synergy

Weekend Survival

We did better than survive. We managed to spend time with K's family, have fun, and make it home with no apparent ill effects. I'm not yet convinced that the ill effects won't manifest, but at the moment, I'm satisfied.

We went out on Thursday. As I said in my previous post, the is the first trip that K has gone on, since we did this same trip last year and it sent her into a deep spiral downwards. Before going out, I was worried. K kept trying to reassure me that everything would go well, but I couldn't quite let go of the low-grade concern.

Thursday, we kept the day to ourselves. We ate many of our favorite foods, picked out some furniture for the house, went out for a nice dinner (dinner would have been excellent, if the chef hadn't been mad for garlic. My god, my mouth began to burn from the massive quantities.), and managed to get out to a bar and have a drink. In truth, I had a drink and she had a diet coke. (Note: Bartenders, learn how to make lemon drop martinis. It is not just straight vodka in a glass with a piece of lemon!) I was astonished we had the stamina to do it all, but it was good.

Friday, we met up with K's parents for lunch. The purpose of the trip was to spend some time sailing on a boat her family has been building for many years. It was a two year project, which has now spanned 36 years and is nowhere near finished. We were thrilled to be able to see the boat on it's mooring from our hotel room window.

We limit the stress on us both by not staying with her family. Rather we stay in the city near the shopping restaurants, and nightlife. It also gives us more downtime.

Friday we had intended on sailing, until K accidently caused a fire on the boat by hitting some exposed wiring. The smoke billowed and her pants were scorched, but nothing serious happened. Her medications have impaired her ability to move easily on the rocking boat. It took her by surprise. Our sailing for the day was shot. We then went out to a Polish restaurant for dinner. The food was excellent, but plentiful and heavy. Every patron was leaving the restaurant with shopping bags of leftovers. K's mother scooped up all our leftovers.

Saturday, the whole family was on the boat and we headed out for a long sail. It was so long that we didn't make it to dinner until 9 pm. Excellent dinner, but . . . 9 pm was even later for us, because of the time changes.

One of the challenges of the trip was schedule. I believe that I may have complained about K's inflexibility when it comes to her schedule. It was flexed this weekend. The good thing is that the flexing didn't break her.

Instead of managing to eat around 7-7:30 pm, we were eating more in the 9-10 pm range. Instead of 9-10 pm bedtime, we were more in the midnight-1 am timeframe. But it worked. K worried about her schedule, but she trusted herself enough to go off it for the trip.

One especially good thing is we allowed a recovery day after arriving home. Arriving home late Sunday night, and having Monday as the holiday gave us a break. I don't think either of us would have done well going to the office today. Errands, preparing for the week, and resting up are on today's agenda. K's currently napping, while I ran to the store and am preparing chicken soup for dinner.

All the interactions with K's family were also good. She enjoyed seeing them, even though she's sad about leaving them to return home, it's not a depressed sad. She struggles to tell the difference and does recognize the difference; it just frightens her to ever be sad.

K keeps trying to convince me that she's fine and no fallout will occur from this trip. I hope not. Right now, I'm pleased, but it will be a couple more days before I'm convinced that there will be no emotional fallout; however, the signs are looking good.

posted by synergy @ 2:52 PM