Off to Ireland!

We are all packed for our trip to Ireland—the place our Irish pastor calls “the real Holyland”. I printed our boarding passes and played the role of help desk with the other relatives who coming with us: Kathy’s two sisters and maybe one brother in law.

He is still on the fence about whether he will board the plane or not. He must decide before he goes through security, so we don’t know what he’ll do until he does it. Saturday night he said he wasn’t coming, then he changed his mind. He did check in, but that doesn’t mean he has to get on the plane. His OCD is giving him fits, such that he did start taking Ativan, but that only dulls the symptoms for a while. He called us many times Friday night and into today with questions.

Shane took Max to the store last weekend to buy Mothers Day flowers for hi mom. He didn’t choose them on the basis of how they looked or the varieties included in the bouquet—he made his choice based on how they smelled. We saw him briefly this past week before they took off for bunch ball practice (or soccer, as it’s known in some circles). We explained that he would not see us for two weeks, and that we were going to visit Auntie Ann in Ireland. Kathy asked him if he wanted us to get him a present over there and all he said was “Bring me back something cool—the coolest thing you can find.” So—we have our assignment.

I took Friday off to prepare for the trip, but I still stopped in the office at 7am, before anyone else got there. I spent four hours Thursday night putting together some training schedules for the two new people who start on Monday. My boss had hoped that I would have time to do that, and since the regulation clock ran out, I had to go into overtime to get them done. He did come into the office just as I was leaving, so he was pleased to see what I accomplished.

We talked to our daughter Ann a couple of times Friday night and Saturday, so now it’s all over but the boarding.