Over the rainbow

On Sunday, we traveled to visit Linda's parents. We were there to collect Ellie, who had been visiting for the week while I read portfolios. That was very, very helpful, since I was still grading my own work in the evenings.

Ellie was very happy to see us. She was out in the garden when car drove in. I saw her look up and realize who we were. I had no idea she could run that fast. It's a good thing she didn't hit anything, I'd have probably had to take her to the emergency room. She came booking in like a little blond-haired bullet.

For the record, Ellie missed both her daddy and her mommy on this trip. She missed her daddy more, but that's just the way of things. She was very good for her grandparents, but way too hyped up to be good when we arrived.

Part of the point of going all the way out to Illinois (instead of meeting her parents somewhere along the way) was to see the new house of an old friend. She was busy on Sunday, so we stayed over to Monday. In the morning, I took Ellie shopping so Linda would be able to save her energy up for visiting. I needed some new tennis shoes anyway, and I had promised to buy Ellie a rubber snake.

Ellie and I started with the snake, but the only snakes at the toy store were really big an not very squeezy. When we got to the checkout, Ellie noticed a bag of very squeezy rubber tarantulas in bright neon colors. She decided she wanted that instead, and they were cheaper, so we took the snake back to its bin and grabbed the spiders instead.

I got my shoes, and we walked around the mall for a couple of hours. Ellie wanted to look at everything breakable, but I managed to get her out without having to buy anything but lunch and bubble gum.

In the evening we went to visit our friend. There were stairs into and out of the house, but we took our time and did ok. It was nice to visit. The property was large. Much of it is wooded, and there are trails. Obviously we didn't try them, although once upon a time I'm sure we would have. Ellie played with their daughter, who is a bit younger than she is. We ended the night eating BLT pizza at one of their favorite places.

It was early Tuesday when we came home. Linda had afternoon therapy to go to, her first in 5 weeks. Luckily her PT was sick, because after all the time in the car that would have been too taxing. We dropped Ellie off at the day-care on the way and went straight to therapy. Her OT and speech went pretty well. I read a book and generally tried not to get in the way. I don't know exactly why it is so important to Linda that I come; I just come.

No place like home

After therapy, we finally arrived at home. Linda was relieved. Things are so much easier at home. At home there are no throw rugs to trip on--the flimsy woven rugs people use in their kitchens are the worst. At home there are grab bars exactly where she needs them. The shampoo doesn't magically disappear from the bath tub and end up 5 feet away by the sink. There's room to maneuver a walker.

Of course, at home, you can still never find the remote control.