eurydicebound

Finally my back is loosening up. Last night nothing would pop or move, but today I've got movement all over the place. Much improved, all things considered.

This has been the traveling-est month I've had in some time. I've scarcely had two days together between trips.

First, there was Bonnaroo. For those who don't know, Bonnaroo is a huge music festival held on a farm outside a small town in Tennessee, about 60 miles or so from Nashville. It was held two weeks ago, so mid-June in southern Tennessee. This means that it is a) OMG hot, b) OMG dusty, and c) full of campers who are equally hot and dusty. There were around 95k people here this year. The music was great... I picked up a couple of new bands I'm a fan of, namely He is We and White Buffalo, along with renewed interest in and affection for Cold War Kids and Neon Trees. The Black Keys rocked like nobody's business, and there are a couple of My Morning Jacket songs that caught my attention.

The food is surprisingly good for festival food, and I had a good time looking at all the vendors. There was even a Ferris wheel, which I enjoyed quite a bit (hadn't ridden on one in ages). What I didn't like is that taking diuretics (like the water pills I take for my blood pressure) makes you vulnerable to heat exhaustion. I was nearly fainting-levels of ill three days running despite my best efforts to avoid it, not realizing that lovely side effect of my meds beforehand. Makes perfect sense, but I didn't realize it ahead of time.

I have to say, while on the one hand I enjoyed the visit, the physical problems I had make me reluctant to go back, at least not without an air conditioned place to stay during the day. Add in my social anxiety and that we were camping with people I didn't know, and that plans regarding that camping changed on a moment to moment basis while we were setting up, and that triggered a meltdown and a half over the course of the weekend.... yeah. It sort of confronts all my challenges in one sunblock-flavored, patchouli-scented weekend. Next year the timing won't work at all, so there's another year to figure out how I feel about it before I have to decide. I'm glad I went this year, though. For all the downsides, I did have fun and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see what it was like.

Then, last weekend, after about two days at home, I left and went to Oklahoma for the weekend to see my parents and visit my grandfather again. It's been something like two years since I made it home, and more since I went to see my grandfather (and since before my kids that I've been home without children in tow). The last time I was home, Papa had broken his arm and so going to see him was out. This time, though, he was well, so I got to see him after all.

My dad is doing so much better. Mom's got him smoking electronic cigarettes, since he can't seem to give up the physical habit completely, and he's happy with them. He was really happy to have me there, and we could talk about things somewhat. It's probably never going to be like it was... he can't track beyond his immediate life and he can't access a lot of his memories reliably, nor can he really build from one thing to another. He's able to hold a conversation a bit, though, and follow along with prompting from Mom, and that's really amazing. I'm proud of him.

So, I get there, and we went from the airport to Bricktown in OKC. Mom and Dad had already eaten, but they wanted to buy me dinner, so they split a burger and we ate (after going to the Bass Pro Shop to buy some clothes for Dad). It's definitely grown up as an area since they started it the whole ground-up makeover. I have to give them full props, even as I still look at the plan to move I-40 and think, "seriously???"

We had dinner and walked around a bit and didn't die. Then we drove back to Lawton to drop Dad off, and then home. We didn't get in until around midnight, which is the fist time my mom's stayed up that late in ages. The next day was SHOPPING! Mom hadn't gone shopping with her daughter in ages, so that was what we did. I tried on everything she threw at me, some of which went well and some of which was horrid. I ended up with two pairs of sandals, a new purse, and a variety of both casual and moderately professional apparel. Dad was very patient with us. At the end of the day, we drove out to Medicine Park and had dinner at the Plantation, which was lovely even as the whole place was too hot to get out and explore the way I wanted. Bonnaroo taught me about wandering in the heat, you see.

The next day we did some residual shopping and went to see Green Lantern, which we all liked. I know the reviews sucked--I don't care. It was fun. From there we went to another steakhouse for dinner, and this time I got chicken fajitas instead of steak, as my body rebelled about so much red meat at once. Dropped Dad off, went home, fell over.

This was the night, by the way, that the mirror that hung above my bed decided to fall as I slept. Happily, it didn't fall on me, but rather slid down the wall and crashed. That'll wake you up in a hurry. It didn't seem to break, and it didn't land on me, so we tabled that potential clean up for another day.

Sunday, we picked up my dad early and we all drove out to see Papa, my grandfather, whom I hadn't seen in a few years. He's 100 now and although his health is still good, the century mark means you really can go at any time. We all had lunch and then talked for a couple of hours, and then Mom drove me to the airport, with a stop at Denny's for an early dinner (my parents order food like old people; this kills me).

And now I'm home, reunited with Matt and kiddos and friends and my blood pressure meds. Origins is this weekend, and then I'm home for the foreseeable future, with the boys arriving the following week. I can't wait. :)