25 Weeks! I had a solid, 25-week streak with posting a new blog every Tuesday. Sadly, that steady, dependable streak is over. I missed my posting last week. For a good reason though! A horrible, wouldn’t wish it on anyone, reason, but a good reason, nonetheless. I’ll get to explaining my absence, but for now, let’s back it up a bit…
On Tuesday, January 4th, I wrote my 25th blog entry stating our next stop would be Melbourne Beach for five days, then onto the Florida Keys. I lied. I didn’t know I was lying, but I lied all the same. The following day after my post, we packed up and hit the road to Melbourne Beach. We couldn’t check in until 4pm, so Jason planned a stop off at a Mini Golf place to eat up some of our time – and to use the Groupon he had purchased the week before. On the road to mini golf, Jason said that he was going to be videoing our time at golf. Jason had been saying he was wanting to video more of our adventure, and I figured this was him putting his words into action. I also thought he voiced his intentions because I was still in my pajamas and didn’t plan on changing when we hit the golf course and he figured I probably wouldn't be too happy about him whipping a camera out without warning. He knows me so well. I, begrudgingly, changed out of my comfortable loungewear, threw my hair back, dabbed my face with some make-up, and prepared myself to be witty and likeable in front of the camera. We parked just across from Gator Mini Golf, but Jason wasted no time in turning on the camera and started in on the questions about where we were going, would there be real gators there, will anyone get a hole in one,
etc. As we get on the sidewalk in front of the establishment, a hear a familiar voice, “So we gonna get in a little mini golf, or what?” It was my brother-in-law, Jason! (Yep, my sister and I both married a Jason.) My sister, Kristi, her Jason, and daughter, Neela, walked right up to us and I was completely oblivious. And confused. My mind could not make sense of their presence. I was just texting with my sister a couple days before – they were very clearly still in Oregon. But now they’re here! And going to play golf with us! Then I thought they must be here just as a brief stop to see us, then headed on to whatever their family vacation was. I thought we just happened to cross paths as an incredibly awesome coincidence. I get it now how foolish that thought was. How would they know where we would be stopping? Truly, no one in our family actually knows where we’re going to be on any given day – WE barely know where we’re going to be.
After I settled my shaking hands, wiped my tears, and hugs all-around, my Jason came clean. We weren’t going to Melbourne Beach (see? I didn’t know I was lying!), we were renting a house with
Kristi’s family for the next five days. FIVE DAYS! In a HOUSE! With FAMILY!? I was so thrilled. Our time on the road has shown us how precious moments with family are. I was going to soak it all in. I had all the questions and stories to tell, I wanted to know everything about back home. How was my mom and dad really doing? How’s school going for Neela? How was their work going? And their sons, Jaden and Cetch? I was prepared to sit in that house, talk, veg out, and enjoy the company.
Kristi is sister number two of four. I’m the fourth. Kristi and I have lived similar lives and have become really close over the years. Before either of us were married, Kristi and I lived together. We both worked for the Judicial System at the same time (she’s still there -but now she’s a big wig). I got
married first, then Kristi soon after. Our oldest, Ryan, is only five months younger than her daughter, Neela. Ryan and Neela grew up together. When my first husband died when I was 38 weeks pregnant, I remember leaving my parents’ living room that was full of people offering their condolences to find solitude in a bedroom. Kristi followed and sat with me while I cried about the injustice of it all. Kristi stood by me when I called my in-laws to tell them about their son, and she took the phone and had the difficult conversation when I couldn’t get the words out. In writing out those memories, it just dawned on me that Kristi and Jason had a five-month-old baby at the time, and yet still took the extra care and time with me. Kristi took me to my prenatal appointments. When my doctor said I wasn’t eating or drinking, I was losing weight fast, and she needed to take the baby before he went under too much stress, Kristi was sitting next to me. I pleaded with the doctor to give me more time, that I would do better, I promised to eat, or at least drink. I wasn’t ready to have the baby alone. Kristi put her hand on my arm, and told me we would be ok, and we picked my son’s birth date.
Kristi has been my lifeline more times than I can count. She’s my sounding board for crazy home improvement ideas or new hairstyles. Our families vacation together. We road trip together. She lets me vent about husband and kid stuff and assures me that, yes, they are all monsters and I’m the only logical one. She chases down the crazy girl that said horrific things to me when we saw her at the town carnival. She shows up. Time and time again. Kristi shows up. And now she was here, having flown across the U.S., just to surprise my family in our time of uncertainty with this RV/Boat journey! By golly, she’s done it again.
So, we went mini golfing. A couple of us even got a hole-in-one! After golf, we had lunch and Kristi hit us with another surprise. She would be celebrating her 44th birthday while down here, and she wanted to do it at Disney World. They bought our family Disney World passes and we would be
hitting FOUR parks in TWO days. Boy howdy did we, too. That Friday, we went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, then ventured on to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. What a whirlwind! We plotted, amended, executed, and altered course as we navigated the insanity that is Disney on a Friday in January. I know we’re in the middle of a massive pandemic, but you wouldn’t have known it by the crowds and lines at Disney. Arriving at Animal Kingdom at 8am, then leaving Hollywood Studios at 9pm, we arrived back at the house after 10:30pm, exhausted, and falling into our beds. The Jasons went and gassed up the rigs, and we were ready to hit the road again early the next morning.
