Here is my list of laments for the week, followed by some attempt at a little joy to counterbalance the laments:
- The whole reason I flew back was for my grandma's funeral. Under the best circumstances, funerals are a huge drag, but this one hit me hard, like a punch in the stomach. It was partially jet lag, partially the last minute planning (which I am not a huge fan of), and mostly the fact that even though I've been trying to prepare for this for at least 10 months, I was woefully, woefully not prepared. I am amazingly lucky that I made it to 29 with all of my grandparents around, that all of them came to my wedding, and that they all have had such a great impact in my life. But it felt like a punch in the stomach for two straight days.
- Upon returning to Chicago, we discovered our cat w really, really sick. After a number of phone calls and emails, we discovered it was a kidney infection, requiring a doubling in the number and frequency of her usual daily meds. Which Pete has to do on his own since I'm heading back to Europe now.
- When we discovered poor sick kitty, I decided to try to coax her down the stairs. Backwards. Then I started to turn. And managed to step sideways on my ankle. Really sideways. Ad my ankle ended up being about the size of a tennis ball in 3 minutes. A little ice, a little elevation ... And a doctor's visit the next day, diagnosed me with a "moderate sprain" and has landed me with a still swollen, incredibly bruised, sore ankle.
- I'm still not sure where I'm living in two weeks or what my life is going to look like in 3 months. No stress there at all.
But in happier news,
- I have wifi on my plane. And in seat entertainment. And an empty seat next to me to prop my foot up on.
- I have some ideas and plans for how my life might look in a few months. And have been assured by the amazing people I know and love in Spain that I will not be homeless.
- I have visitors in 4 days! And might be traveling in a week and a half.
- I got to celebrate my grandma's life, with my family, and had a few stolen moments with my parents and with Pete, that are nothing less than a gift. So I'm grateful for that.
And honestly, I would take ten plane trips across the ocean in a week ... I would lose days of sleep ... I would twist my ankle ... Deal with all of the stuff so I could be with my family for the moments this week. So that's, that.
Tomorrow will be back to regularly scheduled drama, complete with exhaustion, house hunting in Spanish, and all the other usual my-crazy-Spanish-life business.
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Location:30000 feet in the air
