So after nearly a month in Columbus, we're finally planning on flying back to St. Louis on Sunday. I've worn every outfit I brought with me at least three times, with some probably verging on 6 or 7 times! Luckily I overpacked for Nathan and he's got a few new things as well, so I'm not as sick of dressing my doll baby. Out of necessity, my mom has a pretty limited wardrobe, and she's said herself that she doesn't see why she can't just wear the same thing every day.
I ran out of saline solution for my contact lenses a week ago and used a bottle I found here for nearly three days before I realized the expiration date on it was not 10/11, but 11/00!!! I haven't gone blind yet though, so it must not be that big a deal.
The biggest hardship of all this time away though is of course being away from Jack. We're working our butts off as it is to try and stay connected through all of this caretaking exhaustion and while the distance does keep us from getting snippy with each other, it's not really the best thing for our relationship either. Besides that, I really don't want him to miss Nathan's first real, confident attempts at walking and we've been on the verge of that for more than a month now. And it's really not fair to Nathan or Jack how much they've had to be separated over the past year. At this point, Nathan has spent nearly 20% of his young life in a different state from his daddy!
On the plus side, I'm really glad that I've been able to contribute as a family member to the long hours with my grandmother in the nursing home. She's gotten physically stronger by leaps and bounds over the last few weeks, but her mind is still very confused. Even though we've been able to keep a family member with her pretty much constantly when she's awake, she still told one of the therapists that, "someone stops by almost every day." My aunt and cousin are not going to be able to keep up this constant companionship for much longer, but I'm glad I was able to help to make this possible during this portion of her recovery from the stroke.
The current plan is for my grandmother to move into an assisted living facility near my aunt and cousin's neighborhood on Monday. We won't be here for that, but we will be able to help with some of the move-in duties over this weekend.
The other big news is that I've put in an application for a full-time job in St. Louis had interviewed for the position via Skype this past Monday. Fingers-crossed, I think I have a good chance at getting green-lighted for this marketing job, since they are looking for someone to integrate more photo and video into their university's web presence. This would certainly mean some big changes in my life, but I think that I might have needed some impetus to make some hard decisions, especially as they relate to my mother's care. I don't even have the job yet though, so I'll save the soul searching on this topic for another post.
