Denver -- part 2

We woke up on Sunday morning and Mom & Dad were preparing to go to the airport. We discovered that Grandma had had a terrible night, even wondering if she needed to go to the E.R. (She confided in my later that she thought perhaps her appointed time had come!) Thankfully, this was not the case. We suspected she might have pneumonia. She rested all day Sunday and I took her to the doctor on Monday.

She needed to be convinced, as she doesn't have a lot of faith in doctors. I feel somewhat the same way, but we all thought we should rule out pneumonia -- not a good thing for an elderly woman to suffer through, especially untreated! Typically, she was a good sport, joking with the doctor and letting me take pictures.

He didn't think it was pneumonia, but he gave her a Z-pack to be on the safe side. Grandma didn't know it, but I informed her that she had been given the Cadillac of antibiotics. We're always wishing we would get that prescription! We went to get her prescriptions and then home to rest. Apparently, Grandma doesn't just lounge around when she's sick, but still gets dressed (even shoes), makes her bed, and gets things done. Huh. I always look my worst and try to do as little as possible...

We went through my GoodReads lists and made a list of books she can look for at the library. She listens to audiobooks now, since her macular degeneration has made reading impossible. She is sometimes at a loss as to what to books to order from the library, so now she has a whole bunch that should keep her busy for awhile. Grandma has been my primary book recommender for as long as I can remember, so I was happy to be able to return the favor.

I went over to Denise's at night. One night we watched a movie, and when it looked like a sex scene was coming up, my 15-year-old cousin John said, "I think they might have a moment of weakness." We were dying of laughter, and teased him about that for the next few days, much to his delight, I'm sure.

John is incredibly tall now. We took a picture of the two of us together, for demonstration purposes, but John's face was creepily blurry so I can't post that one. Here is a side-by-side comparison of our feet, however. He wears a size 13!

One night we played Denise's new game, Bananagrams, which evidently is very like Jill's Speed Scrabble game. The tiles are very pleasing to the touch.

I was terrible at first, but started to catch on. I think I'll have to buy that game, I can see Max really getting into it, as we like to play Boggle together.

Mark joined the game, and we totally cracked up when we discovered he had made the word "loverboy!" He was a good sport about our teasing.


One night we played Guitar Hero and watched American Idol. Here Denise is playing bass and rocking out. I love the expression on Sarah's face -- I can't tell if she's disturbed or just shocked by her mother!

When Jessie told me her dog Moosey was the best dog in the world, I had my doubts. I used to be a dog lover, but Jack changed all that. Then Denise's family inherited Moosey when Jessie decided she had enough people/animals to care for, and they all adore that dog as well. I had never met her, and I was curious to see if she could win me over.

The verdict is in: it didn't take me long to realize that she is indeed the cutest/best dog in the world! Man, I wish we had gotten a small, mixed-breed dog...

I'm in love with her!

This one, not so much. (Sorry, Tyrone.)

This is a glimpse of Grandma & Grandpa's little downstairs guest suite. It is very cozy down there and was a great place to relax and read.

Grandpa is sweet to pose for self-portraits, even though I'm sure he's wondering why we don't just get someone else to take the picture...

Grandma was very accomodating and posed for a self-portrait with me before I went to the airport, even though she wasn't feeling well and didn't have her hair and makeup done.

Denise took me to the airport. I hated to say goodbye, hated to see this fun trip end. It was so much fun and wonderful to be free of responsibility for a few days. I can't remember the last time I was able to just hang out with my grandparents and talk for hours, or help them with little things that are difficult for them -- probably it was before I became a mother -- and it felt like a precious opportunity. I love my Denver family!