Well...I hope everybody is having a right-nice holiday weekend!
The BF made the car drivable enough to get to Hope's parents' house, yesterday...Saturday...
We took Hope to spend a few days with her mom n dad...and we were invited to a barbecue and get-together.
The BF even crammed Sarah's wheelchair into the trunk of the Focus so she could join everyone outside in the back yard!
Sarah had had a seizure within the prior 48 hours, so she was somewhat quiet and subdued...which was nice, because Sarah usually gets pretty noisy at gatherings...expecting everyone to focus all their attention solely on her!
A friend of Hope's mom and her husband was there...and Hope's other grandma finally showed up...(she arrived an hour later than us, and WE were late!...She brought her own fish to cook on the grill and didn't even think to offer any to Hope, who was not enjoying her hotdog....and she was the first person to leave! ....((I often think her early departure is a direct result of my presence!)) ...and to think that Hope spends a lot of time telling me how much she misses her other gramma! ...the kid hardly gets to spend any time with her...how can she miss someone who she hardly ever sees?)
After we all had eaten, we decided to go to a nearby park that overlooks the horizon to the south and west...giving good line of sight to the local Drag Strip Raceway...and they set off a fireworks display that we could view from a distance.
Hope walked with her dad and the dog and the BF put Sarah back into the car and we drove there...just a few blocks...
With the sun down and the breeze blowing, we felt that Sarah would be more comfortable locked in the car...as, even with 2 shirts on her hands were like ice cubes from sitting outside before she was moved to the car...And Sarah's vision and attention span wouldn't give Sarah any enjoyment trying to see said fireworks...So we left her to nap in the car...with me checking on her often.
Hope played on the slides and swings...in the dark! ...and even befriended a boy that appeared to be about 10 years old...they played together till we saw the fireworks begin.
In the dark, Hope stepped off a curb and hurt her knees...and I was surprised how long it took her parents to come to her aid!
I was holding her and she was crying....and her dad FINALLY came to see why she was crying...saying "I guess that crying means you need mom and dad!" HA! ...they didn't even notice she had FALLEN!...and she was right in front of where they were sitting!!
(And THEY don't smoke pot or drink...and I smoke pot all the time! ...so, it's not like they were too high to notice their daughter fell!...they were busy being social with their friends is all...while their 3 year old daughter ran willy-nilly around the park IN THE DARK! )
Just as the distant fireworks show ended, some folks in the park set off some rockets and stuff...enraging and scaring the friends of Hope's parents...the woman claiming to have PTSD...not expecting the loud bang and bright sparks, she was startled and shaken...then she got angry and we all went back to cars to go back to Hope's parents' house...where PTSD lady had sparklers and some cones to set off for Hope....(my head is reeling with the double-standard this woman presented...that illegal fireworks are bad...unless YOU are the one LIGHTING them! Ugh!)
Hope enjoyed the close fireworks at the park...and the tiny display at her home only left her wanting MORE!
I had been on Hope's mom about how Hope hadn't eaten much all day and that she wanted a cupcake...and that I had suggested that Hope eat some good-for-her food before the cupcake....But, mom was busy showing her friend an coloring book and colored pencils...and said something about Hope having a cracker...
I went into their fridge, found a hot dog from earlier, heated it, cut it up and gave it to Hope...who gobbled it up and forgot all about that cupcake before falling asleep in her daddy's arms.
(I think I am better off to stay home and away from my daughter when she is supposed to be being Hope's mommy...for I get angry and judgemental over the lack of attention she gives to her daughter....and Hope's daddy isn't much better, really! ....but I keep my mouth shut...and ONE day, HOPE will tell them what they have been doing wrong...for she has the vocabulary and ability to express herself honestly....I'll just let nature take its course! )
The BF and I said our goodbyes and departed for home...(me kissing a sleeping Hope and whispering that I love her into her ear before we left)...
All around, it was a good time!
Sarah enjoyed herself and even ate a little food...which she rarely does when we are at gatherings...
Hope had tons of fun...even getting to put on a bathing suit to run through the sprinkler for the first time! (I even witnessed her letting her face get wet without her crying like someone poured boiling water into her eyes!! Lol)
The BF played a video game with Hope's dad...and I just wandered around and observed a lot...cuz that's what I DO...I WATCH!
