Thanksgiving was a bust!

As you know my MIL has been very ill right? If you don't know that, have you even been reading this blog??? Go read it now...

GO ON!

I'll wait!

Seriously! DO IT!!!

Ok, you done?

Now that you know what I'm talking about, I can continue. (Sheesh! Pay attention next time would ya?!?)

As I may or may not have mentioned before, my MIL is the kind of woman who has the magazine-cover-picture-perfect-home. Nothing is ever out of place! You know how you go see the tours of the brand new homes in the newly built subdivisions and they have that one perfect model home at the beginning to show you what it would look like if you lived there? And, if you had a decorator, a full time chef, a full time cleaning person, and nobody *EVER* walked on the carpets once you lived there? Yes, that would be what her house looks like. She has cream/off white carpets with NO marks on them. And they're not brand new. They just LOOK brand new! Don't ask how she does it because I don't know!

Anyways, not only is her house like that but her holiday gatherings and table settings are the same way. Everything is beautiful and shiny and perfect. Like Martha effin Stewart herself set the table! Every year she does all the cooking from start to finish. All on her own. Meaning you are not allowed to bring anything and if you do, so help you gawd, you'll be on her shit list! I made the mistake of trying to bring something when J and I first got together. Thinking like other normal families that when someone says, "no it's ok, don't bring anything", they really mean, go ahead and bring whatever. No one ever REALLY means DON'T bring anything. Right? WRONG! Everyone thinks that way except for my MIL. I think that was the first time I ever really knew the true meaning of "STINK EYE!" Wow! I'd never seen anything like it before! But I digress... Me and my MIL have never had the perfect relationship but we're on our way. We've grown very close since she's been ill and I'm extremely happy we are getting along so great these days.

Anyways, this year would be different. For one, MIL is way too sick to do all of it on her own. Actually she's been too sick to do any of it on her own. Secondly, this could very well be her last Thanksgiving we get to spend with her. So you can see where I'm going with that one. Anyways, when she was hospitalized the first time in October, I told my new sister in law and my MIL's pseudo adopted daughter that we would need to make sure to get Thanksgiving all taken care of on our end so that MIL wouldn't have to do a thing. Long story short, they planned the whole thing without me before I could bat an eyelash! So, in my procrastination daze, I was told I could make, um, the potatoes lol.

So anyways, I'd taken last Wednesday off so I could start preparing for that Thursdays dinner. Me and B were across the street with my MIL, her adopted daughter and granddaughter all day long that day, baking pies and cookies, making the jello salads she serves, the muffins, everything. We had a great time. Laughing and joking. Forgetting the muffins in the oven so they came out extra "baked." D making the raspberry jello too watery so it wouldn't set up. There was a lot of laughing and joking. It was great.

Late Wednesday afternoon, when B and I headed back to our house to start the preparations for the things we were in charge of for dinner, (READ: POTATOES lol), B started complaining of a scratchy throat. As the night wore on, he whined more and more. The more potatoes I peeled and diced, the more he complained about how he didn't feel good. We went to bed and during the night he started puking. I was hoping and praying that he had food poisoning. I know right? What kind of mother hopes and prays for food poisoning? It was better then the alternative. I knew if it was only food poisoning, then he'd be fine by dinner time the next afternoon. AND that he wasn't contagious!!!!! But, if it was the flu, we would have to skip going to my in laws since she's about to start chemo and can't be around anyone sick right now.

After a very long night, of B up every hour on the hour getting sick, he woke the next morning to even worse symptoms. We were politely told not to come to my inlaws for dinner. I was very upset. It seems like everyday there is something new, something else goes wrong. Something, or someone, keeps throwing all these obstacles in my way. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong! It's been that way since my brother was killed a few years back but it seems the past year has been the most horrible one so far.

My family was very excited to have us for thanksgiving after all. We had told them we wouldn't be coming this year for dinner and they politely understood that because of what was happening with my MIL's health, that we wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. They've been great about all of it. When I called them Thursday so extremely upset about not being able to spend Thanksgiving with my inlaws, they asked us to come over right away. It turned out great after all. We spent the day with my sister, her boys, my mom and my neice. It was a great day all in all.

The rest of the weekend was pretty miserable though. First I caught the flu from B and then J got it too. All of us are still down with this horrid flu and can't seem to shake it. I'm hoping we get better soon. We need to be in tip top shape to be around my MIL at all so we're trying to rest up and get better quickly.

MIL was supposed to start chemo today but for some reason, the doctors have postponed it to Friday of this week. We'd appreciate any and all prayers, good wishes, healing thoughts, etc etc that you can send our way. We're going to need them to get through this!

Again, sorry it's been so long since I've posted on my little blog here. Life has been crazy and hectic but I hope to get posting more and more.

Love to all!

Andrea