We arrived back in Minnesota April 15th, and their weather had been unseasonably gorgeous. Apparently our presence automatically heralds rain, wind, and cold: it's been SO crappy. It even snowed once. They're going to start banning us at the Iowa border...
Ron had to go back to Louisiana right away, as his Mom was dying. Our friends Brian and Joy drove him down there, and Sweet Mary (Ron's Mom) left us April 21st. I had to stay here and start working.
While he was gone, my RVing skills got tested. I ran out of propane ( in cold weather, this cheap-ass rig goes through propane like grass through a goose) and I'd never changed those tanks myself before. Then the next morning when I flushed the toilet, it didn't go down very far. Went outside and pulled the little handle to dump the black tank, and nada. Hmmm. Got the awning stick and tried to unclog the toilet (that worked once before when it was frozen) but again, nada. The following attempts to unclog it could easily have been included in Robin Williams' RV film, including having my very tall friend Kristin holding the sewer hose up high (both of us at the top of a rickety ladder) while I ran water into the end of it with the hose. Till it was full. (The water was supposed to push any clog at the outlet back into the tank, but it didn't) Then an Uh Oh moment when we realized we probably couldn't lower it to the ground-drain-hole without spilling any... Now THAT's a good friend.
So (get this) I had to pee in the shower for several days, which requires leg strength and balancing skills I didn't think I had. I used the campground bath house for the other job. TMI? Too bad, it's my blog.
Other stuff? Sure. No satellite TV for 2 weeks, and I was up on the roof in the wind and rain several times trying to put new connectors on the cables. Unsuccessful. So I crocheted a lot, read books, napped. We were broke after having to spend all our discretionary funds on the side trip to Louisiana, so I ate peanut butter, eggs (had coupons for 68 cents/dozen at Cub), and Mexican soup for 2 weeks. I had plenty of gin, though, so that helped.
Ron unplugged the tank when he got home. Turned out it WAS full, and apparently Mexican toilet paper really doesn't dissolve whatsoever.
Work is OK so far. The patients were glad to see me, which feels great. My muscles were a tad atrophied from sitting in a lawn chair for 8 months, so my legs and feet hurt after those 13 hour shifts. There aren't many sit-down jobs there.
It's been SO fun having Dylan and Nora for sleepovers. They never stop. And last week, it was a very cold rainy day, and they couldn't play outside, and I had to work, and Ron was running out of fun things to do with a 2 and 4 year old in a 250 square foot space. So I took them home after work. That's one benefit of grandkids over kids: you can take them home.
Jon's doing such a terrific job as a single dad. He does have a resident Nanny (Grampa Nay) which makes it all possible. Jon's Master's program final projects required some 24/7 intensive work last week, and he got-er-done, brilliant work. And then he scored a great summer job on campus, starts today.
Our Mississippi River site is still beautiful, but I'm unable to take much pleasure in it because my dog isn't sitting outside barking at geese. It's the neighbor's dog leaving shit piles on our site, and I'm THIS close to telling them off. Plus the weather sucks.
Oh! The VA finally accepted me into the Women's Clinic! After 8 years on the waiting list. (Ron is 100% disabled, PTSD, and I'm supposed to be covered 100% also, but had to wait due to the returning vet backlog.) My appointment is May 24, and I have a LONG list for them.
That's most of it. Will get photos up soon: I have a new mini-notebook-computer-thing and haven't quite figured out how to load them yet.
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