reinstalled. Its hurting again so I've been favoring that side. Plus, tension goes straight to my jaws so I've been grinding my teeth. Now I think my jaw muscles are spasming. It feels like that side of my face is on fire. Imagine the worst toothache you've ever had then add to that the worst earache and the worst headache. I'm pretty good at ignoring pain but I can't ignore this.

I called my dentist this morning while at the ER but he's on vacation until Tuesday and the message on his machine said to call another dentist and leave a voicemail if it's an emergency so I called and got a message that her mailbox is full. So I called my doctor and was told she's just back from vacation and the first appointment for urgent matters is next Friday so I'm treating my jaw with heat and cold and ibuprofen. I'm going to go check on GD14 and GS8 in a little while and then go for a run and see if I can get some endorphins to kick in but I may be in the ER myself later today.

Last night I cried. When I got home from D32's house I went on FB and found that one of the first things my young EMT friend did after she got back from our EMS run was to PM me on FB to see if I was ok because she said that I seemed kind of quiet last night. I was very touched. I'm really lucky to have a friend like her. 

I don't know what kind of a day my wife is having today but I miss her. 55 days to DDay.

It occurred to me after I posted this that this may be hard to believe so I thought I'd add that I'm not imaginative enough or awake enough to make this stuff up. This is what my life has become.

[UKStander]

I'll be on summer break so I'm thinking about going on a road trip with the Mustang.

There are only 3 states in the continental 48 that I haven't set foot in; Iowa, New Mexico, and Arizona, so I think I should visit them. I could drive through Iowa on my way west. Maybe I could stop at the American Pickers store. We visited their Nashville store in December 2013 on the last road trip I ever took with my wife.

Next I could stop in Denver and visit a friend who lives there and then drive south to Santa Fe. Quite a few of the world's best distance runners train in the Santa Fe area because of the high altitude. I've never been to the Grand Canyon so that would be a logical place to go after Santa Fe.

I'd like to see the fountains at the Bellagio so the next stop would have to be Vegas and then on into the Sierras. It would be great if I could make it Yosemite and see the locations where Ansel Adams made so many great photos. From there I would like to head over to Monterey and drive down the Pacific Coast. I drove the northern Pacific coast from Oregon down to San Francisco when my wife and I drove cross country back in 2012 or 2013.

Next, for a long time I've wanted to see the 19th century London Bridge which is no longer in London. Now it's located in Lake Havasu City in Arizona. From there I could head for El Paso. I've never been to Mexico so I think a quick trip across the border would be merited.

My next destination would be San Antonio, TX. We spent a wonderful summer there in 1981 and I'd like to go back and see the River Walk. Then it would be time to head north to Memphis and Graceland. While there maybe I could locate someone and throw her into the Mississippi River for StrongCurrent. Then I could travel east to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, north to Pittsburgh to see my brother and from there it would be just a short trip home. 6,981 miles. Two oil changes. I'll have to hope the price of gas stays low.

That's the vision. Next step is to start the detailed planning to see if it will work.

Wow! Go for it, Brain. It would be amazing. I need to read the rest of your latest posts carefully, as I haven't done so yet (please bear that in mind), but the above caught my eye, and I'm a little excited for you. I think types like you and I really make forward movement when we see the future, a new future that gets us excited, in our mind's eye. The challenge is keeping the vista alive and real. But planning does that. And the trip will be awesome.

[MyBrainIsBroken]

I went straight from my run to the fire hall for a fire call. Afterwards I stopped to check on the grandkids and GD14 told me that grandma had been there and had taken them to McDonalds for lunch.

[Reallytrying]

Hmmmm - grandma seems to be around quite a bit more now than she used to be. I love that.

[LaughLoveLive]

Reconnecting starts with others first and the MLCer will be last in line. So they say.
And the line could be pretty long too.

I'm not saying she is necessarily reconnecting but it is certainly interesting that she is spending more time than usual around the grandchildren. I would take it as a good sign. If nothing else, she wants them in her life and that's good for them.

She might also be "touch and go"-ing which, to me, would indicate her uncertainty about her current course of action. Court days etc triggering her uncertainty.

I'm sorry about your toothache. I hope you get in to the dentist soon and get some relief.

And I hope your grandson get the help he needs.

I cry when people show they care for me too. It touches that need in us that we work hard to keep covered up.

[HopeFaithLove]

My mom got a toothache while we were in Minnesota visiting my brother and nothing  would help it. We went to a wine tasting at a nearby winery and guess what? Toothache went away and didn't come back the whole vacation lol. Do you like wine B?

[Chookie]

Hmmmm - grandma seems to be around quite a bit more now than she used to be. I love that.

I was thinking the same! 😊