Good news

I went to the hospital today, to see my Nana.  I took the toddler with me, because I thought she'd cheer her up.  I got to talk with my Nana before her surgery, and even help her out with her troublesome IV.  She was happy to see me, and I got to smooth her hair back and chat with her for a few minutes before the little one woke up and insisted she 'sit there' on the bed next to her.  I told her everything would be fine, that we loved her, and passed on some love from my brother too (he has been working alot and can't come yet).  I told her los muchachos (my boys) said they expect her to be outside throwing the ball at them with her 'new arm' when she feels better.  And that Mr W sent his best too.  I shooed my Dad and Tia out of the room so they could have a break, and we sat with her.  Nana is pretty bruised up, and the hand on her injured arm looks just awful, but she seemed to just want to get it all over with.  What a trooper.  I didn't want to leave, but I needed to take the little one back to my Mom's because she was antsy, and I didn't want to be chasing her around the cardiac care unit--don't think the nurses would have appreciated that!!  Nana got taken into surgery after I left. 

I did come back, though, and sat around waiting for her Dr to come out and let us know what was up...with my Tia, my cousin and her husband, and my Dad.  And I was proud of myself for not being nasty when my cousin said "I went in to see her, and she looked so OLD!"  I mean, I thought, no shit, sherlock, but I said, "Well, you know she will be 90 in March, she's not gonna look like she's 60."  I mean, just last week, I was thinking she looked more frail, but I thought her skin looked good, and I smiled today when I noticed she still had her brows penciled in--black, of course.  My Nana always was one for the makeup, a tradition she passed on to me, haha.  OY! and her perfume...I was never so happy as the day I got my driver's license, and I could give her a ride and pick her (and a friend or two) up from her weekly bingo night at the Elks lodge, but it was definately a job done with the windows rolled down...that Estee Lauder Youth Dew is a killer, I tell you.  She loves gambling, and my Dad refuses to play anything that involves la chanca (chance) with her, because somehow, she always wins.  She always has the biggest pile of pennies when we play loteria (to borrow a line from the cartoonist that draws 'La Cucaracha' "it's like bingo, gringo") but somehow she passes on the luck to Mr W and lets him win once or twice.  But I digress...so my cousin goes on to say, kinda under her breath, "well, I guess I don't see her that often, like every weekend, like I should..." and I didn't rise to it, even though I could have and I really, really wanted too.  I mean, showing up once or twice a year has sufficed so far, and now we have the guilt??  Whatever.  I said something along the lines of how much my kids enjoy seeing her, and saying goodnight to her, etc.  And I do see her every weekend, yeah, I visit my parents weekly and she lives there, but I'd visit her anyway even if she weren't there.  And I'll admit that when she has the tv blaring on 'Sabado Gigante' and she pretends she doesn't know its me on phone and hangs up, it gets on my nerves, but sue me.  I still make a point to pop in for a minute and see if she needs anything, and recount some silly story from my week.  And she always tells me to take care of myself and the kids, and that pesky Mr W that she adores when I leave. 

So the surgery went WELL!!  The dr said that she didn't need the huge repair, her shoulder would be ok, and they put a pin in her arm.  Hopefully we can take her home in a couple of days.  Equally hopefully, I can talk my Dad down from trying to get a team of nurses to come and go from the house for her.  Really, we are butting heads right now because he is (rightfully, I know) concerned she will fall again, and wants a hospital bed, and a potty, and the whole nine yards, and really, the bathroom is very close, and okay, maybe she can have a hospital bed for a week or so, but man, he's wigging.  My poor Dad!  I can only hope that the hospital staff can make him see reason, because she really needs to stay mobile, I think, and I'm concerned that overdoing it like that will not help her regain her fuerza (strength) but my Dad es muy capichudo (stubborn) and he's kinda pissed that I'm not on board here.  I'm sure we'll compromise, or he'll see that it might not be practical... My Mom will ultimately wind up taking care of her, and she feels like I do, so maybe he'll listen to her.  Or not.

I saw my other Nana today too, so it was a good day all around.  She lives with my Tia Tessie, and they live like a mile or so from my Mom's.  I may pop in tomorrow with all my crew (hey, we're an instant houseful) to say hello, and torment my Tio with all the kids while he's trying to watch tv.  We can be the Sunday halftime show!!  And I'm taking Mr W along, whether he likes it or not, because I need him to settle something for my Tia.  See she's convinced that my middle son, Ben, looks exactly like Mark Grace, and she gives me shit about it all the time. "When will you admit it, mija, ese muchacho no es de Mr W. "   Seriously, the last time she started teasing me, it was so bad, I finally stopped protesting, and just let her go on.  In front of her brother-and-sister-in-law.  It doesn't help matters that the first time she did it, I joked back and encouraged her.  No, now I think Mr W should defend his honor on his own, since no one's taking my word for it.  Besides, Ben resembles my husband to such a degree that I can't believe she teases me at all!! ;)  With my luck, she'll swab Mr W's mouth for DNA and send it off for paternity testing (because I know she's watched one too many episodes of CSI.  "Here, mijo, have this soda...")  In spite of all this, I still love going over there.  It's loud, and can get obnoxious, but we love each other, and sometimes that's the best time there is.

 

And speaking of good times...there's a certain someone who is totally on my list right now, at least until he gets home.  How dare he come home for lunch, kiss me like that, and then leave????  It's gonna cost him...about an hour's worth of sleep, if I can make it past the preliminaries.  :)