Well it has been an incredibly hectic week with nonstop opportunities to hone my ability to manage mayhem. I am sitting on the plane back to Rotorua and this is honestly the first time I have sat down and relaxed, mum is beside me sleeping and occasionally waking and reading over my shoulder. She knows she is going on holiday and is happy about it but from here on in I can’t take anything for granted or leave her alone at all.
The birthday was quiet with Fiona and Colin taking mum and I out for lunch, we went to a sushi train place and the food going around was so dry and unappetising we walked out and kept driving till we finally found a little Thai place just down the road from Fiona’s place in Lincoln. Lovely lunch and when the owner heard mum was 92 he gave her lunch for free. Very nice and very respectful. We left at 11am to go to lunch and finally finished eating at 2pm. Somehow this was the pattern for the whole time, no matter what was attempted it would take 27,000 more steps than planned, tools you didn’t have and hours longer. I am sure sometimes I have ended up in the christchurch version of the Bermuda Triangle, put things down and they are gone, new things suddenly appear, random with no explanation, it’s just bizarre.
Next special event was the chocolates from Joe – OMG so good, absolutely delicious but getting them 🤣🤣🤣🤣
We waited the day they were due to arrive, with the back door open all day and nothing, then the tracking said attempted delivery but we were there and no one had attempted anything. Went to the parcel center the next day thinking I would just pick it up but no, the wrong address has been on it so it had gone to another facility that the public could not access, called and got them to change the address and redeliver and stayed with the door open waiting. If I was not there for the delivery mum would have opened the box, polished off all the chocolates and would swear it was never delivered. Finally around 4pm it arrived and WOW worth the wait and the best chocolate delivery ever. Mum was just so delighted, every time she opened the box was delighted all over again. The dark chocolate Hokey Pokey didn’t last long at all, I had to hide the rest and she is on rations with only one of the special chocolates a day. I feel like the grinch but she would easily eat the whole box and not remember.
Birthday party was finally decided to be indoors at Ian’s place which is tiny but it was good and our weird mix of family managed to be in a very small room and have a nice time – who knew this was possible. The next day was Yifei’s 10th birthday and a different mix of family with WeiLi’s parents there, food was excellent and who knew you have noodles at a birthday party to symbolise long life.
This all sounds very pedestrian but trust me each step was filled with thousands of treacherous mazes that could take you out to any number of alternate locations.
While packing Mum for her holiday with me, Stu was getting ready to head to Canada to see a friend. She had bought the ticket in Canada but Expedia spelled Stu’s last name Hapgood instead or Habgood and the the fun began, Expedia at every turn for 48 hours swore they could not change the ticket, then they said only Qantas could, I called Qantas here and they told me only the issuer of the ticket could change it, now 24 hours till the flight and I left Barbara on hold with Expedia already for an hour and no end in sight. While I was on hold with Qantas it was 11pm, Stu was getting me to weigh his bags after we had convinced him it was a 50lb allowance not 50kg, mum was still up doing a crossword that required me to give her the answers which I was cheating by looking up on my phone, I has still not eaten and I was texting Barbara and frying my last few brain cells. (Update – Expedia still would not change the ticket or give a refund, Stu called the local Qantas office and they agreed for $50 to change the ticket to the correct spelling – what a long drawn out fiasco)
Leaving this morning was another juggling act, mum of course doesn’t remember she is going anywhere, Stu is sleeping in after his very late night, I am trying to figure out if 3 people, luggage and a wheelchair will fit in his tiny car to get us to the airport. I was about to call for an Uber when Fiona texted to say they could take us – huge relief 😅 I had to cut Stu’s hair, wrangle mum to get dressed, clean up the spills on clothes from breakfast, go through the checklist and reassure Ian I have everything, reassure Fiona I have everything under control, convince Fiona I need to take the wheelchair, that air New Zealand know how to ship wheelchairs. I look down at my suitcase minutes before leaving and a little like me it’s is unravelling. Several bent safety pins later
I have to say the moment we got to the airport everything was suddenly very easy, mum was in a wheelchair, folding one was whisked to oversized baggage, we were checked in and all sorted. Taken out to the plane first like VIP’s it was great, lots of attention, mum loved every minute of it, take off circled the city like we were on a tour.
Mum loves chocolate, she is officially a chocoholic, but she is also a diabetic so I had to find a way to manage her intake. She will have a chocolate and while the taste is still in her mouth she will ask for another goodie. She is like an insatiable Gannet always looking for more. She is not hungry but she wants the sensation of eating something. The Japanese even have a name for it – kuchisabishii – I don’t eat because I am hungry, I eat because my mouth is lonely.
I started writing a daily chocolate consumption list complete with drawings of the size of the chocolates she has eaten. She is shocked at what she has already had and although she wants more it does slow her down….a little.
Troubleshooting phones, troubleshooting software issues that have been waiting for my visit. Listening to the ones with troubles and stories that have to be told, just being there and supporting weird ass crazy decisions because they are family. I reckon I have it good because I get to leave and it will be 2 or 3 months till I am back and there will be a whole new batch. You don’t choose your family but they are there for you to learn from and recognise your own traits sometimes, they are there to challenge and for you to support and be there for no matter what.
I think I will be doing a few mum updates over the next 10 days.
The Traveling Kiwi 