What really happened on my Birthday.

Me and Mum at the Vancouver Temple

Holy CRAP, you guys. A lot has changed since that last post. I wish I had been able to stay home and watch a movie and eat tacos and do a mani-pedi.

My mum had sent me a message on Facebook telling me that my grama had Melanoma and Lymphoma and they were waiting for test results. She called me on a Thursday to tell me that basically Grama was full of cancer and the doctors say that she most likely won’t live until Christmas. She went on to inform me that my uncles were going to all converge on my mum and they were going to make sure that all the arrangements were made and that all of Grama’s affairs were in order.

Remember what I told you about Nana? Yeah, there was that running in my head. So we had the following conversation:

Me: “All your brothers are going to be there next weekend? Like, the weekend of my birthday?”

Mum: “Yeah, John is flying in on Wednesday and David is driving down on Thursday so we are all going to get together on Thursday.”

Me: “Oh…”

Mum: (rambling) She’s not in any pain or anything and she keeps asking me when they’re going to take this thing out and I don’t know what to tell her and (bunch of random stuff about my grandmother…)

Me: (kind of interrupting) “So I just happen to be on vacation next week...”

Mum: “What? You ARE? Oh, you need to come. It’s a sign. You can see the ocean for your birthday!”

So I tried looking at flights and figuring out how to make it to Vancouver with less than a week’s notice and not blowing my entire bank account. I had basically given up and decided to drive. I walked in the door and DH was on the computer looking at flights and found me a ticket for $300.00. That was two hundred dollars cheaper than what I could find. He’s amazing. I had to fly from Salt Lake to Phoenix and then from Phoenix to Seattle and then drive for two hours, but the price was right.

So I flew/drove/travelled all day on Wednesday. It was fine, because I was actually able to have some down time and clear my brain out. I did some writing, it was good. I love long distance driving, and I’ve made the SeaTac to Canada drive so many times that it’s like visiting an old friend. There’s also the small thing of me not having been home for three years and that trip was just for twenty-four hours.

There was much knees bent running about. I was able to go have lunch with Grama at the home and she came out to dinner with us that night. (us = Grama, Mum, Mum’s husband, three uncles, my brother, me and TONS of laughing). I was able to meet my nephew for the first time and see my niece that the last time I saw her she was a newborn. I was able to pick up my other niece and nephew from school and be mistaken for my sister. I got my passport that has been expired for ten years renewed. I walked the pier with my mum, but didn’t see the ocean in the daylight until Sunday when I went home. I was able to sit around in a pub with my mum, uncles, brother, sister and a couple of cousins laughing and singing and toasting and hugging. I really love my family.

On my actual birthday, my mum and I got to go to the Vancouver temple together. As we were rushing around getting ready, she said, “Oh! I’m and idiot!! Happy Birthday!” I was in the bathroom putting my makeup on. I had forgotten it was my birthday too. We went to lunch at White Spot so that I could have a Legendary Burger, chocolate milkshake and apple pie. I had been craving triple O sauce since I booked my flight. It made me sick later, but it was so worth it. The running around that was done between the temple and lunch, which had nothing to do with me but with my sister which I will whine about later because it prevented me from going to the beach on my birthday, took so long that by the time I got back to my mum’s I had an hour to get ready for the final activity of the week.

I had been trying to get together with one of my dearest friends, Stef. I was supposed to go to an all-school reunion in June and hang out with her, but I sniveled out at the last minute and didn’t make it up there even though I had scheduled the time off and everything. When I called her to tell her that I was going to be in town, she wailed about work being so busy and blah blah… I asked her “what about Saturday?” Well, it just happened that all of my girlfriends from high school just happened to be having a party on Saturday and Stef was going to bring me and surprise everyone. It. Was. So. Great. We had so much fun talking and eating and catching up and randomly dancing in the kitchen. I haven’t seen some of those girls since before my mission. That’s been like 20 years. One of my friends kept grabbing my leg and saying “I can’t believe you’re here! It’s so good to see you!” It was so rad.

After the party, Stef and I ended up talking for hours. So long, in fact, that we had to make a run to Tim Horton’s for coffee mid-gab because she wasn’t going to make it. I ended up teaching her yoga poses as she was spazzing out because it was taking them so long to get to us. There was a line at 2am? What the heck? It was awesome.

The next day I made the long trek home driving and flying through Phoenix. All the flights were packed, but I was able to get some sleep on the flight from Seattle to Phoenix. I didn’t get home until 10:30 Sunday night, I’m still so tired, and I’ve been playing catch-up ever since, but it was so worth it.