The C Word – Day 34 and 35 Get Away

George and I finally had an opportunity to get away for an entire night (considering this was supposed to actually be the tail end of our two week vacation, something is better than nothing).

I reserved a room for us at a quaint bed and breakfast in Half Moon Bay, about a 45 minute ride from the house.  We left home at about 10AM after a leisurely morning.  It just so happened that George’s best friend, Larry, had to do a transfer for his volunteer job (at the Marine Mammal Center in Moss Landing) in Half Moon Bay.  An extra treat that we were able to have lunch with him and spend time visiting together.

We arrived at the Mill Rose B&B at 3PM and were shown to our room.  It had a private entrance and private bathroom.  This particular room had a view on two sides, nothing spectacular, but nice.  The room comes stocked with bottles of water, sodas, a decanter of wine and also decanters of brandy and sherry.  If we were the drinking kind of person this would have probably been heaven on earth.  We are not, so though those are nice touches, they did not touch us! 

We took a nap after getting there and just listened to some music on the television.  We decided to go out for dinner and the innkeeper was able to quickly get us a reservation up at Miramar Beach restaurant.  Yummy, Coquille St. Jacques for me and shrimp for George.  We opted to have our dessert back at the inn as they provided homemade cookies and cakes for their guests as well as an ample supply of various teas or coffee. 

We left the “boob tube” off for the evening and opted to spend the time talking about whatever was on our mind – and of course what is on our mind is the upcoming surgery.  We shared a few tears, cuddled and hugged, and just had time for the two of us alone without any interruptions. 

We awoke leisurely this morning, were served a scrumptious breakfast at the B&B and then packed up to start heading for home.  We were not in a rush so we made a few short stops on the way home, even pausing for an hour at Good Samaritan hospital where a dear friend of ours is preparing for surgery tomorrow morning. 

It was a nice to get away – to just have time to ourselves with no particular agenda.  We decided to try to do more of those in the future as it is good for us.  It is good for ALL couples, but especially for those who are enduring any sort of stress. 

Now we are back home.  We are having to implement a new procedure for mom with regards to eating.  No more just serving up her meals and walking away.  We have to sit with her, turn off her television to prevent distractions, and have her eat very, very slowly, one part of her meal at a time (i.e. meat, veggies, etc.) with small sips of water in between.  Apparently right now that means spending about 30-40 minutes with her for this process.  Fortunately it will only affect us on the weekends, especially on Sundays when we have three meals to serve her.  On the “up” side, if you can call it that, we no longer have to thicken her water or beverages.  Her meals are still pureed.  So I guess it is like one step forward and one step backward.  Rosemary says mom did not cough at all last night – so maybe there is some rest in mom’s future after all.  We will be able to call that four steps forward at that point!