I’m Not Dead Yet (I.N.D.Y.)

Hello, one and all, from wet and overcast Cincinnati.  MaryBeth, the kids, and I traveled over the river, through the woods, and under an ice storm to spend the holidays with my in-laws.  Unfortunately, what should have been an uneventful trip turned into an “adventure” in traveling that makes me praise the person who developed the portable DVD player.

You see, we started from Atlanta in the early morning (8-ish); we traveled swiftly and the kids did GREAT!  Then we got to Lexington.  You see, it started raining just south of Lexington and it was cold enough that the rain was freezing on the roads.  As a result, there was an accident on the I-75 overpass going over I-64.  Traffic stopped and we waited.  We decided that because we had a GPS, we’d get off the highway and take back roads.  This worked until we got to Gran Slick, KY.  You see, by that time, the rain was coming down harder and was freezing on the ground and we sat there, at the bottom of a valley, for 2+ hours.  Eventually, we got tired of waiting and pulled off onto a side street and made our way to a BP station.  While we waited another couple of hours, we ate some pizza and played card games.  The road eventually opened up (the temperature went up) and we made it to Cincinnati (albeit it 5 hours later than expected). Yeah!

Okay, I know that I said “No rain, no rainbows” in an earlier post, but I’m not quite sure what the “rainbow” is that I need to appreciate in having spent 4+ hours waiting in traffic.  I guess I can be proud that I didn’t physically maim any member of my family while stuck in traffic. 

I wish I could say this was the first time we have had trouble traveling around the holidays, but, in fact, the last 2 years also were problematic.  Last year, the in-laws and my family did Christmas in Las Vegas.  Don’t ask, it’s where my mother-in-law wanted to go (I did learn that Vegas is not really all that family friendly — not much for the kids to do).  Well, we traveled the day after I had had one of my ERCP procedures (this was before we knew I had cancer and the gastroenterologist was treating my blocked bile-duct).  Well, while we were in Vegas, I had terribly abdominal pain (so much so that I considered going to the emergency room). Well, it turned out that the stents placed in my bile duct had shifted (we think that the shifting was the cause of my discomfort).  Thank goodness, I don’t need those procedures anymore.

In 2006, we had another challenging travel situation.  That year, the family and I traveled to Catherine’s (my sister-in-law) new house in Indianapolis.  The plan was to drive from Atlanta to Nashville Friday night (12/23) after I got home from work and then go the rest of the way on Saturday (Christmas eve).  Well, we made it to Nashville according to plan.  Unfortunately, a winter storm came through that night and we spent HOURS sitting on the interstate between Nashville and Indianapolis while we waited for the highway to be cleared.  It was surreal; cars stopped as far as the eye could see and people were out in the median throwing snowballs and footballs to pass the time.  We made it about 150 miles that day, in only 9+ hours (we ended up staying at some motel) and then spent another 8 hours driving the remaining 100 miles.  The kids enjoyed all the snow, but once again, thank goodness for the DVD in the mini-van.

I know that others may have travel horror stories, but I’m looking forward to the holidays next year being all about staying HOME!

Health-wise I’m doing okay.  I’ve gotten over the effects of chemo from last week and I have been taking advantage of my new-found appetite to sample all the holiday goodies.  Luckily, the anti-nausea medicine I have works just as well when I eat too much ‘bad’ food as it does when I have chemo.  The kids, particularly my daughter, are bouncing off the walls in anticipation of tomorrow.

I hope all of you, regardless of your faith tradition, enjoy this holiday season.  Remember that the best things in life are not things!

Merle

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