Life During Covid 19-Part 22

Road Trip West Day 3

On the Porch

Onishe Ellis

Wow, I haven’t blogged since September 3rd. Our life has been a roller coaster. I will try to pick up where I left off with our 5 week road trip halting on day 1.

My husband spent the night in the hospital with the plan to have kidney stents placed the following day. This was a temporary fix until we could return home. Hospital visiting hours did not begin until 1 pm so I would be staying in the hotel until visiting hours unless my husband’s surgery was scheduled for the morning. After breakfast in my room and my usual two cups of coffee (with heavy cream-yum)  I spent the morning canceling 5 weeks of lodging reservations. The ones I could do from the hotel chain app were simple but others such as VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner), State parks and campgrounds I had to do individually. We are so blessed that we will be receiving refunds, even some that are outside of the refund period.

I found it hard to concentrate as I made lists of things that needed to be accomplished which included finding a kidney specialist in our home area and getting a referral. I packed a lunch to take to the hospital then forgot to put it in the cooler.

The surgery was not scheduled until 2 pm and I spent most of the afternoon at the hospital. During his surgery, I was given the option to wait in his room or the surgical waiting room.  Hands down, I chose his room No mask required and I could eat the lunch I had packed.

There was a possibility of my husband being discharged after the surgery, but the doctor opted and we agreed, he should stay overnight to make sure his kidney function levels were returning to normal. I made the trip back to our hotel without any wrong turns and felt a bit more confident driving the truck.

The hotel offered free cookies (Individually wrapped) and popcorn each night between 6-8pm. My husband was disappointed I didn’t snag one for him the previous day. We have been living sugar free for two years and he was using his I’m sick card to indulge in treats. I grabbed one for him I must confess that I had a square of our emergency dark chocolate last night after getting him into the hospital. 

A side note about our stay in the hotel.

Before going to the hospital, we chose not to have housekeeping enter our room due to Covid concerns and communicating with the housekeeping staff has been interesting. Yesterday’s housekeeper spoke only Spanish and my bits and pieces of college Spanish haven’t been used in a long time. After several attempts to say the correct words, the housekeeper spread her arms wide over her cart and indicated I take what we needed. She would point to make suggestions. For anyone who has ever been tempted to sneak something from a housekeeping cart, this was like a candy store offering its treats for free.

Just like the infomercials on the television, “but wait, there is more” hoping fulling posting next week. As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, our life has been a roller coaster of late. Thankfully, I know God is not surprised by our circumstances and he has made wonderful provisions for us.

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  where we frequently host the best in up and coming authors.

My 2019 goal is to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.

Tags: #Roadtrip, #ThursdayThoughts