Summer started out very well. In May, Duane and I bought a 2014 Corvette Stingray. We bought it just a few months earlier than we had planned to buy a sports car....we were really aiming for October but Duane saw this car, they told him they weren't going to build Stingrays in the fall, and it was exactly what he was looking for. So we purchased it.
So we started off our summer vacation by taking our anniversary trip to San Antonio. It was a fabulous vacation. We were right on the RiverWalk and we did lots of things in the full day we were there. We took the boat ride, we walked along the river walk and we went to dinner at this awesome top of the tower place. It wasn't a long trip there, but it was a good one. From San Antonio we drove to Shannon and Chris' house.
We were in Illinois only one night together and then Duane flew home to Arizona. I stayed and hung out with the kids for a week. Every morning Shannon would take the kids to daycare and then I would pick them up right after their nap. On the first and second day, I picked up both of the kids, on Wednesday, I picked up Alyssa and we went to get donuts and get our nails done. She loves having her manicures and pedicures! She was starving for donuts and wanted to surprise her mom and dad with donuts the next morning so we went to the special donut place in town and got some for everyone. On Thursday, I picked up Colin and we went shopping. He really doesn't have a "special thing to do yet" so we went to Target and Kohl's. We bought a Shark for Shannon and Chris' anniversary. On Friday, Shannon and I went to lunch together and then I was off to Dad's house and the Knights' were off to the Lake of the Ozarks.
The week with my dad was better than it had been in March but he has still declined. He has no business living in that house by himself but I can't seem to convince anyone.I have given up trying to very hard but it is how I feel. He continues to repeat his conversations, doesn't remember much especially if he hasn't been wearing his oxygen which he thinks of as a "crutch". He thinks of his medications as a "crutch" as well even though I tried to convince him that without the medication he would not be able to be at home at all. He tried to convince me that he never slept during the day and that the only reason he was doing it while I was there was because I had done everything he normally would do on his own and he was "bored" by having nothing to do. I never made mention of all the times that I had called him and he had been sleeping in the middle of the day. He also accused me of doing things I had not done such as losing Charla's birthday card or moving mail around. All in all, though, it was a good week and I was glad that I was there. On Father's Day, we met the Knights at Kingdom City for a Father's Day dinner. I was surprised that Dad was able to go but he wanted to and I think he really enjoyed seeing the kids.
Then on Monday, I returned to Illinois. This time, I kept the kids in the morning and would run them over to the daycare a little before nine. Then I would come back and pick them up in the afternoon. My intention had been to take the kids on a train ride to Jeff City but that fell through so on Wednesday, I kept both kids with me and we went to see How to Train Your Dragon 2, out to eat at Red Robin's and then over to the children's museum in Edwardsville. We had a blast that day. We also went to the popcorn store on Thursday after I picked them up in the afternoon. All in all it was an awesome time with the Knight Family. The only little mar in the vacation was that on the Wednesday before I came home, Duane called me. He had a partially detached retinia and was going to have emergency surgery in order to save his eyesight. There wasn't anything I could do but pray that all would go well with the surgery. It also meant that he would not be flying to St. Louis and driving back to Arizona with me.
After talking it over and going through all of the options, it was decided that Shannon would drive back to Arizona with me and I would fly her home to Illinois. She and I left a little before noon on Friday and we drove all the way to Shamrock, Texas. It was a long drive but we made it to our hotel before 11 p.m. It was a nice Holiday Inn and I would stay there again without any hesitation. The next morning we were on the road by 7 a.m and on our way to Arizona. We got into Phoenix a little before 5 and I took over for Michael. Michael and Shannon were able to spend a lot of time together from the time we got there until she flew out on Sunday.
Since being home, I have done very little. The first week and a half involved taking care of Duane. His company did a big shake up the 30th of June and laid off more than half of his department. I am pretty sure he will not lose his job at Epiq because they lost several project managers to retirement and moving to other jobs so they are short handed but until we get to the end of the year, we are kind of taking it slowly. Greg and Angus, his two favorite bosses are gone so the environment is very different than it was. Duane also lost his right hand guy too so he is back to being the only project manager for product management.
I did go into school and interviewed a gal who is coming on board with us in the fall but I have not done anything else. Tomorrow and Tuesday I have my annual AT conference. The difference this time is that I am going to the resort and staying there instead of driving back and forth. It is very close to Duane's work and so he is staying with me too. When the conference is over, I will have to put in a few hours at school almost every day to get ready for August 4th. I have hurt my back so I am hoping that by August 4th it is better and I will be able to do the things I want to do at school.
Five years from this month I will not be preparing to go to work this fall if all goes as planned. It seems so far and yet so near. It doesn't seem that long that I was counting down the years to my 80 points and here I've got those. (930 contract days!) I wonder how I will be feeling then????
Okay fall of 2014...here I come!
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