Off to the islands... flood warnings and all

Late last night after I picked up my 4 kids from church activities (it’s a Wednesday night thing, all of Oklahoma keeps Wednesdays nights obligation-free for kids, a lotta schools don’t even assign homework so the kids can go to church activities) I got on the phone with Delta Vacations to secure a hotel for tomeorro & rental car for later when I head to North Shore to stay with family. I began to look at what there is to do in Hawaii during a state declared emergency- flash flooding has been happening all week. My relatives we were going to meet were not accessible due to Kam Hwy shutting down, water flooded across it. Hoping after the weekend we will be able to get to Hauula, fingers crossed!

So my daughter that I’m taking, she’s the right gal to bring along on a trip like today. Actually she’s bringing me along- it was her Christmas gift. If I’d have known back in November when I bought these tickets that we’d have to pay Walgreens $260 plus rent a car and get a hotel now... I might not have booked this trip. But actually, the Waikiki hotel for two nights and the week long car rental was free using my skymiles so it’s not like I’m out any money. We just have to spend more time down in the tourist trap and can’t get to North shore where our only plans were to hang up hammocks and read. And maybe if Four feels up to it, attend a luau and see the PCC.

Right now I’m trying to sleep in the OKC airport’s luxurious double chair between the pole and a giant Rolex sign by gate 11. We got here 45 min before boarding, which is actually quite a long wait based on how close I usually cut it.

I was in the ER 6 nights ago with a 8.6mm kidney stone that has not yet passed and my urologist (love this man) just shook his head when he took X-rays again yesterday to see how it looks and he goes “Girl, I don’t have to tell you it’s still there... but I also know it’s a waste of my time to tell you I’d like you to stay home and let me do surgery and get that out. But honey, you do you... I know you will anyway. I’ve seen you pass some big stones before so I've got faith in you. And they’ve got emergency rooms in Hawaii too, I’m just hoping you aren’t in too much pain. He offered me all the usual meds that I politely declined because I have all of my pain meds left from last time still. And he goes “call me if you need anything, you girls have a good time!” And I decided right there that I don’t mind the after hours calls from my docs asking me pharmacy questions because they don’t mind the after hours calls from me (sometimes not even in the same state) asking them for Bactrim or Zofran or can-you-get-this-thing-outta-my-kids-ear so I can come into work and help you with your patients today. They are all super nice and help with whatever I need. Eespecially this particular urologist since I do this about three times a year. The other docs who see my kids all know them well and are just as kind and helpful. I love working in a hospital. I love my coworkers and they seem like they appreciate me- it’s good to feel needed.

Parking the car this time was fun, I’m leaving it in the shuttle parking lot so One will be able to pick it up when she flies in tomorrow night to watch the kids. I bought one of those hide a key thingies and put it house key and the car key in it. She’s staying till the day before we get back and she’ll leave it exactly the same for me... so my kiddo will be here but I won’t see her at all. Sad. Glad her flight was a free skymiles one. And glad she’s coming in two weeks again for Six’s baptism. I sure love how all my kids are travel savvy and flights don’t bother them. Even Three started flying on his own this year- and his first go, he had a connection. He did great, except for after he got through security he was walking toward his gate and discovered he had a pocketknife and he WENT BACK TO SECURITY so they could take it from him. I explained then that security was the only place they check you for stuff like that and hey, if they didn’t catch it then that’s on them. You’re a kid with a knife in your pocket not a terrorist. We all laughed and he said it wasn’t that nice a knife anyhow and he wasn’t upset to lose it.

Airports are interesting to me, they try to make them feel so modern and futuristic but then they all have these retro-displays like the Denver airport with their “flight attendants through the ages” uniform displays. I love the cowboy hat ones and wonder how they pulled that off getting people luggage in and out of the overhead bins and not knocking that off their head or hitting the other passengers as they duck over to pass out the Dixie cups of ice with a few drops of Sprite.

My kids all have flown a lot- and One & Two are the ones we call to find good deals on tickets since they’ve mastered the art of SkipLagged. They get OKC-SLC one way flights all day long for 6,500 skymiles even last minute because they buy the OKC-VEGAS ticket with a layover in SLC. These hidden city tickets always made Dad anxious. Like driving in the carpool lane made Grandpa T nervous, even with a car full of people. He’d always say “oh, I don’t know. We shouldn’t be in the carpool lane. That’s for carpools.” And Dad and I would shake our heads and wonder.

Travel has always been my thing, it was something Dad did with me just because I wanted to do it- and he wasn’t very often accommodating these past 6 years. The past 10 months he anxiously awaited our many travels because he knew he was free to his life of bad behavior on those weekends and that I wouldn’t accidentally happen upon him in his riotous living and embarrass him. Looking back on family travel, Dad was always irritable, anxious, grumpy and couldn’t wait to get home. It all makes sense now, as tobacco withdrawal symptoms were killing him the whole time. Can’t be on a family trip and use, if your family has no idea you’re an addict. The red flags were all over the place, I guess I never wanted to see them so I just didn’t.

The Tennessee trip with just our five youngest kids was the very worst. Dad was awful on day 1, but he was unbearable by the end of it. We all got on his nerves. For breathing. And it was “all my fault” because coming out of the rental car pickup at the airport that first night, tired and wanting to get to the hotel- he wouldn’t show me the iPhone map but also wouldn’t tell me which way to go... so I snapped at him. He freaked out and acted like I had come at him swinging a broomstick. Which I’ve never done, but he did to me last month. Guess I’m an awful wife. What can I say?

I am glad to go to Hawaii but I am so sad for the reasons. I wanna make this the greatest trip Four has ever had! Hopefully we find some grand adventure to take our mind off our family that is disintegrating back home. Hopefully Dad doesn’t take the opportunity of extra freedom and do something dumb again to make our bad situation worse. I’m really praying that Five will want to spend time at dad‘s place and can try to see the good that is still there. If not, we have back up plans in place for the day before One gets here, thank heaven for her Prom Date who has hung around as a family friend all these years later. He’ll come stay with Five while the other kids go stay at dads if needed, I just hope it is not needed.