"I told him I'm not ready for this."

Friday, March 13, 1992

     Last Mon. night we went to Wal-Mart. Besides the usual stuff, we got a couple of peek-a-boo books for Ez. & a tape of nursery rhymes & songs. She wasn't as impressed with the books like I was. We haven't played the tape for her yet. I listened to it a little bit. It kind of tells a story & has the songs mixed in. She'll probably only like the parts with the children's voices. Tues. Barb kept Ez. for me while I went to see Dr. Lazarus. I'd planned on taking her with me but the weather was predicted to be stormy that aft.& I knew there was no way I could keep her from getting wet in the stroller. I should've taken her with me cause it didn't rain a drop the whole time I was gone. I kind of lucked out on a parking space. They're in the process of building a parking garage. The previous parking lot is now for staff only and the patient parking is where the admiral's house used to be–they moved it to a different spot. It's only gravel so there's no marked spaces. I had to drive around a bit then happened upon someone leaving a space close to the street by the hospital.

     I had to have PFT's done. It was different from the last time (June '90). There was this booth I had to sit in–about the size of a video game booth. The door was only closed for a couple of the tests. You don't have to put your teeth & lips around a mouthpiece anymore, just put your lips around the cardboard tube. The guy who did it was funny so it wasn't so bad. His leg was in a cast but I didn't find out what happened to it.

     Anyway, Dr. L. said my volume was down 200cc but that could be because of me just getting over this cold. She gave me a prescription for Monistat since I was getting another yeast infection from taking the Cipro. This was my last time to see her. She's transferring to Bethesda Naval Hosp. May 1. She said my new dr. will be Dr. O'Neil. He's currently working ICU so I'm supposed to call at the end of April to get an appt. with him in June. Don't know anything about him. Need to ask Beckey Kinder. She was there Tues. I didn't recognize her at first. She doesn't look too good. Her face is all puffy. I think she's taking some kind of medicine for her kidneys or liver. She's walking with a cane–there's some kind of problem with her knees. She said she just had surgery on her sinuses last week again & is coming down with a cold. We didn't have much time to talk. I need to call her next week.

     Since I didn't know how long I would be (I thought she might make me get an X-ray) Guy was going to pick Ez. up on his way home. I was done by about 2:30 & decided to go pick up my sewing machine. I'd called Mon. & they said it had been ready since Fri. It cost $60 cause the feed had to be replaced. The tuneup went up $10 since the last time–about 2 years ago. I got home about 3:30. I called Barb to ask how Ez. was doing and ask her to tell Guy to come bring Ez. home before he went to take care of Katie. Then I finished printing up the friends' letters. About 4:45 I got a call from Guy saying he just got off the ship. He hadn't called Barb cause he didn't have her number & there wasn't any phone book. So I called to tell her he was just now on his way. I told her she should've called me when he didn't show up. She said she kept thinking he'd be there any time. I'd just assumed he decided to go ahead & take her with him to feed Katie. I apologized to Barb but she said it was no problem. Guy said she was doing fine when she got there. He brought her home then went to take care of Katie while I fed her & fixed our supper. Then he had to leave around 8:30 to go pick Carole & the girls up at the airport. He said it started pouring down rain as soon as they went out of the airport. Katie was very glad to see them & went to her bowl & started eating.

     The ship was out for the day Wed. & Guy would've been home late but he had duty so he didn't come home at all. He did call though, which is difficult to do cause they don't have a direct line to radio. So we didn't get to talk long. I called Sue that night cause AT&T was having a special–11 cents a minute 5-9 pm Mon-Fri. We talked for almost an hour. Harold's doing fine. He takes naps at work when he's tired & they've started a low-cholesterol diet.

     Wed. aft. Ez. & I went to Boone to get my Monistat and some refills I'd called in. She'd slept till 7:10 then wasn't ready for a nap till almost 11:00. She woke up at 2:00 & we went to Boone about 3:00. Thankfully we didn't have to wait as long as I was prepared to.

     Can't remember how late she slept yesterday or how her naps went except she didn't go down for the aft. til 3:10. I was ready when Guy got home to go to Piece Goods for their Customer Appreciation Day sale. I was so glad he didn't have to work late. It wasn't as crowded as last time. I got fabric for our Easter dresses–hot pink on white polka dots for her & white on hot pink for me. I got some fabric for some summer things for her and for making her quiet book. I'd hidden away $40 in the books but I spent $65. Guy wasn't quite as upset after I told him about the $40.

     The ship was supposed to be out again today & Guy said not to expect him home before 8:00. But he came home at 1:00. It was too rough for them to do anything. (He got seasick the first time they went out, with help from the others talking about being seasick. It's been four years since he's been to sea–when the Redford went to New Orleans.) Anyway, they were only supposed to be out overnight this coming Mon. but now that's been changed to Mon-Thu. And he's got duty on Sun. & Thu. so we won't see him from tomorrow night till Fri. night. Maybe Fri. aft. I told him I'm not ready for this. I was prepared for him to be gone two nights but not for five. He said there's nothing he can do about it and that all the other wives would be upset too. I told him that doesn't make me feel any better. It'll be a long week.

     This morning when Guy left he said Ez. was sitting up playing. She must've gone back to sleep soon after he left cause I didn't hear her. I'm not sure if it was last night or another night that she was up two or three times within 30 minutes and by the last time, when she went back to sleep and stayed asleep but I couldn't go back to sleep for two hours. It was hard getting her to sleep tonight. We've taken turns & hopefully she's asleep to stay now. Guy's already zonked out. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep tonight cause I have to get up early tomorrow morning.