(OH!....but I DID slide down the slides, with Hope, at the park...and ran around like a fool for a while...and BOY! Is my body MAD at me today for it!! Lol!)
I suspect that that will be the highlight of the weekend for me...though I would really like to travel to Fairplay/South Park on Monday to see their fireworks display....
Hope will be with her parents and they plan to attend a fireworks display with Hope's other gramma...
But...our car is behaving badly...the clutch has been needing to be bled nearly every day...and even then it doesn't always work...
Sometimes the BF has to shut the car off to get the transmission into 1st gear, then starts the car with no clutch...jerking and jolting till the car starts rolling...
(Yes...he is a mechanic...but a mechanic's car is the last car to get any attention! Lol!)
Last Monday we had travelled 50 miles so the BF could work on a cutomer's car...and when we were headed home (at about midnite!) the BF stopped to see what the cause of a vibration was....and discovered that 2 of the wheel studs had broken off of their passenger/front wheel...and only 1 lug nut was still present!
At midnite, with no parts stores open and no friends to call, the BF creeped the car all the way home! ...on 2 studs and 1 lug nut...at 30 mph on the highway!
(I suspect that Sarah's "protective bubble" saved us from catastrophe...for Sarah's presence has always seemed to divert any eminent catastrophic events in the past!)
BF fixed that problem the very next day...but the clutch seems to still be problematic.
I am still in that pissy funk I can't seem to pull myself out of...
I have lots of excuses and reasons for why I feel like this...but I won't go into them now...
I just know that life only feels worth living when Hope is with me to share my time...and all the other time is spent "going through the motions" to get through the day.
Some things should change...but I am not motivated, nor do I seem to care...so I just bide my time till Hope returns.
I made a hummingbird feeder out of a plastic bowl and a water bottle...items that would have gone into the trash or recycle stuff...
("Don't lose it, reUSE IT"...says one of the characters in the Paw Patrol series! Lol!)
I have been serenaded by the high pitched trill of the hummingbirds ever since I hung the new feeder full of sugar water!
The tiny birds come to drink...less than 4 feet from Hope's face!
Sometimes 3 little winged wonders will appear to be playing Tag over our deck!
...We also have a chipmunk that thinks we are here to feed him...and a bunny that visits...and a family of birds have nested in the outside wall of our house...And add that to the occasionally deer, elk, hawk or bear...Hope gets to see lots of animals that City Kids may never see in person...And I just love to watch her watching Nature...and not glued to a TV or game system!
Sarah's spider bites are drying up and sloughing off...She hasn't even acted like the area itches much!
She is so lucky in the fact that she doesn't move around a lot...keeping the venom from spreading through the skin and affecting a larger area! ...as it was, she had 2 nickel-sized spots that were connected at one time...and now each spot is smaller than a dime and getting smaller every day.
It is expected to rain, here, till Tuesday...so, all those campers and recreationalists are in for a soggy stay in our mountains!
It has been gloomy and wet since Friday...with an occaisional thunderstorm bringing lightning and hail...
I know that I wouldn't want to spent MY holiday weekend cooped up in a camper or tent, trying to stay dry and warm,...when I could have stayed in the City, where there are things to do that don't require a rain suit or fear of an umbrella becoming a lightning rod at 9000 feet above sea level!
I welcome the rain...for it means that the forest (my back yard) won't catch on fire because of some city dweller's idiocy....a campfire left unattended, fireworks in the forest,...being dumb...
...Then there is the risk of mudslides...due to the saturated ground loosening giant boulders...
Yeah...I think I would have either stayed home or travelled in a different direction, this weekend, if I lived in the city! Lol!
Well...I think I'll put a cap on this ever-rambling diatribe...
(It has been a while since I updated, and I seem to have lots of things happen to me in a short span of time...causing me to try to cram it all into 1 post because I don't know how long it will be before I get around to updating again...I hope I don't bore anybody!)
I hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend! ...I'm hoping your weather is being good to you for whatever you have planned!
Everybody be safe and have some fun!...and eat some really messy, yummy food while you're at it!

!