Day Two had us starting at Disney’s Epcot – which was our least favorite of the four parks we ventured. Not many rides for the kids, but the few we did go on were pretty awesome. At 2pm, our tickets granted us access to Magical Kingdom. Once at the Kingdom, and after getting some experience with how things work from the day before, we plotted out a better plan and hit every ride we wanted to experience. We exited the park during the award-winning fireworks show to avoid the bigger crowds on the monorail back to our cars. Again, we arrived back at the house completely drained but feeling accomplished.
The next day was Sunday, departure day. Boo. With two full days at Disney Parks, our time with the Kelly family went too fast. We packed up and set out for a final meal together before going our separate ways. Sitting with them at the restaurant made me feel like we were back home, casually talking about life, comfortable with each other’s company. I had missed that. When you are raised, then continue to live and raise your kids around your extended family, you realize how much you took that proximity for granted. Family keeps you grounded, and I am so grateful Kristi, Jason, and Neela took the time to come down and help us find our roots again.
After saying our goodbyes, The Kelly’s headed for the airport, and we set off for the Florida Keys. Now we’re to the part where I ended my 25-week streak of consistent blogging. As I said repeatedly, I loved having Kristi and her family surprise us here in Florida. What I could have done without were the germs that Kristi brought with her. When we first met up at the mini golf course, Kristi didn’t have much of a voice. But to be honest, that girl loses her voice as often as the moon goes through its phases. I didn’t think much of it. We had one full day of nothing but hanging out at the rental house before our Disney adventure started, and Kristi used that day pumping cold meds and
attempting to sleep off her sickness. Then, she powered through both days at Disney like a champ, with minimal complaints of not feeling well. The morning of Disney Day Two, my Jason wasn’t feeling so great. We hoped it was exhaustion, but I think we knew he had caught whatever Kristi was carrying. At the end of day two, while still at Magical Kingdom, Ryan started to slow down. He complained of being really tired and a headache. We knew we were on borrowed time before Ryan hit the wall of no return. Luckily, on departure day, Ryan popped out of bed and said he felt great again. Whew, one sickie was on the mend. Kristi and my Jason were still worse for wear as we parted ways. Jason powered through the drive to The Keys, and we set up camp.
By the end of travel day, Sunday, January 9th, there was a raspy itch at the back of my throat.
And so it began.
I woke up the next morning certain I had to be dying. I’m not saying we caught the pandemic-inducing virus that shall not be named, but Kristi did call mid-morning to say she (and Neela) tested positive for it. The entirety of last week went something like this for Jason and I:
Wake up, take DayQuil and truckloads of vitamins, get boys started on their schoolwork, go back to bed. Get up around lunchtime, shower, take more meds and vitamins, go back to bed. Allow extra video game time for the boys in the afternoon and stay in bed until the following morning. Get up, repeat.
Last Tuesday (Blog Day) came and went and I didn’t think about typing a single word. Looking at my phone hurt. Opening my eyes at all hurt. I couldn’t talk, swallow, or breathe without pain. If I stood up, my head started pounding so hard, everything went white. By the
end of each day, I thought FOR SURE that day was the worst of it, that I’d be better in the morning. Wrong. Still awful the next day with no relief in sight. Kristi and her Jason called and text their apologies for the germs, but I say it was still worth the visit. Have I ever felt that sick before? Maybe once. Do I ever want to be that sick again? Never. But time with family is valuable, and I’ll take it.
We spent a full week in The Keys at an RV park with a private beach right on the Gulf, and we barely even saw the dock, let alone take advantage of the calm waters. On our last evening at Rip Tide RV in Key Largo, I walked down to the beach front with the intention of having some quiet time sitting on the pier to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, there was some sort of party going on down there with dueling stereos, and too many people to spread my germs with, so I couldn’t stay for long. I went to the corner of the pier and took a picture of a sailboat out on
the water. I wished that were us. Away from the noise currently invading my ear canals, peaceful waters all around us, taking in the sunset as we sip on a couple sundowner cocktails. Yes, please.
Moving day came on Sunday, and Jason and I were still lacking energy and healthy bodies. We have hit the peak though and are slowly coming around to ourselves again. We left The Keys and went back up north for a spell. It was about a 7-hour drive to our next week-long stay in Port Richey, so we had a
one-night stopover in the parking lot of a church along the way. The first leg of the journey we drove through Alligator Alley, with torrential downpours pelting Wanda the Winnebago, thunder and lightning overhead, and tornado alerts popping up on our weather apps. Nothing worth doing is easy! The second half brought intense, white-knuckles-on-wheel winds but we landed in Port Richey safely and a bit healthier. Hopefully, this week will constitute a more pleasing daily schedule, and we can get out and enjoy this Sunshine State again.
So here’s to surprise family visits, to defying death-by-virus, and to soaking up the Florida warmth before heading west again.
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