Hotel life

I love Embassy Suites. Specifically, the one in LaVista. We have had occassion to be in Omaha two weekends in a row, and although we could drive home, both times we decided to stay. The Embassy Suites in LaVista is less than a year old, so everything still looks great and well taken care of. The rooms really are suites, so there is a separate "living room" and bedroom. Two televisions. Refrigerator. Microwave. Kitchen area, with granite counter tops. Cute decor. Comfortable bed. Nice swimming pool and hot tub. Exercise room. Manager's reception every evening with free drinks and snacks. Wonderful breakfast.
We got a nice price by using our AAA card, so it was not really expensive, just a little. We figured that when we can no longer live at home we will get rid of all our stuff, take one suitcase full of clothes and move into a hotel. It would be cheaper than a retirement home.

I missed Christmas . .

this year because I was sick. It came on over the course of a few days: Kind of an "off" feeling on Sunday, nasty cough on Monday, full-blown cold on Tuesday. I spent almost all of Tuesday and Wednesday in bed attempting to recover for Christmas Day. Unfortunately, this did not work. I have not had good experiences with o-t-c cold remedies and tend to avoid them, but I did take a lot of aspirin and an anti-histamine on Tuesday, as well as gargling with hydrogen peroxide to kill all those germs in my throat. On Wednesday I could not see because my eyes were watering so much, and for a time I felt like my eyes would explode, probably from the sinus pressure, although my nose was running so much that I don't know how there possibly could have been any pressure. On Thursday morning I got up and took a bath and got dressed, anticipating that I could pull myself together to get to Liz and Rob's for Christmas dinner and watching the grandchildren open presents. Dave gave me an Advil cold and sinus, which sounded like the right pill to take. I had to lie down because the process of dressing exhausted me. I fell asleep and did not move for 2 hours. Dave came and looked at me several times to make sure I was still breathing. When it came time to go get aunt Marge and Eleanor, I just plain could not do it. I stayed in bed and Dave left, recruiting Dan to help with the little old ladies. (Picking up a 93-year-old and an 88-year-old from a retirement home is not a task for the faint of heart. It takes stamina, determination and patience, and more than one person.) My normal reaction to being left behind on Christmas Day would to feel sorry for myself and probably shed a few tears of self-pity. Didn't happen. I was so relieved that I would not have to pretend to feel OK that I started to feel better. Weird. I got up and watched "The Bucket List" on HBO. Then I went back to bed til Dave got home and filled me in on all the good stuff I had missed. Throughout the evening I talked on the phone to everyone who had been there during the day, and I really did start to feel better. As is often the case, I second guessed my decision to stay home, and it was the right choice.

Natalie and Grandpa Dave