Touch-down, Washington!

It was so good! 15 full days of leave, along with the evening of Friday, August 5th, and the very early morning of Sunday, August 21st. And it was free leave!

My flight on Friday afternoon was a bit delayed leaving San Diego... by an hour or so... so I got cold and wore my sweatshirt until it got a little too warm on the drive home from the airport. Even though delayed, I still was able to transfer to the next plane in San Francisco with just time to use the bathroom and then board with a couple people behind me.

Coming in to Seattle was such a joy! There was a thick layer of clouds surrounding the entire region, and nothing could make me happier! I told myself, "There goes the sun, Little Darling." as we descended into the grey. Such a relief.

It's impossible (and a little undesired) to remember each day with detail. I spent a bunch of time during the second week packing up the things in my room. Since I'm getting married, it seems rather unlikely that I'll want or need my tiny, cute, cluttered (or busily organized) room anymore. I started with taking the patches off my closet curtain and putting them into binders that can be looked at easily. Dad bought a bunch of small Home Depot boxes and those got pretty much filled. I weeded out a bunch of books (I still have 13 boxes of them), and even more junk that I really didn't want. I got $20 cash for the books, and another $20 for a 1943 mortar quadrant at the surplus store (someone had found it somewhere and given it to me). Meg and I went to Half Price Books twice... I found CS Lewis's Abolition of Man, and the WWII story In Harm's Way; the second time I picked up The Rescuers Down Under... which I think I saw in the theater (back in 1990). It was a favorite of mine, since it was all about an eagle.

There were also lots of games of Phase 10 and Backgammon. I went 3 for 9 against Meg in the former. I think my average was better in the latter. And I heartily enjoyed self-cooked breakfasts. There is nothing that can beat scrambled eggs at home, especially when enjoyed along with oatmeal, non-fat milk and fresh, hot toast with butter.

I tried on the wedding dress on Saturday the 6th... Mom only needed to make a few minor adjustments for it to fit perfectly. And Sunday was the Wedding Shower. Julie and Jackie were there first, and Chaya and Andrea also came... making it the first time I had my three best friends from childhood together since I was about 10 or 11 years old. It was a lovely time; Meg and Mom planned the food and games very well. It was snack foods from chips & dip to shrimp & cocktail sauce... and on the question game (Meg asked Mike some questions about himself, and I was supposed to answer correctly during the party - or eat something every time I got one wrong) and I did pretty well, considering the difficulty of the questions. My Aunt Penny and Gramma Payne also came, and I tried on Penny's wedding dress from around 1990... it was fun, but the one Mom made looks so much better on me. I showed off that one too, and I think even Penny agreed.

The biggest surprise, however, was Monday afternoon, the 8th. Mom wasn't feeling good... stomach cramps that could be appendicitis. Meg and Jason picked me up from the recruiter's, and we called the doctor when we found mom worse and lying in bed awake. They suggested coming in, so we drove her to the clinic in Bellevue, just off the freeway. After a few hours (and pain meds, thankfully) they found it was her gallbladder... and that it needed to come out that night. By the time they took her to get ready for surgery, it was time to go pick up Zac from the airport. He had ten days of leave, and that's why I picked these days for mine. Meg, Jason and I got him and continued to downtown Bellevue for the ritualistic "first dinner at Chipotle". Andie, Nathan, the kids and a few of his friends met us there, and it was very good.

Mom's surgery took a little longer than they thought because the gallbladder was so bad. She was still in when we arrived with Zac, Andie & family in tow... but soon in recovery. We eventually did see her for a moment and got her back home the next afternoon.

Since she needed to rest and recover, I and the others got to be more domestic than we'd otherwise be. Dishes and dinners every day! One lunch (Tuesday, when Meg's car broke down when coming to get me from recruiting) I picked up her favorite, almond fried chicken, from Chan's Place (near the shop we dropped her car off at). That was great! Not only that, but that was the day Julie came over again (for about 8 hours!) to talk and play games.

By Friday the 12th, Mom felt good enough to go with me to Fred's to pick out a wedding ring. We went very slow, and it was a good thing they had chairs to sit down on at the counter of the jeweler's. It was Mom's idea (I have no idea about this sort of thing)... a larger ring to exactly match my smaller engagement ring! :)

I went and got take-out from Santa Fe Mexican Grill once, and we ate there again the night before I left. Also had an Outback Steakhouse night with Mom, Dad & Zac the night before he left.

It was simply wonderful to be back at ease and at home. Even though there was lots of craziness, we all enjoyed our time very much. I packed up much of my room and saw my wonderful family for a good, long time.