Beam me up, Scotty!

The alarm went off at 6:45 am. Time to get the doughnuts. William attends a weekly Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting at school on Wednesdays. It is his turn to bring the doughnuts. We have to leave at 7:20 am to ensure he arrives on time at 7:45am, so he is getting ready while I am gone. I get back from Krispy Kreme, feed the dog, take Papa coffee in bed, and out the door we go.
I hurry back home to shower and make it on time to Leestown Rd. for a pre-employment medical exam for the Police dept. Yes, on a day where I was suppose to fast, the aroma of Krispy Kreme doughnuts was wafting about me. I make it on time. Fill out paperwork and paperwork and paperwork…something the younger recruits don’t have to worry with as much due to being “less seasoned.” Into the hearing test booth, eye chart, color blindness tests, depth perception test, blood pressure and pulse…onto the pee test…don’t flush, I kept telling myself…I’m always afraid I will forget and flush. I’m not certain if loud bells sound or if the nurse will just stop all testing and send me home…so I just repeat to myself as I hover over the toilet with the little pee catching cup, do not flush, do not flush. On to the weigh in, height measuring and breathing test...blow until I tell you to stop she says. Blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, she repeats very quickly, until at last she says, stop. I think I have succeeded in yet one more test until she tells me we will do this two more times…onto the blood draw…onto the exam room where I am advised, “Due to your age, you will have to have an EKG, also.” Nice…I’m the only recruit that had to have an EKG. Ain’t I special?
Finally, the physical exam by the doctor…bend over, bend side to side, bend forward, push down, pull up, stick out your tongue, breath in, then out, let me bang on your knees, look at the light on the wall, hold still, stand with your feet together and close your eyes, etc…Until all is complete and I have passed.
I stop by the jail to take a photo of a cookbook for the CCPC group I belong. The Sarge has asked me to take a photo for a flyer that will advise the facility of a special Christmas price. And then I hurry home to visit with Papa on his lunch break. The Schwan’s truck shows up as soon as I get home. I must get an order together and then straighten the freezer so all my items can all fit in there. I wish they really did have a freezer stretcher…
After lunch break, I go to Galls to be measured and fitted for academy training clothing, and duty belts. Next stop is Kentucky Uniforms where I am fitted for Class B uniforms, Class A and B footwear, hats, gloves, cold weather gear, etc. First time I have ever had a Kevlar vest on. And the Class A hat….well, you’ll see eventually.
It’s almost time to pick William up from school but I right here by Sam’s club. I think I can run in a pick up the few items I need in fifteen minutes time so in I go. I step in and my phone rings…it’s my sister, the one that lives in North Carolina…she’s here in Lexington. She’s been here since Monday. Why? Because she tells me, Mom had three strokes Saturday and was admitted to the hospital Sunday. You probably think you aren’t reading this right as surely if my mother were in the hospital for four days, I would have heard about it before now. But no, you’re reading this right…My mother who just had a kidney removed due to a tennis ball size mass attached to it is now in the hospital having suffered three strokes because they took her off her blood thinner for 7 days for the surgery. I am upset…I’m in Sam’s Club. I continue on. I grab the things I need as I am hearing my sister talk and make up excuses for not letting me know before now and Craig calls. I tell Melanie I must call her back…Craig could be needed me to take Becky to the hospital or something. He does not. He is upset and trying to get a hold of Papa. I advise him that Papa is at the walk in clinic, his back is so tight and sore he is having difficulty getting around. So, he shares with me…he wants to quit his job, he’s sick of the hassles; he wants to be at home with his little pregnant woman. He’s pissed that the officer manager told him he cannot have a week off when Becky goes into labor. I am in Sam’s Club, just advised my mother is in the hospital, struggling with her memory and Craig is on the phone, distressed, I am trying to calm him as I hear a loud pounding sound on the building ceiling. Were you out today at 3PM? Yeah, I had to walk to the truck in the pouring down rain with a box of items too heavy to run with, no jacket, in a dress shirt and slacks. BUT…I made it on time to pick up William and it doesn’t matter that I was soaked to the bone. Good conversation on the way home. You know driving aids with conversations with your teen. It’s been that way with all of my children. I get home, fix coffee and feed the dog. Ariel came over to go with me to the hospital, but first I need to go pick up Papa’s prescriptions. Ariel and I do this, drop them off at home. I remind Pa that William needs to be at church by 6:30 and head to St. Joe on Harrodsburg Rd. Ariel stuck with me the whole time. Bless her little heart and her little boot that she drags around with her. How nice it was to have her with me…She was a blessing. We stayed with Mom for a bit over two hours and came on home. We worked on Mom’s memory really good. She tripped up a bit here and there calling her husband by my Dad’s name and her brother, her son’s name…but for the most part she was on target. She had to slow down and think…”Don’t tell me, she’d say…let me think.” She was in very good spirits. And we left her that way. She will have to have therapy at Cardinal Hill. We left in time for me to get Ariel back to the house to her car, eat something and then I left again to pick William up from church. The muscle relaxer and pain reliever that George was taking rendered him useless and zonked out on the couch. William was ready when I arrived and still pumped up. A condition I cannot understand…some kind of teen disease. It’s only sprinkling when we arrive home at 9:15 PM and Winston is begging for a walk. He usually gets a walk earlier in the day, but…this day did not show opportunity until now at 9:15 PM. Around the block we go. It’s almost ten before I can sit down to write, but the kitchen is clean and the dishwasher running. George is zonked out in the bed. I haven’t even mentioned the 15 other phone calls of the day, or the emails I had to answer…the letter of resignation I had to send to the Home Owners Association, etc. Was this just one day, I wonder. Yes, just about thirteen hours ago, it began. It ends with me being thankful on DAY 4 for clarity of mind. Staying lucid during a delirious day.