Carol and the kids and I have been doing and going and going and doing. And I've been having a ball. In August we drove to a small water park near here to "practice" for our BIG trip to Emerald Pointe a couple of weeks later. It only has one slide. I hurt myself. I've had a life long problem with an 18 yr old living inside of me that just won't leave. "He" tried to do so many foolish things when my kids were teenagers that for 4 or 5 years I listed an Orthopedic Surgeon as my Primary Care Physician. Because I never got sick, I just broke bones regularly.
When my kids grew up and left home, the 18 yr old stopped trying to do stupid things and I've had many years of undamaged bones. But now I have a 12 yr old and a 7 yr old in my life and "he" is back. I saw the sign that said, "Sit upright on the slide" but "he" saw all the young people lying down and going a LOT faster. The first few times I sat up but then "he" laid down and we really flew down the slide. Until the last turn when I banged my knee. Really hard. It hurt so much that I called my Dr. who said that since it was not a weight bearing incident he was pretty sure I didn't tear anything. If anybody offers you a "bone bruise", tell them you don't want it. It's two months later and it still hurts.
Then off to Emerald Pointe. Although the 18 yr old showed up, he stayed calm and reasonable and I returned to VA unscathed. We had a wonderful day. Even thought the lines were long, we got in lots of rides and came home happy and exhausted.
A couple of weekends later we drove to WV to take the kids to visit Carol's Grandmother. On the way back we hiked to Cascade Falls in Giles County. It's about a 2 mile hike along a beautiful stream. The weather was perfect. The were only a few people and they were all friendly.
I don't know if it was the 18 yr old or just my New York childhood, but I went swimming. While almost everyone else, including Carol, Emily and Andrew stood ankle deep or ran through the edge of the falls. SHIVERING AND TURNING BLUE. We didn't get the water temperature but it was either refreshingly brisk or freezing, depending on who you asked.
Well, that hardly made a dent in the last three months. But it's a start and I'll really try to post more regularly.
Life is so good.
