#2869 my Thanksgiving weekend

Would you look at that? The Thanksgiving weekend is over, and now Christmas is less than a month away. This year has flown by for me.

It was road trip time again. My work shut down around noon on Wednesday, so MT and I hit the road by about 2:00, heading once more for Northern California. We had nice weather and a smooth drive to our halfway point destination of Winnemucca, NV. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. It smelled weird in the lobby that night. We've stayed there before, and it is a nice enough place, but it was weirdly smelly that day.

I will mention that I was an anxiety-ridden basket case when we left. I hated leaving T behind on a holiday. I felt like a terrible mother and it really bothered me. On top of that, I was just totally stressed out by everything that's going on with my aunt, moving her, closing up the house, just all of it. I had an anxiety attack as we were starting out. I was crying pretty hard, and struggled to calm down enough to  catch my breath. I considered taking an anti-anxiety pill, but the medicine puts me right to sleep, and I didn't think that was fair to MT. The stress had an affect on my health the first couple of days of the week, too, in the form of a migraine headache and severe stomach pain. I was a mess. I hadn't been eating (VERY unusual for me,) and my body systems were all jacked up. 

Fortunately, I did pull myself together and I was good until we got to Winnemucca. We had dinner at a mid-century casino that reeked of stale, decades-old cigarette smoke. The food was okay, but I was glad to finish the meal and get back to the stinky motel. I climbed in bed, but I just laid there with my eyes open while MT deeply snoozed. I gave in and took the anti-anxiety pill. It did the job, and I got some good sleep. I felt way better in the morning, even though the sky was dropping down chunky rain which briefly turned to snow. We got through the rain and snow, and as we headed over Donner Pass, the sky was clear. 

It is still colorful, mellow autumn in Northern California. The trees wore brilliant colors, and the sun had that muted golden quality that makes fall the best season. 

We arrived in Dixon in the late afternoon on Thursday. We took Uncle Lee and Aunt Mary out for Thanksgiving dinner. About the only place that was open in town was Denny's, so that's where we went. It was a good place to go because it wasn't too busy or loud, and they have a pretty big menu. None of us ordered typical Thanksgiving fare. Mary had a cheeseburger, Lee had bacon and eggs, MT had salmon, and I chicken fried steak that I ordered from the 55+ menu. (!!) No shame...it was exactly the right size portion for me. Lee and I had pecan pie for dessert. MT had pumpkin pie, and Mary passed on pie. 

We were at the house all day on Friday. The house is something of a family museum. My dad's family moved to Dixon from Oklahoma in 1948. Most of my grandma's family came along, or were already there. She had seven brothers, I think. My grandparents bought an old schoolhouse, and their four children along with my grandma's parents lived there. My aunt Mary never moved out. She's lived there since she was four years old. My uncle Dewey, who passed away in July, moved back to Dixon from Idaho when his mom (my grandma) died in the 1980s. The place has layers of history. Lots of stuff came in, but not all that much went out. It's kind of overwhelming to go in there and see all of it. 

Uncle Lee is doing his best to get things ready to move. My aunt's caretaker was really helpful with getting Mary's clothes sorted into clothes to take and clothes to donate. There are thousands of photos in the house, and Mary wants to take all of them, lol. I took the photos of my family, and Lee gathered the photos of his family. There are still gobs of photos that are going with Mary to her new home. 

I documented every room in the house and all of the outbuildings by taking photos. I took over 300 photos of the property, inside and out. MT and I "secured the castle" by making sure all the windows are secure, installing new locks where they were needed, and putting things that were out in the yard into the buildings to be locked up. MT was incredibly helpful, kind, and patient this weekend. I'm really thankful for everything he did and is doing for my side of the family.

MT and I left around 3:00 on Saturday afternoon, heading back to Winnemucca for the night. We got there between 7:30 and 8:00, I think. We stayed at the same Holiday Inn Express. It was not stinky anymore. Maybe they had painted or used some funky cleaner on Wednesday, but all of that odor was gone and it was nice again. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that is attached to the hotel. It was pretty good. The margarita was quite tasty. We slept great.

This morning we got on the road around 9:00. We stopped at my favorite coffee house in Nevada, which happens to be in Battle Mountain. I had a pecan pie latte and it was awesome. We stopped for a quick bite to eat in Wells, then got home between 3:30 and 4:00. Mostly we have been in a horizontal position this afternoon. I laid on the couch, covered in dogs, and had Harry Potter on the TV. MT was stretched out on the bed. I didn't snooze, but it sure felt good to just lay there. (lie there?)

I expect the next five days to be pretty intense. For one thing, work will be extremely busy. I am planning on 10+ hour days Monday through Friday. In addition, I will be making sure the assisted living place has all the paperwork they need for Mary to move in on Dec. 4. I also have a few other paperwork things to do regarding the house in Dixon next week. On Friday night, I'll be flying back to Dixon. Next weekend, Lizzie and I are driving Mary to her new place in the Prescott, AZ area. 

One day at a time. Monday is up first. Wish me well!

~~~

Here's a little bit of art I did tonight. The prompt was fish.

Good night!

xo