A Quick Update . . .

We arrived safely at O'Hare in Chicago Saturday night at 11pm after an uneventful flight. We left Chico a few minutes late, and arrived in San Francisco about 1:35. We were glad that we didn't have to rush off to the next flight to Chicago, which was leaving at 1:55, but the downside was that the next one after that wasn't until 5:10!! So we had a few hours to kill at the airport. We ate lunch there ($22 for cheeseburgers, fries and cokes -- YIKES!!) and then I browsed a bookstore there, Bill read his book and dozed a bit and I surfed the internet. We boarded, and I had a seat in the exit aisle and Bill was a couple of rows back. When I sat down, I was at the window, a man was in the aisle seat, and the middle seat was empty. I knew it was a full flight, and just a matter of time that the person came to sit in the middle. However, I was happy with my leg room in the exit row, especially since it was a 4 hour flight, and I knew I was going to have to use the restroom several times during the flight.

Well, Bill was in the middle seat in his row, and the gal that was at the window seat offered to switch with me so we could sit together. Well, I hated to give up the legroom, but it was worth it to be able to sit next to Bill, so we switched! Well, of course, the middle person for the exit row never showed!!! If I had just waited, Bill could have come up and sat next to me, and we would have been more comfortable!!!! Arg! That's pretty much the way the weekend was going. And the aisle we were in was Aisle 13, and my overhead light didn't work, so as soon as it got dark, I couldn't read. ARRRRRRRRRG. So aggravating. And yes, after the soda and water we had, I had to use the restroom several times, trying the patience of the guy sitting in the aisle seat. But I warned him, and offered to switch, telling him that I would be happy to sit in the aisle because I knew I was going to have to get up several times, and he didn't want to. So that is on him. Oh well. The flight was smooth, the movie was boring, but I did get to read until the last hour or so. It's weird to fly east in the evening, you're flying into the dark losing 2 hours, and it gets dark really suddenly.

Bill's brother-in-law Rick picked us up at the airport at 11:15pm, bless his heart. I felt bad that he had to pick us up but that truly was the only flight we could get at the last minute. He really didn't seem to mind. Good thing he didn't have to go to work the next day (today). Our flight out on July 1 leaves at 6am, so I booked us at the O'Hare Hilton hotel for Saturday night, so they don't have to get up at 3am to drive us to the airport. I got a super deal through Hotwire at the Hilton. Normally $155 a night, we got it for $69!!! Wooohoo!! We will have them drive us there Saturday afternoon.

Anyway, this morning we woke up at 8:15 Chicago time (6:15 Chico time) after going to bed at 1:30am Chicago time. We were tired, but we're slowly getting used to the time change. We went over to the hospice care to see Bill's mom about 11am. She wasn't having a good day. She was in a lot of pain, so they gave her morphine, and she was really out of it most of the day. She slept most of the time, occasionally rousing for a minute or two. She had a few bites of food and a few sips of water, and that's about it. Rick said to be prepared for a shock, because she was so completely different than the last time we saw her, which was in March of 2006. I'm glad he prepared us, because she looked really bad. I just hope that hospice can make her comfortable and that she doesn't suffer. I hope this doesn't drag on and on, for the sake of the family.

I'ts late, and I need to go. I will blog as much as I can while we're here. Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers.