Well, that was just not much fun at all, but, it's done. We are home and I've had time enough to recuperate (and get the laundry caught up).
Did I mention that I really hate to travel? Yeah, thought I did and this trip was just a reminder of why.

Seven hours to Lebanon. Our room wasn't bad, but, sure not great either. The motel was old and pretty shabby, but, clean enough and it was cheap. We rented two (adjoining) rooms for about a hundred bucks so we had plenty of room and everyone had their own bed.

The kids wanted to swim as soon as we got there. They weren't in the water 15 minutes before it started to rain...
so, we went shopping.

The knife store was awesome. Seth bought a beautiful collectible knife. I bought Levi a Chicago Cutlery set of a santaku and paring knife and Christi a necklace.

We decided to wait until morning to go to the wine & cheese outlet and the chocolate superstore since Em was really hurting from the trip. But, alas, our plans didn't turn out that way.

Sethy's head started stopping up and he felt like crap. Em was in a lot of pain even after two pain pills, but, that wasn't the worst of it.

Saturday morning about 5:30 she woke up sick, sick. Her tummy was hurting so bad she was crying and she had diarrhea. I got her back to sleep, she slept another couple of hours and woke up again crying with cramps. I had sent Mark to find a store and some Immodium. After I got her to eat a piece of toast I gave her some meclazine and the Immodium and we decided to head for home. She slept most of the way, waking up two or three times to have to go to the bathroom, still sick and whining.

Once we got home, back in her environment she relaxed, slept and feels better today.

Sethy still feels like crap. I allowed the doctor to put him on antibiotic for his face against my better judgement and he has just had one cold after another since then. I told him NO more. I ordered him some special supplements and asked Mark to stop and buy probiotics tomorrow. We are going to work on getting his immune system back like it should be.

Today, I have been up at Mother's trying to sort through the mess she left things in. She had everything she owns packed up into little parcels, purses stuffed full of socks, shoe boxes full of underwear, plastic sacks stuffed full of clothes, stacks and stacks of clothes folded neatly, tied with bits of string or rag and laying out on the beds.
To me it has felt like when someone has died and you have to go through their things. I may never see her again, she may never come back to her home. I just don't think she can ever be left alone again, and, even if she does come back here she won't recognize these things as being hers. But, I'm washing them and putting them away where they belong anyway. Just because.