Holiday Weekend

This Summer has gone by so quickly! I have been away from Charleston for so long that I have forgotten what to expect weather-wise. Since it's already September I keep expecting to see the first hints of the leaves changing colors and to feel the chill from dropping temperatures... then I remember that I am no longer in the Midwest where those things happen in September! This is Charleston... there is no smell in the air of burning leaves, there are no Fall festivals or colorful roadside pumpkin patches... here, you buy your pumpkin at the grocery store! I keep wondering to myself if there is a place with all of these things that I love from the Midwest as well as the things I enjoy from the Charleston - the smell of the ocean, roadside fruit trucks from the island farms and most of all - no snow! If you know of this place, I'd like to know!

On Friday, Robin met me after work and we went to St. Francis for my ultrasound. My left leg, which has a history of DVT, has continually bothered me over the years so I went and had it checked out again. The tech said she didn't see anything out of the ordinary so I have no idea what the next step will be. There has to be some way to figure out what is causing the pain and swelling that has lasted 10+ years! I'm assuming that Dr. Eads will get the results today and we will go from there.

After the test we went to see Jackie who is in ICU after they screwed up her surgery last week. Turns out we were too early for visiting hours so we braved traffic and headed to Bessingers in West Ashley for lunch. I had never eaten at Bessingers and really wasn't too thrilled with my cheeseburger. I'm not so sure it was real beef and I ended up cutting my patty in half so the burger to bun ratio would be better. Strange, I know. My appetite just hasn't been the same since starting my new diabetes prescription. Before the new Rx I never had a taste for food and now it's even worse. Most of the time I never finish my meal and end up throwing it away... I suppose that's a good thing, though. I do have to say that out of all the Bessinger brothers establishments Bessingers has the best onion rings! Delicious. That's another thing that I love about the South... or maybe, it's just Charleston and those damn BBQ people - In my travels I've never found another place that does onion rings like they do!

Delicious!

After lunch we went back to the hospital and visited Jackie, who was doing much better than the trolls at work reported. I'm not sure what they were up to with making it seem like Jackie was on death's door. I suppose it was some sort of need for self-importance or something. I feel bad for not going and visiting more, but since Mom and Dad passing away I'm not too keen on hanging out at hospitals if you know what I mean!

After the hospital we spent a couple of hours at my Mom's house... soon after we showed up so did Janine! We spent most of the time keeping an eye on her since her dogs are temporarily taking up residence in Mom's back yard. It's so annoying having her back in my life these days. I don't trust her a bit. She came in the house and wandered around eyeing everything. At one point she disappeared into the back bedrooms and I wanted to follow her so badly to see what she was up to! I gave her several of Mom's paintings and she asked for a few things in particular and I told her that I would look for them for her.

When I booted Traci out of the house she took several things including a painting of Mom's that was promised to Janine. Years ago Mom gave Traci a painting and Traci ended up leaving it in Washington State with her ex "Dill". The painting that was promised to Janine was one of the things that Traci took and now Janine wants it. I told Janine that she needed to get it herself and that I wanted nothing to do with it. Well, I get a phone call the other day from Janine stating that she asked Traci for the painting and Traci said she isn't giving it to her until she has the other one that was hanging in the living room. Um, what?? First of all, she LEFT her painting in Washington and who said she gets another? Now she's being snatchy and not giving Janine her painting? What's pissing me off about all of this is that I'm being forced to side with Janine! So, now I have to go go Mom's, get the other painting and go beat Traci's ass to get the one promised to Janine! Really, is it that serious?? They treated Mom like crap and now they want a keepsake? Unbelievable!

After all that drama we went home and took a much needed nap! We woke up around 2am and were both really hungry so we went to the IHOP up the street. I think it was the worst service that I have had in a really long time! They weren't that busy but the server just didn't have it together. I initially thought it was a language barrier since she seemed to be European (my guess was Czech) but I think it was just an off night for her! After our late night dinner we stayed up for a bit and eventually went back to sleep.

We didn't have to be anywhere until later the following day and it was nice to be able to just lounge around in soft pants! Sometimes the quiet times spent together, when we aren't running around doing a million things, are the times I cherish the most!