Our Road Trip Part1

Day 1 March 26, 2007

Since I was given the go ahead to travel, Tom and I (and Mrs. Hyde) left home at 6:30 am to begin our trip. Our first stop was down the street at Eggs R Us for breakfast. Then we headed to LabCorp so I could have my bloodwork done. We bought a $10 phone card to use on the trip so that afternoon I could call the doctor's office to get the results and see if my coumadin dosage needed changed. We were in and out and headed for the PA turnpike by 7:10 am.
I managed to stay awake for about 2 hours. The long car trips lull me to sleep.
That's why I never drive on these trips. I'm content to just sit back, enjoy the scenery and listen to music and nap off and on.

Our first stop was at an antique store in Maumee, OH which is approximately a 4 hour drive from where we live.
This is one of my favorites as it's huge and I can usually find lots of items to use in my crafting projects. I picked up an old flour sifter, an old enamel pan, vintage buttons. Even if I don't buy anything, I love to look.
We grabbed a hotdog for lunch, which really annoyed Mrs. H because she had her heart set on a cheddar cheese Arby sandwich. We ALWAYS get an Arby's on this trip our first day for lunch and Tom was not following routine. Like me, Mrs. H likes her Skippy peanut butter and melted cheese on her hot dogs and the only condiments were ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, jalepenos. She was aggravated but grudgingly ate a hot dog with everything but the jalepenos. She likes them, but not on hotdogs. Jalepenos in her opinion belong on Mexican food.
Both Mrs. H and I took a little nap after our lunch while Tom continued to drive us to our next destination which was Allen MI for some more antiquing. I picked up two big jars of buttons for $1 each which made me cringe how much I paid in Maumee for a few button cards. I got a cheesebox for $3 which is a bargain. They usually go for anywhere between $8 & $12. Another bargain was a half gallon Ball mason jar that I want to make a lamp with for $2.50 Again, they start at $12 and up. I prefer to look for them at fleamarkets and yardsales but finding one for that price at an antique mall, I couldn't pass it up.
By the time we were finished, it was time to call the dr. office for my results. This is one time I wish we had a cell phone. It's difficult to find a public telephone these days. We had to drive for miles before we found one.
Never having used a phone card before, I wasted precious calling minutes when I kept dialing the wrong number. I'm holding two cards, the phone card and the dr.'s business card with the number to call in for the ProTime results. What I did over and over again was dail the 1-800 number on the phone card but was dialing the last 4 numbers of the PIN number instead of the numbers I was supposed to use. I really need to have my eyes examined. When I realized what I was doing and how many minutes I'd wasted I was so annoyed with myself I started ranting and raving ( to myself I thought but it turns out Tom heard and saw my antics, like slamming the receiver down, stamping my foot, a curse word here and there and looking like a crazy woman possessed). Actually I was. That was probably Mrs. H.
Anyway, I finally dial all the correct numbers, to get a voice mail instead of a human being. THAT really irritates me and Mrs. Hyde. But I leave a message that I'm out of state and calling on a pay phone for my results. Could they please call my home phone and leave a message on my answering machine and I will call home later that night and have my daughter give me the message. That's what I planned to say, but got cut off halfway through it and Mrs. H took a conniption fit. That lady knows some good cuss words!!! Started out with 100 minutes and now we are down to 50.
Tom is sitting in the truck taking it all in. He says ' looks like the old Neenee is back'. Referring to how I must have been 'before surgery'. After surgery, I was so weak and in pain most of the time, I hardly opened my mouth except to ask for water or medication. I climb up in the truck and we head down the road about a half mile and he asks if the message went through. I said 'I sure hope so'.
He suggests I call our oldest daughter. It's now 4:30 and she is on her way home from work now. I could have her stop by our house on her way home, listen to the answering machine, call us at our hotel tonight and relay the information to me. Sounds like a good plan. We turn around and head back to the public phone ( in a gas station). Tom decides he might as well put some more gas in the truck while I call Deana. I make the call to her cell phone and the voice mail picks up. I figure she isn't picking up because she doesn't recognize the area code and phone number, so I leave a quick message telling her where we are, and to call the phone number that shows on her cell phone. We wait........the phone doesn't ring. Five minutes into the wait it dawns on me that this is Monday and Deana doesn't get off work at 4:30 like she does Tues. thru Fri. It's her late day and she gets off at 6:30 Grumble, cuss, grumble. I get in the truck, tell Tom and he starts to get irritated. With me. Hmmpph! First time since my surgery that he raised his voice to me. Mrs. Hyde remarked that he also should have realized her schedule that we BOTH knew about it. After a few minutes all was well again. He raised my left hand to his face and kissed it, said he didn't mean to snap at me but was just concerned about my medication. Mrs. H settled back down and napped and I stayed awake for a while longer. I figured I'd just call the office back the next day and take the same dose of coumadin that night that I had been taking.
Tom decided since it was still light out instead of getting a motel room in Quincy, a nearby town, that we'd drive on to South Bend Indiana and get a room there for the night.
We arrived around 6:30 got a room, Tom unloaded the truck and then we walked across the street to Ponderosa for dinner.
The motel phone rang about 8:00 It was Deana. She panicked when she got my message thinking something happened. I explained to her that we were fine, sorry to worry you and that I needed her to call the dr's. office the next morning for me and have them give her the information I needed and to call me back the next night when we'd be at our motel in St. Charles, ILL. Got to say hello to my two oldest grandkids ages 7 and 3 1/2 and I was good for the night.
Tom was out like a light by 9:00 and I watched some TV til 10:00.
Tomorrow is another day, another adventure.

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